a new pilgrimage
(actually written on 21 January 2010, post-trip….but I’ve dated it to appear at the top of the blog forever-n-ever….and then reinstated it in its proper chronological home as we kept pilgrim-ing)
When we set out we had *a long way to go*.
In particular, a pilgrimage from Singapore to London and beyond – overland all the way. The beyond bit was because we had time to fill, but no definite plans. As it turned out, we did not get to London, but we did get a lot further – as far north as Lindisfarne, as far south as Greece and as far east as Turkey.
And we did manage to go overland all the way – in trains, busses, tuktuks, elephants, bicycles, boats, motorhomes, taxis, oxcart, trams, tow trucks, motorbikes, horses, and on foot. We spent 568 hours in long haul travel in vehicles not our own (and then what must add up to a few more days in waiting time too!)…plus we covered over 15,000km in the motorhomes we bought (and later resold).
In the 449 days we were away (that’s fourteen months, three weeks and two days) we slept in 158 different places, passing through 33 different countries – staying anything from a day (and although you can drive the entire length of Serbia in one long day, we would NOT say we’ve really been there!) through to six weeks, occasionally stopping three weeks in one town.
newzealand australia singapore malaysia thailand laos
(thailand) cambodia vietnam china hongkong (china) mongolia
russia estonia latvia lithuania poland germany austria switzerland (germany) thenetherlands belgium england france italy greece
bulgaria serbia hungary slovakia czechrepublic (germany) (poland)
(czech) (hungary) (bulgaria) romania turkey
unitedarabemirates (australia) (newzealand)
We experienced temperature extremes from well-below-zero to mid-forties; that is freezing cold to blazingly hot.
We visited castles, cathedrals, temples, museums and ruins.
We climbed mountains, rode bicycles and horses, and took long walks.
We ate everything we were offered, the least favourites being sheeps’ tail soup in Mongolia and green Mekong river sludge in Laos.
We filled forty-three journals.
We repaired our shoes more times than we can count.
And that’s about how many photos we took, too.
We stayed with people, who live in bamboo huts with pigs under the raised floor, felt gers without running water, highrise apartments in cities…and we visited people, who live on the rubbish dump, in orphanages, in old stone buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years.
We were awed by the scenery, enveloped in the history, and had our hearts touched by the people we met.
We thank those who have virtually travelled with us on this journey for the encouragement they have given. We thank those, who, sacrificially in many cases, opened their homes and lives to us. And we invite anyone who happens across this spot in cyberspace to take a wander with us – many of the places we went were timeless; a century from now they will still be the same, they will not date, or not quickly anyway.
Maybe you won’t make it to all the places we did – there are 634 posts on this blog, not to mention a fair few extra pages as well. There are over one and a half thousand comments (no wonder we didn’t end up replying to them all!) from some of the more than 26,000 people who have visited (over 185,000 hits to date).
We went a long way, but the adventure of our lives-in-the-future is not over and we still have a long way to go. We will always be pilgrims.
You can find us writing now at have pinny, will cook,
and Jgirl15 is launching a new blog for children,
stemming from her own artistic passions and adventures
and inspired by the world-creativity we have experienced.
~ made by a child ~
One last word:
We were privileged to spend time with the folks at Big Brother Mouse in Luang Prabang. If you get the opportunity to go there, you will not be disappointed.
If you go nowhere else on this blog, please take a look at this post.
As suggested by a reader, we set up a paypal account to collect donations,
but we are having trouble linking it to the blog,
so our ongoing fundraising efforts are
going to remain localised for now.
Now I’m off to do the very last blog-job – turn the order of posts around so we can read chronologically as we revist our trip over the next year! (I’m ignoring the enormous job of editting every post in order to be able to print a hard copy for the children to have for posterity)
Tags: 1, 2008/09, homecoming
rayres
your blog has been a true inspiration and I don’t know how you managed it. I didn’t manage to keep a blog for the 5 months I travelled last year or the month that I’ve just spent in Italy and Spain and it’s a technical wonder, especially considering the out of the way places you’ve been to. I look forward to hearing one or two of the stories from Robert this year. Ken
well, readers finally get to see the whole family in one hit! They have only had to wait 15 months for this!
Personally I am delighted to have them home, but like them, it’s hard to stop those feet itching!
Having laboured over my own blog for 6 months or so, I can only agree with Ken – it was an awesome achievement
Hello, I have been enjoying reading your very first pre-trip posts and found that there were only a few I’d missed otherwise have been following you since about October 2007. Just a comment which I guess is related to you turning the order of the posts around (which I think is a great idea). It does seem a little unusual however, to hit the “previous entries” button to see those of a later date and the “next entries” to see those with earlier dates!
yay! that you’re home! and boo! that you’re home! i can’t very well live vicariously through you when you’re just up the road, now can i?! 😉
welcome back! it’s been a fantastic journey to share with you 😀
Hey, I sent you an e-mail telling you that I’d read your whole blog up till Italy and spent two days reading instead of sleeping or tending to my family. I wanted to say I lost my bookmarks and have been looking for you blog to see how you were doing- and I’m thrilled you got home safe. I look forward to reading about the months I missed and dreaming of doing something similar with my kids!
Welcome home! We’ll miss you on the road. What a wonderful family, what a wonderful blog!
As a family that has been on our own open ended, non-stop world tour since 2006 ( with no end in sight), I remember your very first online questions more than a year before you began your trip. I thought you were amazing then and still do! We followed along as we could ( not always on the move as we are often unplugged or have limited or slow connections) and related to your stories.
Sorry we were never in the same area at the same time as RTW kids always seem to have a terrific time together with shared experiences. But maybe we will eventually meet in real life.
We only have one child, so whenever i get mail from larger families who wonder how they could do this too, I always point them here to your astounding feat. We are big believers in “If there is a will, there is a way” and love your “exampleship”.
We’re writing a book now and hope you do too as most people are unaware that this can be done easier than ever today on very low budgets and with the most awesome educational benefits for tomorrows global citizens. I’m a firm believer that raising kids as world citizens contributes to world peace through understanding and first hand experience.
Waving from Spain and sending our blessings to your continued pilgrimages & inner journeys no matter where you roam or stay!
It was a true honour and a privilege to share your journey with you. Thank you. We set off on ours in four and a half months, maybe we’ll finally meet in Auckland? We never did get to write our blog post.
Although you are no longer travelling, your blog is still on my blog feed, simply because I can see myself visiting and re-visiting again and again to read about your adventures again. Well done!
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