Around The World In 72 Days - Post Trip Reflections

Because travel is such an essential part of who I am, and each trip we take seems to bring different types of experiences and learning, I close each trip with reflections (navel-gazing as #3 calls it). This trip, in particular, cries out for such.

HOW THE TRIP CAME ABOUT

This was a throwback trip. It recalled the many trips we were making pre-pandemic where we covered many countries, and many cities in one trip. We’ve been getting away from these. Our age has made them too difficult on our bodies and our psyches, even if we still have this desire to go and see more. So why? Why did we take on such massive travel undertaking?

The genesis was three deep deferred desires and one dream. The first was wanting to do some travel with two of our grandchildren, 2.2 and 2.3. We had a trip with them planned in 2020 when the #2's were living in Ukraine. That got blown apart by Covid. The second was a desire by Wife to see what the heck was going on in Ghana. We had packaged that in the same 2020 trip so it too was blown apart by the pandemic. Third, was a desire to visit China while #2 and family were stationed there. China's lengthy Covid restrictions almost killed that as well.

The dream? That was a desire to circumnavigate the Earth in a single trip. Why? I don't know. Just to say I did it. 

Thus we started 2023 when China indicated it was starting to open up to the rest of the world. We focused our initial attention on getting the grandchildren trip organized. One was going to graduate and go to college after which getting the two of them together on a trip would become very difficult. That was the starting point, Taiwan, a place they could get to from their residence in Shanghai and we could get to. 

The next piece of the puzzle was China. Until China fully opened up there was some risk there, but it all fell into place as we got closer and closer.

Ghana was next. I didn't see anyway of getting Wife there soon. If we did an Asian trip and came home, then did a separate Ghana trip, the time and expense would have been magnified. This is when I saw I was going to be able to go around the world. 

I recognized that both China and Ghana were going to be very intense visits. That led to the stop in Thailand, a very conscious planned R&R. The stop in Istanbul was the same (though we undercut it with our own manic need to get out and do things).

Thus the 10 week, around the world trip was designed. 

Let's look at the highlights and then go on to the analysis.

EARTHQUAKE

We loved our time with 2.2 and 2.3. We've had precious little of it with them because they've always been so far away from us. But I think we will now have the shared experience of going through a major earthquake that we can look back at for the rest of our life. 

CHINA IS SO...CHINA! AND THE POO LEE SHAH TRAVEL EXPERIENCE

We'd heard so much about China not looking favorably on the U.S., the need to have all China specific apps, China not being that open to foreign tourism yet after the long isolation. But, with the help of our family, we found ourselves acclimating a rapid pace. 

China is so BIG! It is hard to relate. And it is noisy, and bustling, and active. There is so much. It is modern. And it continues to change at a rapid pace. We visited first in 2016 and we noted in the 8 years that have passed a significant change in behavior. Like people actually waiting in lines instead of pushing ahead in masses. We encountered no hostility of any sort. Actually, we felt like hardly anyone paid any attention to us though we clearly stood out. 

Of course, any travel involving Poo Lee Shah Travel is going to be intense. I joke about this but it's true. #2, I know you don't read these blog posts but you should not feel guilty. The reality of your family and career responsibilities mixed with the craziness of State Department life are what they are. And despite, #2 having deal with the assignment to handle the Secretary of State's visit to Shanghai, we still ended up doing so incredibly much over the three weeks we were there. 

BEST GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCE EVER!

I have had some memorable meals in my life. I've visited some great places in the world for food. But never, NEVER have I had a three-week period of non-stop gastronomic experiences as this trip. Hats off and kudos to 2B who was the major impresario and kept bringing experience after experience. Even the takeaway dinners at their house where extravagant buffets. But even on our own with our guide in Xi'an we had great meals. Then there was the over the top weekend as 'VIPs' in Liyang. Yes, truly a once in a lifetime happening.

IS SOUTHEAST ASIA THE OTHER PART OF OUR LONG-TERM PLAN

I am going to give myself a big pat on the back for our interlude in Krabi Thailand. Not that Krabi is such a great place to visit. It is not being way too touristy for us. But I had the right house, with the right amenities, in the right location to give us exactly what we needed...the ability to chill and enjoy a slowed down lifestyle. We loved being able to walk to what we needed and imbibe the local part of town outside of the tourist mainstream. 

Wife and I did a lot of contemplating in our little pool there. As we realize the need to slow down, having these elements as part of our yearly cycle seems very attractive.

ISTANBUL - CONFIRMING OUR BASIC INSANITY

We were supposed to rest. Instead we had an epic day running around via taxi, ferry, funicular and walking through this incredible city, punctuated by an incredibly memorable breakfast and a ton of pictures. 

GHANA - THE TRIAL OF A LIFETIME

I was very honest in my posts about all our trials in Ghana. I knew it was going to be difficult. I've experienced the issues with traveling and things not working right during my work trips. But I'd underestimated how much I've structured my business life to mitigate these issues when I come to Ghana for Theodora. Running around as did, simply amplified all of them. With both of us (but Wife in particular) being beat up from the prior 7 weeks of travel, it ground us down. We can say we did it, check it off the list and move on. 

COMING HOME - NOT THE BLISS I EXPECTED

If anything was going to cure my travel lust, I would have assumed the three weeks of travail in Ghana was going to do it. But, I can honestly say that while there was incredible physical relief (as in taking wear and tear off the body), and a real enjoyment of having all the little things of life the way you want it, it was offset by the immediate burden of having to take care of the house.

ANALYSIS

Have we learned our lesson? Are we going to slow down?

We say we have. We are building our plans for the future based on this. But we also have this insatiable drive to see and do new things. We've told ourselves we can runaround like crazy people for a week maybe. But then we need a calm base from which to work from. We'll see how this goes in the Fall when we are returning to El Campello Spain for a month.

Are we finally going to cut the umbilical and become citizens of the world?

Ultimately, no matter how many ways we try to chose this option, too many obstacles come up. And there is the fact that it would take away a primary joy of Wife, her community and friends which she has worked incredibly hard to build. So that's not going to happen. I am going to write a separate post on this next phase transition.

But I still need to travel

LOL. We haven't even been back for a week and I am busy at work, planning our next trip!

How does our vacation experience in Ghana influence my feelings about Theodora?

Oddly enough, all the frustrations we had has made me even more determined and motivated. I understand in an even more visceral way, the obstacles the Theodora women face in transforming their lives. Assumptions we (my board and I) made years ago on the need to create a holistic environment to promote the change we seek, have only been reinforced. It is still my mission.

 That closes the book on Around the World in 72 Days. Until our next travel adventure.