Those first years, each trip was a massive adventure. Traveling for 6 to 8 weeks straight. Going to parts of the world we would never have imagined going to even a few years earlier. With each trip there was huge learning. Not so much learning about the places we visited (though there certainly was that) but about ourselves, what we could do and couldn't do, what we liked and didn't like, what uplifted us, what brought us down and how on a mechanical basis we could do what we wanted to do
Gradually we developed a clearer understanding of what we really wanted from our travel experiences and the processes for how to do the travel we liked. So it should not come as a great surprise when I note that there were no cosmic revelations on our travel lifestyle from this latest trip.
In many ways, it was as big a leap from our comfort zone as any trip we have taken. We were almost exactly a half way around the world. All but one of the countries we visited had different alphabets. At least three of the countries visited, the vast majority of our peers had never even heard of. Four out of the six countries visited were states of the former Soviet Union. So on paper it looked like a big leap.
But in the context of how we have learned to manage our travel, it was really not such a great a stretch. That in and of itself was a great lesson. How far we have come in our understanding and in our ability to explore. So unlike past 'Great Navel Gazing Posts' there will be not cosmic revelations. Yet at the same time learning continues.
Sights and Things We Did That I Loved
- The cityscape of Baku with its fabulous new architecture and its well preserved older city as well
- Taxi hailing apps. You may not be able to use Uber but there will be something that fills the niche and makes it so much easier for the person without the language to get around
- Tbilisi and its kaleidoscope variety in its cityscape and general upbeat attitude
- Wife's amazing recovery...a complete 180 from last year at this time. The woman is amazing!
- Great eats in Azerbaijan and Georgia with lots of grilled meat and fish, good bread and wonderful salads and vegetables. Hats off to Georgian and Armenian wines. Armenian brandy too!
- OMG do I love it when Wife and I just cruise the streets in our photographic exploring mode! We always find neat stuff where we least expect it. Thank you Wife for being my Muse and giving me this blessing
- The Lake Sevan Hydroelectric Plant - Damn I wish we had been allowed to post our pictures of it :(
- The Geghard Monastery and surrounds in Armenia. If only it had not been so cold and wet!
- Istanbul - Coming back it reminded me how much I love the city and its vibe. And our Culinary Backstreet Tour again was such a great experience
- The uniqueness of the Kyiv, Ukrainian Orthodox Church design
- Memory eating in the Ukraine!
- The comfort and familiarity of Kalamata Greece. One of these places that just feels good to be in and that you can go back to
- The thrill of going from place to place and making each one your own and of discovering the uniqueness of each
The Not So Good
- Armenia was so depressing. Driving through a country that had been looted by its elite leaving it look as if the Mongols had been through. The whole vibe of Armenia was depressing
- Being ripped off by our guide in Armenia when we had the 'family' meal. So depressing.
- The Ukraine wasn't much better. A knowledge that people felt there might not be any hope of things getting better
- The drain of bedding that is just not right for our aged, arthritic bodies
- The physical drain of going from place to place and dealing with the annoyances of transportation
- We are still able to push ourselves, to do things, walk, climb, etc. But there is a longer and longer recuperation time needed
- Fucked by a discount airline again! Ukrainian International may you go the way of Monarch Airlines!
Conclusions
- We have this dichotomy going on. On the one hand we recognize that we physically probably need to do shorter trips with less moving around from place to place.
- But on the other hand there is this feeling that time is running out and there are so many other places in the world we want to get to
- And most of the places we have not visited yet are further away meaning we are going to be saying, "Well if we are going all this way, we should do X,Y&Z which leads to too much moving around
- Are we Type A travelers with this need to say we have been here, there, everywhere? If I am honest, we are exactly that. Maybe in the Eldership toned down version but still there
- So I expect we are going to continue to push the envelope as long as we can
- And you know, in a world of all aging experiences that is a pretty great place to be!!!!!
