January 2016
Julie and I would like to wish you a very Happy New Year. A big thank you for taking the time to read our travel adventures over the last few months. Some of you have even been kind enough to provide some feedback. Keep it coming.
Salut, Cheers, Bottoms Up
Catching Up
We still have a couple of posts to get out that cover our time in the USA and Costa Rica. We also want to write about our downsizing experience and how we got into house sitting. But we have been a little busy recently looking after 48 chickens, 2 cats, a dog, shovelling snow and spending time with my daughters for the first time in 10 months.
2015 in Numbers
As is customary at this time of year, here is a list of some random stats on our travels:
- 63 different beds that we slept in. Some were much more comfortable than others, some even had their own nightclub next door, some needed a mattress change
- 1 flights missed, it was so nearly two, save for a sprint through Auckland airport
- 11 countries visited, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, USA, Costa Rica, Australia (flight stop over), Colombia (just for the night) and the South Island (many of our Kiwi friends view the South Island as a separate country)
- 8 capital cities visited, Wellington, Santiago, Buenos Aires, La Paz, Lima, Quito, San Jose, Bogota
- 9,546 photos taken, count yourself lucky you have only seen a handful
- 6 items that Steve has lost or left behind, including a camera battery, 2 caps and a charger
- 82 nights spent in mobile homes, 36 in the Kombi aka ‘The Tardis,’ and 46 in the RV aka ‘The Wet Cardboard Box’
- 3 dollars Julie lost in Vegas, the gambling habit hit her hard
- 307 days since we moved out of our home and took the road
- 0 times we were seasick, despite spending 8 days at sea, but somebody did turn a nice tinge of green
- 53,706 kilometres covered since we left (33,371 miles) 1.34 times around the earth
- 93 hours spent on overnight buses in South America
- 10 states that we have visited in the USA
- 4 house sits completed, currently on our fifth and we have another six lined up
- 130 percentage of our USA budget spent, who knew the NZ$ will fall so far against the US$
Ahead in 2016
Our plans for 2016 are still quite fluid. So far we know that we will be visiting Iceland, UK, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. We will add to this list as the year starts to unfold. Some of what we are looking forward to:
- Experiencing the northern lights in Iceland
- Treading port grapes in Portugal, with lots of tastings
- Catching up with family and friends in the UK
- Trying to find the perfect bottle of Bordeaux in France
- Learning to make pasta in Italy
- Looking after a 7-month labrador pup at one of our confirmed house sits
- Putting our Spanish to good use
If I can get my act together we have the chance to get a travel-related article in print. One of the VW magazines in the UK is interested in publishing an piece on our NZ kombi trip.
2016 should be another exciting year, new countries to visit, new people to meet and new adventures. We hope you will come along on the journey with us.
