Trip Around the World Superlatives*: Part 2 of 2
Most beautiful place:
Kristi – New Zealand
Linda - Swiss Alps
Most beautiful city:
Kristi – Kyoto, Japan
Linda – Oslo, Norway
Most beautiful waterfall:
Kristi – Gulfoss in the Golden Circle of Iceland
Linda - Skogafoss on the Skoga River in the south of Iceland
Most beautiful mountains:
Kristi – Tie: Swiss Alps and The Remarkables New Zealand
Linda - to view: the Swiss Alps from Wengen; to hike: First Mountain in Grindelwald, Switzerland.
Most beautiful body of water:
Kristi – Milford Sound, NZ
Linda - it’s a tie: Milford Sound, NZ & the Aegean Sea surrounding Santorini
Most Defining moment:
Kristi – Seeing the poverty in Nepal and yet the joy that transcends their circumstances. Speaking with Krishna whose wife lives and works in another country so they can put their kids through school. They only see each other every three years.
Linda - talking to our guide in Nepal re: her life
Most amazing moment:
Kristi – seeing the Northern Lights
Linda - climbing to the top of Skellig Michael in Ireland; seeing the Northern Lights in Finland
Worst hotel experience:
Kristi - Sihanoukville Brothel—last minute, late night hotel (actual name is Harbor Lights Palace— I feel certain these rooms are available by the hour. The word “palace” should have been a flag but we were tired and in a jam. I slept on my raincoat and was already on antibiotics so….I will say no more.)
Linda - the hotel that I feel pretty sure was probably also a “brothel” in Sihanouk, Cambodia - a last minute reservation when our flight was cancelled. 😳
Best hotel experience:
Kristi – Auckland – AMAZING view and amenties but Tokyo for service and the heated toilet that also played music!
Linda- the nicest was the suite we got in Auckland after Kristi set the hotel on fire; the coolest was the cliff side cave style hotel room with views of the Aegean in Santorini.
Funniest moment:
Kristi - Linda wading in the water to fish out her camera lens cap in Bourton-on-the-Water with tons of elderly locals and tourists looking stunned and confused (because no one was getting in the water!)
Linda - Kristi telling the cab driver in Cambodia “we are so good on time. We have plenty of time. So much time,” so he’d slow down (he didn’t) 🤣
Best transportation:
Kristi – all things Japanese - taxis and trains (and ANA –Japanese airline)
Linda - Japanese bullet trains!
Worst transportation:
Kristi – The ride in Sihanoukville, Cambodia from the airport to the hotel of ill repute
Linda - The car ride to get to the beginning of the trek in Nepal. Not naming any names, but 2 of the 4 in the car barfed afterwards.
Hardest place to navigate (communicate):
Kristi – French post office and the Japanese hospital (for different reasons)
Linda - the hospital in Nagano, Japan because few spoke any English at all.
Neatest thing(s) we saw:
Kristi – Fiordland Crested Penguins; Plankton glowing (I also listed that as beautiful); glow worms
Linda - 1st place: phosphorescent plankton off coast of Koh Rong Island; 2nd place: Fiordland Crested Penguins in NZ; 3rd place: glow worms in the Waitomo Caves in NZ
If you only go one place in your life, go here:
Kristi – New Zealand. Period.
Linda - South Island, New Zealand.
Best money saving tip:
Kristi - Do your research on types of rail passes — depending on your trip and scope, a pass for a specific country could save you big money (but not always) For example, we probably would have been cheaper getting a Swiss Pass than the individual tickets we purchased.
Linda - use public transportation - don’t be intimidated because you are in another country...subway and train systems run similarly wherever you go.
Most courteous:
Kristi – Japan and Nepal - tie
Linda - Japan by far!! (Though Nepal was noticeably extra courteous, too)
Least courteous:
Kristi – Serbia (airport only for layover but they had pandemic sour-pus-it-is.🤨)
Linda - a VERY rude waiter we had in Paris; our limited experience in China (we were only in the airports - on two separate occasions - and their airport workers were . 😐😖😵We did meet a super sweet young lady from China at Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, so maybe it’s just the airport employees )😬
Best Dressed:
Kristi – Italy (did feel a little under-dressed there)
Linda - Milan, Italy
Most unique person met..why:
Kristi - John, our Irish driver because he had an awesome accent, a rich knowledge of everything we got to see, as well as a heart of gold and a terrific sense of humor. Very grounded and focused on having a balanced life. Devoted catholic and husband. And I loved hearing about his life in Ireland.
Linda - Bartender we met in Auckland, due to places he’s traveled including Iran; North Korea; Georgia, Russia; etc.,
Thing we most missed from home (besides family):
Kristi – my laundry room
Linda - chips and salsa/Mexican food, margaritas!; my bed!
Favorite souvenir:
Kristi – Flag stickers from every country for my suitcase and the Star of David necklace I bought myself to replace the one I lost that my Dad gave me as a child
Linda - Christmas ornaments from every country 😊
Things we had to let go of to travel effectively:
Kristi - Products! —I have it down to three items: deodorant, toothpaste and face wash. No more hair spray nor mousse. No perfume. No jewelry. (Though I began buying and wearing jewelry midway through the trip)
Linda - vanity (hair, wardrobe and jewelry, often makeup)
If you could only pack 5 Things what would they be:
Kristi –
1. toothbrush
2. quick-dry clothes
3. camera/phone
4. cross body purse for passport and cash
5. compression socks/HOKA shoes
Linda -
1. Charger/converter
2. Phone/camera
3. Raincoat
4. Underwear
5. Toothbrush/toothpaste (put last because you can buy these most anywhere if you forget them)
One thing I packed that I needed not:
Kristi – my hard copy journal because I used my phone “notes” function to write
Linda - my laptop! I brought it for pictures and it wound up being a huge hassle (...and then just something I had to keep up with the rest of the trip!)
Most overrated activity:
Kristi – wine tasting in Germany. They gave us thimbles full of horrible wine—Boone’s Farm seems high-brow when stacked against those wine offerings!
Linda - Tie between two:
1. The Rhine River tour we took where we were charged 5 euros to ride the aerial tram downhill (then 5 euros for a picture of that) and the hilarious restaurant (where it was 5 euros for a drink with your meal) and the horrible wine tasting;
2. the Tonle Sap Lake tour in Cambodia because we took forever to get there (to the lake) and then literally saw just one floating village (and not even the one on stilts that was pictured in the promotional materials)
Most exciting “first”:
Kristi and Linda agree - Northern Lights
Proudest accomplishment:
Kristi and Linda agree - climbing Skellig Michael in Ireland
Most out of the comfort zone location visited:
Kristi – Sihanoukville, Camodia
Linda - Koh Rong Island, Cambodia
Freakiest place/country:
Kristi – China (even though we were just in the airport)—you couldn’t even see out of the airplane windows because of the pollution and I was blocked from getting on Google
Linda - Amsterdam (Red Light District; male parts everywhere...well, one particular male part everywhere; and the Killer Bicycles!)
If you had one thing to say to someone going on a 3-month around the world trip, it would be:
Kristi - be clear on your travel style and desired outcome first. Then work backwards to plan. And realize that every day of your trip is a gift. Have a great attitude and be in the moment.
Linda - go for it and roll with it; enjoy every moment!!! You can rest (sleep) when you get home.