Epilogue

Back to cold, hard reality 

Our year is up.

Leaving Victoria in June 2012

It doesn’t seem like a year since we left home.  Actually it is not quite a year but close enough.  The great adventure is at an end. 

I don’t like it.

Our reasons for going on our journey were many, but the major reason is experience.  As we have gotten older we realize that the pursuit of material goods is like chasing the fabled willow-the-wisp.  It looks intriguing and seductive but you will never catch it  - and even if you could – what would you do with it?  Material goods are ephemeral – you may have them one day and the next they could be gone.  Experiences cannot be taken away. At the end of your life your experiences, your friendships and the people you love are all you will truly have.

Riding into Kenora Ontario

The extremes were the Chateaus and Versailles in France, Harrods and Buckingham Palace in England and the Vatican in Rome.  All of these were anthems to conspicuous consumption.  Why were these necessary?   Were the people in them happier than the Hmong villagers in Cambodia and Laos?  Certainly their lives were easier and they had a lot more things but I don’t think they were happier.  Judging by the number of people the aristocracy executed they were noticeably more paranoid...  

The Smiles in Vietnam

The advertising industry and big business in general have us convinced that we need larger, more expensive everything to be happy.  Our experiences have convinced us otherwise.  Southeast Asia has many problems with corruption, war and poverty but they are rich in smiles and laughter.  They have to work very hard to survive but they have learned to make family and friendship a priority over BMW’s and mansions.  New Zealand, Italy and Newfoundland have shown us the importance of social connection and enjoying the moment.  We had warmer hospitality and bigger smiles there than anywhere.

Our visit to the Hmong Village in Cambodia.

We have enjoyed many incredible experiences on our journey.   We have met some great people and shared both laughter and tears with them.  We saw things that we will likely never see again and did things that we will likely never do again.  All of those go into our “experience file”.

We left home with the idea that we wanted to see things that we had not seen before and experience things that we had not experienced before.  We were open to meeting the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or even Quetzalcoatl.  We wanted to taste food, smell odours, feel textures, hear music and see what we had not before. 

Interesting odours and sights in the Markets

Not everything worked out the way we thought.  The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Quetzalcoatl never made an appearance.  We almost saw Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (they were in the palace, I think) but they are as mythological as the former 3 dignitaries.  We went to a number of God’s houses (at least that is how they were advertised) but she did not make an appearance.  We went to the land of the movie stars but didn’t see any.  Then again we did not expect to since we don’t believe in them anyway. 

Versailles - the building that began the French Revolution

Some things worked out well.  We tasted wonderful food almost everywhere we went and even took cooking classes in Thailand, Vietnam and Italy.  We went to the markets in many countries and smelled some incredible odours – both good and bad.  We felt the smooth silk in Thailand and the rough, bristly skin of the elephants in Laos.  We heard the music of the water puppets in Vietnam.  We saw the sunrise over Angkor Wat on Christmas morning. 

Riding Elephants in Laos.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat on Christmas morning 2012

 Once you have travelled a bit and seen other countries you can put our quiet little existence into some sort of perspective.  Canada is like the Shire in the Lord of the Rings; unobtrusive, unassuming and unnoticed.  Most people we met have heard of Canada but not many knew much about it other than it is cold here. 

I agree – Canada is a cool country.

The view from Beacon Hill Park in Victoria

It felt great to see home again.  Having seen many other lands it made us appreciate how great we have it here.  I don’t think we realize that.  Victoria is beautiful at this time of year but we tend to take that for granted.  We have seen many amazing and beautiful places in our travels this last year but very few equal home.  Part of that, I believe, is because it is home - however when you look at it through fresh eyes you appreciate how terrific it is here and how great we have it.  It is not perfect by any means, but it is excellent.

As I have mentioned before, Reality Sucks.  Once you are back from a trip like ours you have to start doing these responsible things like work, make money, pay taxes, mow the lawn etc.  Truly, it leaves a lot to be desired. 

But, as they say, that’s reality.

Telen writes:

I cannot believe that a year of escape from reality is now OVER!  I feel sad but at the same time, I am ready to face reality again.  I am grateful that Rand and I had this opportunity to fulfill our dream and are able to return to reality in one piece.

This place called planet earth is amazing.  The people we met in various cultures were so kind and hospitable to us.  Most of the time, we communicated with gestures and somehow we got along.  We discovered that there are diverse ways of life, cultural values, habits, food, and music.  Ultimately we share a commonality in being human.

I really hope I have changed in some subtle ways in terms of my maturity and tolerance.  I guess time will tell.  I agree with Rand.  Life is to be lived and experienced.  I hope that I will continue to be open to more new experiences wherever and whatever that may be.

One thing is certain though.  My marriage to Rand must be pretty strong since we are still on speaking terms after spending 24/7 with each other for a year travelling.  We had a lot of fun and adventures with sprinkles of upsets and conflicts. 

In the end, it is all good!

(My wife always has to have the last word…)

This is the last entry on our blog.  For those of you out there who have suffered through reading this – thank-you for your patience and endurance.  We hope we have encouraged some of you to get out and see the world. 

Really – it is an amazing place!

Rand and Telen Walsh

Victoria 2013

  

England Swings Like a Pendulum do.. Remember that song? Anyone?

England Swings like a Pendulum do…

We travelled from Strasbourg to Paris via the TGV high-speed train then onto London via the Eurostar.  Such a contrast!  On the TGV we felt like we were on a first-class seat on a Luxury Liner and on the Eurostar we felt like were in cattle class on a Mexican bus.  So far in Europe the trains have been the way to travel.  They are comfortable and hassle-free.  You can get up and wander around for two reasons – there is enough room to walk around and your legs function because they have not been rammed up to your chin by the seat in front of you.  Getting off the train is simple – you don’t need to massage your legs hardly at all to get the feeling back - you simply stand up and step off the train.  The Eurostar, on the other hand, is crowded, smelly, shabby and noisy.  Like the airport they hassle you at customs and security then make you sit and stew in hard plastic seats so that by the time the cattle-call is sounded to board the train you are in just the right mood.  The Eurostar is, however, the cheapest and quickest way to get from Paris to London.

We arrived in London in the early evening and caught the “Tube” to where we were staying in the area known as Woolwich Arsenal.  Once we got off the DLR (Dockyards Light Railway) we turned the wrong way and proceeded to get completely lost.  Eventually we worked our way back to the DLR station and figured how to get to our accommodation.  It turned out to be a five-minute walk away.  It felt like one of those silly sight-gags where someone is thrashing around in the water thinking they are drowning then realizing that they can just stand up because the water is only up to their knees

What do you do in London when you only have a few days?  First off we decided to visit Buckingham Palace.  We were not the only ones with that idea.  One of the things we noticed were the number of people who got dressed up to go to the palace.  We saw lots of women with frilly dresses and excessive hats and men in Morning Coats (tie and tails) who just seemed to wander around taking pictures of each other.  Mind you there were lots of other people there dressed in more casual attire such as tuxedos and evening gowns.  And then there was us. I wondered why people were all fancied up – you don’t go in the palace - all you do is stand around outside and peer through the gates like a homeless person whose nose is pressed up to the restaurant window.  I was feeling slightly miffed that Betty and Phil didn’t come out and ask us in for tea – but I guess I am partly responsible since I didn’t call ahead.

Perhaps an editorial on the Monarchy?

More crap in front of Buckingham Palace

After not having tea at Buckingham Palace we thought we would go and not buy something at Harrods.  Harrods is the world’s largest department store both in size and in cost.  They have a dress code.  As we got to the door the security goon immediately stood up and stepped in front of us.  Then he got a look at Telen.  Apparently Harrods did a study that found that the average Chinese tourist spends almost three times as much at Harrods as do members of the “Great Unwashed” such as myself.  He reluctantly stepped aside with a supercilious look, curled his lip and allowed us in.  Telen bowed deeply, smiled and called him an arrogant prig in Cantonese, then snapped her fingers at me and I followed her in like a proper little houseboy.

Harrods Department Store -- Beware all ye who enter herein

Everything was as expected.  We went into the pen room and saw a pen that was worth 70,000 pounds (roughly $100,000).  What could you possibly be writing that required a pen worth 70,000 pounds?  You couldn’t use the pen to write big cheques because you wouldn’t have any money left in your account.  How expensive is the ink?  Would it write on regular paper or would you have to have paper made from an endangered tree?  We saw an iPhone that was made from gold and diamonds that sold for 250,000 pounds.  Who would you need a phone like that to speak to? Not me - my phone probably couldn’t connect to it.  Do you have to have a special network to use it on?   What happens when you wanted to switch from an iPhone 4s to an iPhone 5?

Harrods was full of people who were wealthy and had the disposable income to spend a great deal on clothes and accessories. And that was just the staff.  The customers were dressed in fancy clothes that could only have been bought at Harrods. When you have been travelling for a prolonged period you learn to do with as few clothes as possible.  We felt like a couple of scruffy, vulgar lowlifes scuttling around in the shadows hoping to remain unseen. 

One goes to shows in London, of course.  We decided to bite the bullet and went to “Les Miserables”.  Once again we were met with a bit of suspicion as we tried to enter the theatre.  The show was incredibly well done with fantastic music and singing.  They had two children in the show that blew us away.  The little girl looked to be about 5 or 6 years old and did not show up in the final bow at the end.  I guess she had to go to bed.  School night.   The little boy was about 10 years old and looked like he was having a lot of fun on stage.  It was worth the price of admission, indeed!

Les Miserables

While we were in Central London poking around amongst the rich and aristocratic a horrible scene was playing out back near our accommodation.  You have probably read about the 2 men who ran down the soldier and butchered him on the street with machetes and knives.  That occurred 2 blocks from where we were staying.   We had walked that street the previous day when we were lost.  When we arrived in the area there were lots of people on the streets but the next day there were none and we saw lots of armed police and helicopters around. 

There is no way to make light of this appalling crime.  The two men who did this stayed at the scene of the crime and asked onlookers to video them.   They said it was in revenge for all the Muslims killed but these men were British born and had no experience with the wars in the Middle East. They killed and butchered a young man with a wife and a young 2-year-old son just to get their 5 minutes of fame.  That is sickening, unforgiveable and cowardly.

We went to the Tower of London like all dutiful tourists.  We picked the worst day weather-wise to do so.  When I looked out the window in the morning I thought the rain looked odd to me until I realized that, it was, in fact, snow.  It snowed briefly then became heavy rain and it was damp and very cold.  When we got to the Tower it started to hail and it hailed for about 20 minutes.  We left Canada to get away from all that crap.

A Yeoman Warder  aka Beefeater and myself at the Tower of London.   I am the one on the left.  Her job is to guard the Crown Jewels.  and smile a lot for tourist pictures.

The Tower of London is more than a tower – it is a working palace.   People live there – mostly the Yeoman Warders (better known as the Beefeaters) and a few honorary this and that’s.  People also died there in droves.  The Tower of London has its dark side.  Apparently it used to be that when you annoyed the Royalty in some way they removed your head and hung it from London Bridge.  This procedure often took place at the Tower of London.  The most famous example of this is Ann Boleyn but there are hundreds of bodies buried below St. Peter’s Chapel in the Tower of London. Another example of this is Sir Walter Raleigh who was beheaded to smooth the feathers of the King of Spain.  Walter got and still is getting his revenge. He imported tobacco and has been slowly killing and disfiguring most of the world ever since.  Don’t piss off Wally! 

London Bridge.  This is where they used to hang the heads.  Now it is just where they have car accidents

Nowadays if you annoy the Royalty you get a stern look from Elizabeth then a few years later you get into a fatal car accident.  Not as fast and showy as the ax - but effective.

After listening to all the pomp and circumstance associated with the Royalty I began to feel sorry for them.  Sure they have lots of money and they can buy expensive pens and gold iPhones and live in any number of different palaces but they cannot just go down to the pub for a few pints and some fish and chips.  Everything they do has to be choreographed and follow all kinds of obscure protocols.  If they fart in public it is reported in the London Times.  Do they have close friends that they can hang out with and tell dirty jokes to?  Could they go for a bike ride without a huge entourage of seneschals, chamberlains and stewards following them around in limousines?  Could they drink a whole bottle of coke and try to burp the alphabet?  I don’t think so!  So why kill so many people just to keep the position?

Heading into Parliament by my own special entrance.  

Speaking of fish and chips…  I thought that since we were in London we could have some of the real British Fish and Chips.   The Brits are not known for their cuisine - they will boil a lettuce leaf until it turns black and call it either soup or tea depending on the circumstances. However they are known for their Fish and Chips and for their Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding.  We wandered all over Soho looking for some place that sold fish and chips.  The closest we got was to a pub that sold fish and chips yesterday but had changed the menu this morning.  We gave up and I had a burger and Telen had a Caesar salad.  When we left the restaurant all we could see stretching from one horizon to the other were Chip shops.  I think we had wandered out of Soho and into the Twilight Zone.

London is not Paris.  London is huge, loud and congested.  Paris is large but it has a more human feel to it.  You don’t see lots of suits with anxious faces scurrying around in Paris like you do in London.  Paris is majestic whereas London is just ‘in your face”.

Telen writes:

London comes across both familiar and foreign to me at the same time.  It is familiar in terms of language and food choices.  It is foreign in shades of subtlety.  For 2 months, we struggled in Italian and French.  In London, we no longer needed frequent checks with our dictionary.  We easily found food that we were familiar with in the supermarket.  The dinner we cooked the first night in London was “bangers and mash”.  My tummy told me that I missed this simple fare.  People we met seem more reserved than in Italy and France.  For the first time in our year’s travel staying in B&B, we never met our host in London.  The traffic congestion was overwhelming.  The people seemed stressed.  Their eyes stared into space as they walked and at times ran wherever they were fixated on.

My highlight in London is the Les Miserables musical.  It was fantastically put together.  It is hard to imagine that this performance has been played nightly since 2004.  There are at least a dozen other stage plays and musicals being played in London at a given time.  Incredible!

Tea at Harrods.  Notice Telen is suffering from Etiquette in her left pinkie.

I forced Rand to come to Harrods with me as I have heard how it is the most luxurious store in the world.  It is quite shocking to see something as mundane as a pen can carry a 5-figure price tag.  We saw an espresso maker that comes with it’s own cup warmer.  I must have made some loud “exclamation” about this machine.  A very well dressed salesman came up to us saying “this compartment is a warmer for the espresso cup, worth abut 200 pounds” in a voice cautioning us that we probably might not be able to afford it.  We turned our nose up and walked casually away, trying to give him the impression that our espresso maker at home is even more expensive than the one on display.  We did have “afternoon tea” at Harrods since it should be of highest quality in town.  My pot of “Harrods’ special blend” tea was not bad but not that different from my usual Tetley tea.  My scones with cream and jam were delicious.  Rand ordered the “queen of puddings” with his coffee.  He was hungry and talked on and on about how this “queen of puddings” would be like a bread pudding with raisins, cinnamon and all the caramel gooey sauces.  It turned out that this highly anticipated treat was a 1 cm x 3 cm layered treat on a big plate.  Rand took one bite and it was gone.  He looked so pitiful that I shared one of my scones to appease him.