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