Ireland was about as easy as it could get for an around the world journey. While traveling Ireland I kind of felt like I already had one foot back in the States. So many Irish have family in America and they love Americans. The majority of tourists in Ireland are from Germany and France. Speaking English made me feel even more connected to the Irish when a pub was filled with Europeans conversing in broken English as they struggled to understand a thick Irish accent. The icing on the cake was when I breezed through United States customs and immigration while still in the country at the Dublin Airport. Now that’s a first for me! Clearing U.S. Customs in a foreign country! Ireland is Easy with a capital E. If you have never been overseas or to Europe, start in Ireland.
I started my five month journey with a few days in Hong Kong. From there I spent 2 months in China with most of my time in the Yunnan and Szechuan provinces. Highlights of China included trekking in the Himalaya and spending time along the rarefied air of the China/Tibetan border. I capped off my time in China with a week and a half in Beijing which proved to be my favorite Chinese city.
From Beijing I hopped the Trans Mongolian railway to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia where I joined up with three other backpackers and we hired a local driver with a 4wd Russian made van for a tour of the wide open Mongolian Wilds. Unfortunately, due to Russian visa constraints, I had to leave Mongolia after just 2 ½ weeks and boarded a train for Russia and the Trans Siberian railway.
Russia was a pleasant surprise as I found, with just a little bit of effort, a seemingly hard and cold culture warmed up quickly with pleasant helpful smiles despite real language difficulties. Again, due to visa constraints I only had 2 ½ weeks to traverse the country by rail but made some great stops along the way. My favorite being Lake Baikal.
After visiting Lennon’s tomb and Red square in Moscow I hopped another train for Riga, Latvia which proved to be a lovely relaxing city with an over abundance of young 20 something women and young guys on the prowl from all over the world, every night. Riga made me laugh as the hostel was quiet every evening because most of the people staying at the hostel were young college aged men staying out until 7 am. I slept well as I’m not the type to pursue ladies all night who are young enough to be my daughter.
From Riga I traveled down to Lithuania and on to Warsaw, Poland. From Poland I blew across to Budapest then France. I kind of regret passing through Eastern Europe so fast. Eastern Europe is far more interesting than Western Europe and costs half as much than the West.
Once in France I took 3 weeks off from the traveling and planted myself next to small lake on the grounds of a Chateau near Mur de Solonge where I did a work exchange for the European Yoga Festival. The first week I really enjoyed but the last two weeks were a mixed bag. The highlight of my time spent in France was catching up with a good friend from Colorado who was attending the festival.
Leaving France was a bit of a low point for me as I was exhausted and plagued by three days of visual migraines which was quite unusual for me. The upside was that I was in the company of good friends from the festival as we made our way via Ferry to England.
In Britain I found my stride again, despite variable weather, as I walked for over 125 miles along the SW coast path of England. Miles of walking along with stops for pints at village pubs made me feel like my old self again. The walking left me feeling good.
From England I took a train to Wales and hopped a ferry to Cork, Ireland. From there I negotiated wacky weather up to a number of mountain tops including Carrauntuohil, Ireland's highest and Croagh Patrick where St. Patrick prayed for 40 days sometime during the 5th century. I hitched along the west coast in search of the perfect pint of Guinness which I naturally found in the East in Dublin when I poured it myself at the Guinness brewery.
I completed my travels with a rainy and at times VERY windy hike along the 80+ mile Wicklow way. It proved to be the perfect finish despite foul weather. It gave me time to mentally shift gears for home. The day before flying to the states I felt a satisfied “Done” kind of feeling. Just the kind of feeling you want for the flight home. I think I timed it right but once again I am astounded by how fast time passes. Five months felt like five weeks and at times, five days. All the more reasons to enjoy the gift of every moment.
So what did I learn? What are some takeaways? Well, here’s a few bullet points….
I really enjoy my own company and feel no need to rely on others for happiness. Expecting others to make you happy usually doesn’t work anyway…. Life is relatively easy as long as you don’t get in the way… Attitude creates your reality…. Money has a tendency to complicate life instead of making it easier…. Everybody in the world wants the same thing. To have a home, a job, to be with family, to be with friends and to feel safe…. Words get in the way of communication…. The universal language of kindness and peace is a smile…
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