Merry Christmas from Nick and Karen

Hello All,
 
It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago today, we were embarking on our once in a lifetime, last chance, you only live once, 101 things to do before you die (you get the idea) world trip but it's true.  Dec 22nd 2008 saw us boarding a (very swish) American Airlines flight for the UK.  Back then, as now, Boston was blanketed in snow and in full Christmas overdrive.  So, as we approach Christmas 2009, we'd like to wish you a very merry Christmas and include a few highlights from the year.  Also, by sending an email rather than cards, we can go a small way to offsetting the mountain of greenhouse gas emissions we've accumulated this year (plus there might also be an element of "we just weren't organised enough...").
 
First off.... the year in numbers.  Amazingly, we managed to keep a reasonable track of all of these things...too many train rides and nights in tents...
  • Miles flown 75959 (The route: http://bit.ly/59lCIf)
  • Miles driven ~19000 (in USA, Australia, Chile & France)
  • Different beds slept in ~170
  • Temples/Museums/Forts visited 112
  • Books read (me & Karen... well mostly Karen, she had to do something while I was driving 18,999 miles ;-))   ~65
  • Free nights in hotels thanks to Nick's loyalty points 36
  • US states visited 31
  • Countries visited 20
  • Buses taken 74
  • Boats taken 66
  • Trains taken 34
  • Animals ridden 3
  • Number of weddings attended 3 (Number of wedding photo shoots we've stumbled across ~20)
  • Number of times I shaved on sabbatical 0 
On the photo front, it's a brave soul that would volunteer for the full monty of 17,430 holiday snaps, or even the highlights which I've managed to squeeze down to not much over a 1,000.  So instead check out (if you haven't already) www.mathisen.me.uk where we've written about much of our trip (well actually we are a little behind... the detailed stuff from Ecuador onwards is on Karen's "I'm unemployed so have no excuse but haven't quite got round to do this yet" list).  To give you a flavor of the trip in this email though, here is are a few personal highlights and lowlights...
 
Karen's......
Best overall experience - our cruise in the Galapagos, particularly the first 4 days when there were only 4 passengers to 11 crew - luxurious boat, great food and oh, some animals and birds totally unafraid of people
 
Coolest experience - watching a volcano erupt from the crater rim on Tanna, Vanuatu
 
Best street food - the excellent and oh so cheap fresh squeezed orange juice vendors in Bolivia
Worst food - the prevalence of curry in India was to be expected but what have they done with all their meat?  I don't think I have every seen scrawnier chickens than the ones served here!
 
Cutest animal seen in the wild - fierce competition in this category, but the quokkas on Rottnest Island near Perth win by a whisker
 
Best beachChampagne beach on Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu (white sand, palm trees, totally deserted, I saw a turtle while snorkeling, but not so good if you want an ice cream without driving for 3 hours)
 
Home of the biggest bargains - Vietnam, particularly our $5 per night hotel room and having dinner at the most expensive restaurant in town on Valentine's Day on Cat Ba island in Ha Long Bay. Waiting for the power to come from the mainland at night for hot showers, electric lights etc made for a memorable experience!
Home of the best scam artists - Hanoi, Vietnam - opening a hotel with the same name as a well known, guide book recommendation is fairly common but doing it next door to the original takes some cheek
 
Best hot springs - so many to choose from, but for location, you can't beat the outdoor ones at Macchu Pichu Pueblo (the bottom of the Sacred Valley), watching the moon rise and with poolside drinks service...
 
Time I most wanted to give up and go home - After jumping off a moving train after Nick at 6.30am at what turned out to be the wrong station in rural India on our way to a Tiger reserve.... glad we didn't though as we saw lots of Tigers!
 
Worst timing - turning up in Margaret River in Western Australia to go wine tasting on Good Friday - one of only 3 days of the year the Aussies are legally prohibited from selling booze!
Best "fluke" moment - finding the one vineyard in Margaret River (there are over 90) that either didn't know or didn't care about the law and was pouring free wine liberally .... hic
 
Time I thought I might never see Nick again - While he went off to cycle down the World's Most Dangerous Road in Bolivia and I spent a day mooching round La Paz. Given one of the guys in his group broke his leg in the first 'easy' part of the road, I was right to skip this one considering my history of bicycling injuries...
 
Nick's...... 
Time I most thought "Perhaps I've gone too far" - at 45m down, deep in the belly of the wreck of the USS President Coolidge in close to zero visibility when I looked at my air gauge and realised I had gone almost 50% past the "must turn back now or risk death" point....thank you very much Allan Power divers!
 
Most bizarre experience involving footwear - following Karen and our family friend/ ex-pat hostess Lynne into the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, I was stopped by security and forced to wear some very shiny black boots as display of men's toes was not permitted inside the building
 
Best "local" meal - Chilean curanto in a tiny restaurant in Osorno, Chile while conversing in French (badly on both sides) with the wheelchair bound proprietor
Best "I'm a tourist, get me out of here" meal - amazing Southern BBQ ribs in Nha Trang, Vietnam at a restaurant run by an ex-pat American
 
Worst food experience - Trying stingray in Boat Quay, Singapore - bony, not very tasty and soooo expensive.  Hawker markets in Singapore were much, much better & cheaper
 
Time I most felt like Angelina Jolie was going to walk round the corner - exploring the unrestored and completely overgrown jungle-y Beng Melea temple complex near Angkor Wat in Cambodia
 
Most futile search - the "floating bar" in Halong Bay from Top Gear's Vietnam Special.... we did drink something mainly composed of dodgy insects at a random Vietnamese friend of our skippers house though which was almost as good
 
Least favorite form of transport - buses!  Always overcrowded, rarely what they are advertised to be, never following a route or schedule known to anyone other than the driver, forever stopping to pick up random passers by
 
Best gadget we took - tie between my Blackberry and the Netbook - both meant we had connectivity and access to email/web pretty much everywhere we went. Invaluable in the 95% of trip planning that happened the day before we arrived somewhere
 
Most "carbon guilt" - the day we flew 3500 miles from Lima to Caracas and back (in Business) because American airlines wouldn't change our round the world ticket route.  Still at least we got Fillet Mignon and Champagne to pass the time ;-)
 
All in all, a trip that pretty much lived up to all the cliches I used at the start of the email.  Definitely something I'd recommend to anyone who can leave the real world commitments behind for a while and go where their heart takes them.
 
This Christmas we're stuck in the US thanks to some convoluted immigration regulations which will ultimately see us become (semi) permanent residents so unlike last year, we'll see very few friends and family apart from through the wonders of Skype (feel free to give us a call - our username is njmathisen).  Our spare room is always available if you want to come and visit (or shop, or ski, or climb or peep at leaves) so feel free to drop in.
 
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas
 
Love Nick and Karen
 
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Address - 35 Walden Street Apt 3B, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA
Nick - Email: njmathisen@gmail.com Phone: +1 617 460 1863
Karen - Email: karenannesadler@hotmail.com Phone: +1 617 460 4779
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