Montreal: Back home

Montreal

So I'm back... and you may ask, "What did all this running around accomplish, other than bragging rights that I circled the globe?"

In one sense this was "Running away from home and joining the circus...", and I did find adventure in going to these places where I didn't have a clue as to what they were like... It definitely was an education. It also allows me to start my new "Retirement Life" with a clean slate, a complete break from my previous life. Finally though, I did hone my writing and story telling skills... not to say they are now as sharp as a razor, but at least sharper than a butter knife.

As my final post, I will give a few lessons that I learned during this experience:

1) When traveling you NEED a good phone with Internet. Problems can be avoided with information and good communication.

2) In Europe & Southeast Asia, you can get a cheap sim card at the airport. It is best to get it there because it is cheap and local.

3) Google Maps are wonderful, but not perfect. If it doesn't know the street numbers or the establishment you are looking up doesn't have a street number, it puts the location in the middle of the street (i.e. half way between the beginning and the end of the street.) This has cause me problems a few times.

4) Always be polite and friendly to strangers, even if they are trying to sell you something... a firm "no thanks" with a smile forestalls aggression on their part.

The final thing I will leave you with is my 10 favourite photos of the trip... One for each country I went to.

Germany