In traveling around the world, I have learned an awful lot, but here are 99 lessons that I think will stick with me:
- The world is huge. I mean, really, really huge. Bigger than our minds can imagine.
- The more we see, the more we want to see.
- Potato chips are sold everywhere.
- Ham and cheese flavored potato chips tastes just like a ham and cheese sandwich.
- Quality of the internet has no correlation to socioeconomic status of a country.
- A two-minute train connection is possible in Japan.
- A forty-five minute train connection is not possible in China.
- Thailand is the Land of a Thousand Smiles.
- We are braver and stronger than we expected.
- We are weaker and dumber than we expected.
- My dogs, Angel and Bella are my hearts and souls. I can’t live without them.
- Squat toilets are more hygienic than Western-style toilets in public restrooms.
- The towel is the most useful piece of gear for a backpacker.
- Tofu is amazing.
- Nothing causes a traffic jam quite like a cow in the middle of a busy Indian street.
- There is a whole beautiful world beneath the waves.
- Kids are kids everywhere.
- Waving at kids by the side of the street never gets boring.
- The cruelty of a few can ruin the lives of the many.
- But, the vast, vast majority of people are good.
- Wearing the same two pairs of pants week after week isn’t as bad as it sounds (unless you choose not to wash them.)
- Laundry sucks. Always. Laundry always sucks (unless you have a partner to do it for you.)
- If you want to get to know the local people, sit on a local bus with cigarette smoke in your hair and chickens under your feet.
- Things disappear in the mind but memories of moments linger.
- “Close” in New Zealand is about a thirty minute longer walk than “close” in the United States.
- It is entirely possible to take too many photos.
- When traveling, expect plans to change.
- It is okay to not see everything and do everything.
- Sometimes, you need to take a vacation from your travels and just do nothing.
- It is entirely normal to feel like you are in a life-sized MarioKart game when sitting in the back of a tuk-tuk weaving through traffic.
- Our parents are more awesome, encouraging, and open-minded than we have ever given them credit for before.
- Amazingly, bored is something I never experience when traveling.
- I am terrible at accents but I try anyway.
- I am a celebrity in Asia; I’ve taken more pictures with other Asian tourists than I can remember.
- Sleep and a good meal can cure an otherwise horrible day.
- When all else fails, a meal is never further than the nearest convenience store.
- Food is the great uniter. Everyone, everywhere, eats.
- Language is the great divider. But, smiles and hand signals can usually get you what you need.
- If you don’t drink beer, don’t bother drinking alcohol at all in Southeast Asia.
- You haven’t really eaten Chinese food unless you’ve eaten it in China.
- Not all guidebooks are created equal.
- Luxury and poverty are relative terms.
- Having an en-suite bathroom is a luxury.
- Being able to drink pure clean tap water is decadent.
- Never leave home without toilet paper, especially in Asia.
- New Zealand may be the most beautiful country in the world.
- French fries laid on top of lasagna is considered an acceptable meal in Australia.
- Grilled kangaroo tail is as unappetizing as it sounds.
- Koalas are even cuter than you think they are.
- Florida beaches are more beautiful than those in Thailand and Australia.
- Our homeland is as unique as those places we fawn over in travel blogs and magazines.
- You can’t boast that you’ll eat anything until you’ve been offered fried cockroaches on the streets of Chiang Mai.
- You can’t boast that nothing’s too spicy until you visit a chile-laden restaurant in South Korea.
- Television watching reduces by orders of magnitude when traveling but you won’t even miss it.
- It is possible to travel the world as a vegetarian and not starve.
- Street markets should be required stops for every traveler who wants to eat good food.
- Pantene Pro-V is the hair product of choice across the world.
- There are truly and really 1.3 billion people in China. That’s a heck of a lot of people.
- The fastest way to get from Point A to Point B is not always as obvious as it seems.
- The fastest way to get from Point A to Point B is often not the most interesting.
- The cost of sunscreen has a direct correlation with how much you will need it.
- The golden rule of restaurant choice generally holds true: the less people in the restaurant, the less delicious the food.
- Siem Reap is not representative of Cambodia just as Las Vegas is not representative of the United States.
- Necessity is the mother of invention.
- Meeting other travelers can be as fun and informative as meeting the local people.
- Contrary to popular belief, Americans travel to nearly every country in the world.
- But, Americans travel for less time or to fewer places than those travelers from Europe and Australia.
- Two weeks is not enough vacation time.
- Portable chairs in China are not weight-tested for American males.
- The Great Barrier Reef is as great as everyone says.
- Gazing at the Milky Way makes you feel both insignificant and important in this universe.
- Your life is what you decide it is going to be.
- That is because there are as many ways to live a life as there are people in the world.
- And, most every lifestyle is equally valid as long as that person is happy.
- American marshmallows are hands-down the best marshmallows in the world.
- Getting your partner to go to the dentist is like pulling teeth.
- No matter how geeky we think we are, there are people so much geekier than us.
- Despite thirty years of research and innumerable ad campaigns, this is still a smokers’ world.
- There are things more important than traveling; there are reasons to come home.
- While doing as the locals do will help enrich your travels, urinating on the side of the street is not a necessary requirement.
- Skype proves the axiom that the simplest solution is often the best.
- Cell phones, the internet, and television shrink the world.
- But, visiting a place and meeting people expands your world and theirs.
- Keep your temper in Thailand . . . and, for that matter, the rest of the world.
- The true meaning of bat out of hell is a baby lamb waiting to be fed.
- It is not possible to sleep late in Cambodia or Thailand because if the roosters don’t wake you, the monks ringing the temple bells will.
- Wooden toads are the most annoying souvenirs ever created.
- Australian security thinks decorative boomerangs can be used to take over a plane.
- Traveling and making money are not mutually exclusive.
- Jumping into canyons is way more fun than it sounds.
- The deliciousness of American fast food restaurants is proportional to the distance away from their home location.
- Despite its demise in the United States, Kentucky Fried Chicken is the king of fast food across the world.
- Locking suitcases and computer equipment makes good sense whether staying in a five star hotel or a basic backpackers.
- Racial diversity is more rare than you might think.
- Racial diversity does not always mean racial integration.
- International politics is more complicated than any newspaper makes it out to be.
- Believing in peace, kindness, and resiliency is not naïve or hopeless.
- It is a lot easier to come up with 99 lessons learned than 100 lessons learned.
- And, last but certainly not least: The world is a good place and there are good people here. Including you.
