Journey's End

Day 100: Khao Yai National Park (T) – Bangkok (T). After 100 days and 16,000 unbelievable and unforgettable miles the little service bus from Pak Chong crossed the Bangkok City Limits. We had arrived. And whilst our voyage had only ever been about the journey and never about the destination, Karen and I did afford ourselves the luxury of a couple of cocktails down the Khaosan Road by way of celebration. After all, for Karen and me at least, this did represent an incredible achievement.

After a few days exploring the Thai capital and sampling the culture of this, one of the most vibrant cities in South East Asia, we would be boarding a plane to Mumbai and then onwards to London Heathrow where Steve and Alison would be (hopefully!) waiting to take us back to our home in the small Cambridgeshire village of Steeple Morden. In a cramped, metal tube; seven miles high, we will retrace our steps in less than half the distance and one two-hundredth of the time – but where's the fun in that?

And after what has been the most amazing of experiences, if I could be so presumptuous, so arrogant as to offer anybody any advice at all it would be 'Go live your dreams'. It doesn't matter whether those dreams are to travel half way around the planet or to get home from work a little earlier to see the kids before bedtime; go do it now. As Karen and I learnt, when you really put your mind to it it's a lot easier than you think, and believe us; you won't regret it.

But what of Karen and me? What have we learnt from our adventures? Well, in truth, we could easily fill another 112 page blog trying to answer that question! We have learnt so much about ourselves, about each other and about this world and the people that make it such a wonderful place. But for now, by way of closure to our story, let us just leave you with these three observations:

Firstly, we are amazed how resilient the human body really is! For the best part of four months it doesn't seem to have mattered how much we cut, scraped, grazed, bruised, twisted, burnt, punctured, poisoned or intoxicated our bodies they always made a remarkable recovery (thankfully!)

Secondly, we have both rediscovered the phenomenal potency of a simple smile. It didn't matter how threatening or hostile the situation had become, how difficult things seemed to be getting or how dire our verbal communication were – a smile seemed to have the power to make everyone want to work it out: The world's global language.

And finally, the most important thing that Karen and I have both learnt from our amazing experiences is that the overwhelming majority of people are just like us. Meeting someone for the first time, whether they be a hill tribesman from a remote part of Northern Vietnam or the person who has just moved in along the the street, it can be quite easy to see people as different, strange or just plain weird!. But what we have discovered is that if you really spend the time to get to know that person and if you really try to see things from their perspective, then more often than not we found that they have the same basic hopes, fears, and aspirations that we all do. All we needed was patience and a little time.

Take a little time!

Total Mileage: 16,105: Number of Time Zones: 10; Number of Countries Visited: 12; Number of Transport Modes Used: 39 (Bamboo Raft, Bicycle, Bus, Car Ferry, Chairlift, Chinese Junk, Commuter Train, Cyclo, Dog Sled, Funicular Railway, Golf Buggy, Hire Car, Horse, Jamboh, Kayak, Mini Bus, Monorail, Moped, Metro, Moto, Moto Bus, Motor Tricycle, Motorcycle, Passenger Ship, Passenger Ferry, Pick Up Truck, Sail Boat, Sawngthaew, Side-car, Skidoo, Sleeper Bus, Sleeper Train, Speedboat, Swimming, Taxi, Tram, Trolley Bus, TukTuk & Walking.), Maximum Temperature Encountered: +38C, Minimum Temperature Encountered: -32C.

Thank you for reading!