Strange.
Considering I set off on a six month adventure nearly a year-and-a-half ago.. I have not thought much about it until recently.
But, hey! I've got a lot going on!!...
But in the last couple of weeks I have got to thinking 'what I was doing this time last year' and I now carry a portion of my RTWStrongie spreadsheet in my wallet.
This time last year I as in awful Venice Beach... Amazing to think!
For me: the world has changed a little; I know much more. I know about Russia (go Pussy Riot!!) and China and the Far East. Just a bit.  And the USA,  just a bit.  And I follow world news with more understanding. And I have a bit of closure; I did that!!  There is some sense of achievement too.  Little me!!

A year later.  I'm very happily living with a lovely lady.  Our relationship is still fresh and wonderful. And I am constantly amazed that after 16 years of being alone that it can have happened to me.
And back to work.  And that is crap... but... well... it's ok.
But.  Being back at work means I am saving again.
And Cambodia and Thailand; Canada and Alaska call me.
Can a sixty year old still stay in youth hostels? Maybe. Can I still contemplate FarEast travel with  my arachnaphobia...  I survived flying cockroaches in Mongolia... (shit!! I've been to Mongolia!!! Wow!)
But I do not want to leave my Wendy alone for what might be a month..
I have not got the travel bug out of my system.  Ever dreamer me.

Home again, home again, home again...

And how to end a blog that has lasted six months?

Try a few stats: 

I travelled through  11 countries and all the world time zones.

45,000 kilometers journeyed.

£12000 spent. 3549 photographs.

I learned how to say please and thank you in nine languages; and have already forgotten eight of them.

I have two full exercise books of almost-daily hand written diary.

I walked a total of 720 kilometers (but set myself a target of 1000).

16 flights in six months.

Four long train journeys:

Trans Siberian from St Petersburg to Beijing; San Francisco to Seattle; Seattle to St Pauls/Minneapolis; Copenhagen to Stockholm.

Four ferries: Helsinki to St Petersburg; Busan to Shimoniseki and two to the Orknies.

And how did it all end?  Paul and Sophie were at Heathrow to greet me holding a

Mr Man picture with Round the World Strongie boldly written on it.  And had organised me a buffet and party when I got home…bless!   So, home again, home again, home again.

And what did I learn?

Several things struck me: 

On the big train...  The sudden change from the lack of energy and antipathy of Mongolia to that of China.  Within a few miles of desert and barrenness of the Mongolian side of the Gobi there was Chinese industry, farming, housing… bustling and productive. 

The wonderful sweet, politeness, charm and pleasantness of the Far Eastern people.  Especially Korea.  It was very noticeable.

I did not see loads of amazing, wonderful, totally-different flora and fauna.  Sadly.

Even everyday clover, blackberries, hogweed… sparrows, starlings…squirrels… spruce, birch… were just everywhere.

I was surprised how the major world-renowned icons were not how I really expected them to be. 
Tianamen Square, Forbidden City,  the Great Wall,  Kremlin, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley.  They looked incredibly familiar… but they were not. 

The obvious social decay in California was shocking.  It was not just the homelessness but it was a pervading atmosphere.  Ok, I know I was not poshing it up in 5* hotels but I did not expect such hopelessness.

But there is such beauty everywhere.  And I know that on my little travel I did not even scratch the surface.  It’s a big wonderful world out there.

I've been to Salem...Aaaaaagh!!!

Think of Salem and you might think of evil... witches; Blackbeard the pirate's birthplace..
Well....  It might be evil...

But the town was all colourful clapboard houses, and the prettiest I've seen in USA so far.
And the harbour was huge, and sparkled with hundreds of yachts bobbing up and down.
And there was such a sharp, clean light everywhere.
And the New England trees are just, only just, turning Autumnal.
And there's lots of arty little shops and cafe's and souvenir haunts.
And such history.  Renowned as the town that led a fanatical witch hunt it now prides itself in leading the USA against prejudice and hate and the fear of the unknown.
Salem is beautiful.

Boston is like Seattle.  Clean, vibrant, safe and has such pride in it's place in American history; it has been a  such a pleasure to visit it.
And I've been to Harvard.
Pah! I went on a student-led guided tour.  And he proudly introduced the Boston University and explained it's history.  I've seen the Yard and the Memorial Hall (which has a sad story involving the Titanic).  I've seen Kennedy's window to his room when he stayed. But. Pah!  Not a faint shadow of the beauty and majestic history of Cambridge and Oxford.

And I have been to the Cheers bar.  But was very disappointed; it was just another bar in a mall and you had to book a table to go in... but since then, of course,  I have found out that that wasn't the real Cheers bar - that is near Boston Common and I'll go tomorrow... but, of course, that will not be the real Cheers bar either - the real one is on a tv lot.

I am a little gekko

Downstairs on the double decker train in the snackbar is Dan. He has three one-hour breaks in his 16 hour day and he is  a dime short in his quarter of customer service. But he looked at me while I ordered yet another black tea.. "I'm sorry?".. pause, blank look at me as if he hadn't heard me.. "I just can't stop thinking of that little gekko in the advert on TV - you're English accent is just so him." And others around agreed.  My squeaky little English voice is uncannily like the little gekko... you know the one?.  It's ok, though, apparently the women here think he's cute.

On the Amtrak train from Seattle to St Paul/Minneapolis for the onward flight to my last four days of the RTW holiday in Boston.
Made friends with a guy from St Cloud who served in VietNam and was on his way back from a reunion.  Really interesting; we talked American attitudes to Nam now and then.  And we talked guns.  He owns three pistols, a rifle and a shotgun. The former for protection the latter for hunting.  Apparently 90% of his friends own similar.

We have been through Glacier Park There were no glaciers and just s smudge of snow on the 8000' mountains.
And then there's a lot of big skies in Wyoming, and as far as the eye can see, nothing.
Went through Wolf City and there was a great statue of a wolf.. the city got it's name from the original Wolf fur trading post that it started from.

And North Dakota. And Williston.  Which I was thinking was yee-hah cowboy country. Nope buddy. There's oil in them thar wheatfields!  They struck Texas gold here in the 50's and only recently realised that it actually is a field as big as a Texas one.  Woopity-Do!  And as dusk came on you could see little distant oil flares and see-saw oil pumps everywhere
.
Which probably explains why gas is $3.45 a gallon here. Yes, a gallon!

So, the wheels eventually came off...

After a few days of things going wrong I so wanted to love Seatttle.  And not be sleepless and stressed.  The overnight Coastal Starlight train from San Francisco to Seattle did not start well.  As I tried to put my newly purchased Chinese case in the overhead rack the wheels fell off.  Broked. OMG! Now what!!
And I was in seat 44 - in the aisle and next to me in the window seat was a black guy the size of a sumo wrestler.  Gulp!! Minnow me.  And of course he snored.  All night. Right next to me.  More OMG! I probably got only an hour's sleep. And another rock-bottom moment.
It was a spectacular sunrise, but I couldnt see it, he had pulled the curtain and I sure wasn't going to disturb Mr Giant haystacks. Minnow me. But...
At 645am I went to get breakfast at the dining car. And the sun shone on me.  I got turned away cos I did not have shoes on... but... I discovered the observation and lounge car.  And joy!  Snack bar, coffee and big-windows view.   I did not go back to GHaystacks for the remaining 12 hours.
When we got into Oregon two people got on who were locals and they gave us a running commentary as we went past Crater Lake, Mount St Helens.  More joy!  Such lovely people. Me into it now! The scenery is lovely. And I have neever seen so many blackberries! They have blackberry festivals out here!
Our guides got off at Salem. Only to be replaced by two more who entertained us right through to Seattle.
And Seattle is cool. Not scary. Not hectic and nasty. It's beautiful. Happy me!!

I have updated my itinerary.
Have been on a boat trip. Have seen the aquarium. Have had my hair cut. And went to Bainbridge Island today. And there's an underground tour, and a monorail and I have had a fab spicy lunch and tomorrow am going to go on an Indian trip... and... and... and...

In a previous life I went on an oh-so-boring Coral's course that encouraged us to create an atmosphere in our betting shop - make customer service our priority- make it a fun place to come in to. They extolled this by showing us a short film of a fish market in Seattle. 
And how surreal it was to actually be there. I recognised it immediately, even though I hadn't thought about it for a year... Couldn't  believe it, there they were, laughing, shouting, singing, throwing the fish to each other. And yes, they drew a crowd.. and yes they were so funny and so good...and seemed so happy at work...
 I can't wait to get back to Corals and to put these practises in now I have actually seen them.  NOT!!

And if you're going to...

Be sure to wear a jumper and pack your fleece...

After weeks and weeks of coping with 30 degree heat everyday since Moscow; San Francisco was decidedly chilly.  And wonderfully so.

I did all I wanted to. Nearly. Managed to get a decent hotel; after 2 nights in hostel in Saigontown I transferred to a wonderful hotel and a very kingsize bed.  Oopspounds.

I managed to get me some new readymade glasses, $219.. ouch! (insce claim?)
And rode the Powell and Mason and other trams.  Only for the fun though, they are so slow.  And always full!
Had gumbo.  And no, that's not an illness.
Went under and over the Golden Gate bridge (with fog) and around Alcatraz.  And loved the hustle and bustle at Fisherman's Wharf with live buskers and street bands and street food vendors.

But again.  So much despair, so many helpless, homeless, blank faces muttering, grovelling in the gutters and begging and such a feeling of hostility in the streets.  That now means every city I have been to in the USA I have felt uncomfortable and unsafe.

I have succumbed.  The call of home and family and very special people.  I have reorganised my ROW in 81 days to ROW in 66 days and come home a week on Sunday.  Time to see Seattle, do another train journey, find some tall trees  and seeBoston. 
Two months is a long time to be away from beans on toast with daddies sauce, Morrisons and Downton Abbey.

Am I safe here?? 3/9/11

The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion were magnificent and true natural wonders of the world.
Pick up a few superlatives and pour liberally:
Zion:               Keith and I waded knee deep in Virgin River at the narrows with 2400' cliffs on either side.
Vegas:            Our group walked along the Venice canal while the gondoliers punted and sang (each gondala cost $64 to hire), we watched live opera in St Marks Square with jugglers, stilt walkers performing and we wandered along Venetian narrow streets and window shopped... all inside a hotel.
Glen Canyon:  We looked 2000'  straight down at Horseshoe Bend.
Lake Powell:   Swam in the largest man-made lake in USA (the water was so warm, just like a bath.. such a difference to Lake Baikal)

And as a contrast:
Today I flew to San Francisco.  Lots of people telling me how wonderful it is.  Well, I ain't seen it yet.
The hostel is in Ellis Street that is the top of a triangle together with Eddy St and Turk St that apparently is not safe at night, during the day it is "not so bad" and I quote:   "only rampant drugs and vice"  Great!!  In the dark this evening I walked hundreds of yards along a street with very, very, very dodgy looking guys hanging around.  Not that I saw them.  I looked straight ahead, pulling my wobbly-wheels suitcase beihind me.  Anyway, I couldnt see a f.....in thing without my glasses.  Whatever.