All Good Things Must End…

It's not the things you do that you regret, 

it's the things you don’t do...

...after exploring 17 countries over the last 14 months this amazing journey of mine has come to an end!

During this past year I have come to realize that the way to live life is to create memories because in the end that’s all we really have. When I think back over the last 5 years or so I can only recall a few major events that happened to me. Whereas this past year I remember almost every single day, be it the good times, the frustrating times, the boring times, or the absolutely amazing times.

I know that many people have wondered how I could financially afford to take a year off and travel. I can’t say that it was always easy, especially during those times when my bank account said I only had $30 to my name and my credit cards were maxed out. But with a few generous loans from friends and family I was able to keep traveling.

In the end I spent a total of $23,000 over 14 months. Traveling on such a tight budget I learned a lot about what mattered to me. Was it worth it to spend $4 on a Starbucks coffee when I could spend the night in a hostel in China for that same amount? Typically no, but occasionally I'd splurge on a coffee!

Thanks to all of you who have followed me on this epic adventure. And to all the amazing people I encountered along the way, it's been a real pleasure!

Until the next adventure (hopefully Central & South America)...

Living the High Life in London

For the last 14 months I’ve been mostly traveling 3rd world countries.  Living life as a backpacker I didn't care much that I’d been wearing the same clothes for days at a time because i was never in one place long enough to have my clothes washed.  I was enjoying this way of life and was not quite sure I was ready to re-enter the world of clean clothes, make-up, and high heels but I decided to jump in head first when my friend Afsoun invited me to join her for the Royal Ascot horse races in London. 

Afsoun & Jamie at the Royal Ascot Horse Races

My flight arrived to London just 12 hours before we were due to make our appearance at the racetrack and I had some serious shopping to do - specifically for a fabulous hat to show off.  Shopping is one of my least favorite activities but being that it was London I had luckily found everything I needed within a few “painful” hours (the pain coming from the insane amount of money being spent).

Race day began with a torrential downpour which dissipated in time for the Queen and Royal Family to make their appearance.  With the rain came lots of mud and the ladies dressed so fancy were caught wearing high heels all covered in mud. Actually it was quite funny!  While enjoying the races a few of Afsoun’s friends introduced me to a typical British cocktail called “Pimm’s” which we drank while watching the fabulous hats pass by.

I spent the remainder of the week dodging the never-ending raindrops, checking out the typical London sights, being utterly embarrassed when I accidentally walked into the men’s restroom at the Tate Modern museum (the sight of the man at the urinal will be forever burned into my memory), navigating the London Underground (Tube), having dinner with an old college friend who I had not seen in over 14 years, and of course getting my daily fitness fix at the local gym!

Tower Bridge in London

Hiking with Bears and Drinking with Poets in Georgia

Heading up to the mountain town of Kazbegi near the Russian border Hannah and I were about to embark on a little hiking in the Caucasus Mountains.  After a 3 hour ‘marshuka’ ride from Tbilisi - through some of the most stunning green mountains I have ever seen - we arrived.  Staying the night in a guest house where the owner “Mery” kept telling Hannah that she was a “good girl” because she could speak Georgian, Hannah and I shared a pullout sofa bed.  

Mt. Kazbegi

That evening we witnessed cows being led back from pasture by herdsmen.  It was hilarious to see the cows stand in front of their owners’ homes and moo until they were let in.  How do cows know where they live?

After buying a trail map of the Kazbegi region, Hannah and I opted to explore one of the “paths” rather than the typically traversed “trails”.  While we never quite found the “path” that we were looking, we found ourselves walking through a pasture where we encountered 3 local men and their donkeys.  Just before we approached the men we caught sight of two bears running in the hills above us.  At first we thought we were mistaken but nope... they were definitely bears.  The men, accustomed to shooting bears, were disappointed that they had missed them.  We on the other hand were thrilled!!!

Tsiminda Sameba near Kazbegi

Back in Tbilisi we took a trip out to Hannah’s newly acquired “Soviet-style” cottage - first so that I could see the place that was to be renovated over the next few years and second to grab a bicycle.  In some serious need of TLC, we took the bicycle to one of the few bike shops in the city which happened to be located next to an old Soviet velodrome (an experience in itself).  After getting the bikes tuned up we headed back to Hannah’s apartment and I will never forget the reactions we received while riding through the streets of Tbilisi.  Obviously NO ONE rides a bike in Tbilisi, least of all foreign women.  We had so many people staring, giving us thumbs up, and telling us we were crazy.  It was priceless!

The day before I was to fly to London, Hannah and I were enjoying an early dinner in this small café in Tbilisi.  As we were leaving, this table of 8 men were so impressed that Hannah spoke Georgian that they offered to pay for our dinner insisting that we have a drink with them.

Drinking in Georgia is a national pastime.  Georgians love to give toasts and typically drink shot glasses filled with “home-brew”, aka vodka.  It’s considered an offense to leave the table before you’ve sat through at least 3 toasts.  But being a woman you are allowed to completely forgo the alcohol or only take miniature shots.

The men at the table turned out to be famous Georgian Poets and what we thought would only be 10 minutes - turned into 3 hours.  Besides giving each of us a copy of their most recent publication, they also showered us with endearing toasts, talking about how happy they were that we choose to come to their country, a place of only 4 million people, and learn their language - a language spoken ONLY by these 4 million people.

I have to say I will always have a soft spot for Georgia and Hannah, I will be back!

Stranded Near Azerbaijan

Since Hannah and her husband plan to spend most summers in Georgia, they decided to ship a car over from the States.  We got the call that the car had arrived so Hannah and I headed over to the Port, six hours away.  After collecting the car we spent the night with her host family from her Peace Corps days - eating an obscene amount of food while “giving toasts” accompanied by drinking home brewed vodka and cognac.   

This is the Georgian way of life!

After a brief visit to the town of Gori, home of Stalin, we headed back to Tbilisi. The following day I set out on a 2-hour road trip with Hannah’s husband Austin, and their Georgian friend Nino, to a place called David Gareja - a Georgian Orthodox monastery complex built into the rock.  We spent a great day exploring and on our way back to Tbilisi decided to take a different route so we could stop by to see Nino’s aunt.

David Gareja Monastery

Driving through the countryside on very remote roads, close to the border with Azerbaijan, we realized that we were lost and were quickly running out of fuel.  We had two options:  turn back and hopefully make it to the main road without running out of gas or keep going and with luck find the road that would take us to Nino’s aunt’s house.

We kept going… and as we were swerving to avoid the potholes in the road we somehow ran into a big cement block hidden in the tall grass.  We hit it so hard that my sunglasses flew off and my head hit the ceiling.  We immediately got out to inspect the damage and realized that the front wheel was bent meaning that the car would not and could not move forward.

Stranded in the middle of nowhere!

We were stuck in the middle of nowhere, not sure where we were, and the sun was starting to set.  Lucky for us Nino’s aunt lived in the vicinity and we had cell phone access so Nino with the help of her aunt, was able to coordinate a search party. The men who came to get us told us that we were actually really close to town but had gone left when we should have gone right.  We all crammed into their tiny Russian made Lada, and headed into town to wait for Hannah.

Since Hannah was the only one listed on the insurance policy she had to pretend that she was the one driving the car when she was not even there!  After traveling for almost 2 hours on a bus from Tbilisi she met up with us.  The guys in the Lada had offered to take us back to the car so all of us (6 full sized adults and one kid) crammed into a space the size of a small economy car.  Talk about an uncomfortable ride!

Back at the car we finally made the call to the police so that we could get an official police report to satisfy the insurance company.  Waiting for nearly 2 hours on a dark, deserted road in the middle of nowhere was a little unnerving.  To pass the time and keep our minds from thinking about all the bad things that could happen, we sang songs. 

The police finally made it to the car at 11pm, charged Hannah 200 Lari for hitting the cement block and having to write up a police report, and the tow truck loaded the car onto a flat bed.  After taking care of all the paperwork at the police station we were finally allowed to head home at 2:30am!   Since there was not enough room for all 4 of us plus the driver in the tow truck the police told two of us to ride in the back of the car, which is illegal, but we were told by the police, “Lie down so you don’t get caught.  If you do get caught we’ll all go to prison...  but we the police will go to the nice prison and you will go to the ‘other’ prison”.  

Georgian Sulfur Baths

After leaving Krakow, Poland I flew to Kiev in the Ukraine where I had a several hour layover.  The plane from Kiev to Tbilisi, Georgia was the most uncomfortable and outdated plane I have ever been on.  There was literally just 5 inches of leg room between the two seats and when the person in front of me reclined he was practically in my lap leaving me with an intense feeling of claustrophobia. 

Most flights to Tbilisi arrive late night/early morning so my friend Hannah told me not to feel bad that she had to come and pick me up from the airport at 4am!  Luckily she was living in an apartment in the heart of Tbilisi with 2 other Americans and a Georgian so we were tucked in our beds (or should I say sofa) before 5am.

Map of Georgia and surrounding countries

After catching up on some much needed sleep we headed out on a walking tour of Tbilisi and seven "tired" hours later met up with two of Hannah’s Swedish friends for an hour long soak in a typical “Georgian sulfur bath”.  I was not sure what to expect but what I got was an experience!  

We found ourselves in this charming private room covered in mosaic tiles with a very hot 105 degree sulfur pool and a freezing cold 50 degree sulfur pool.  In this gigantic room there was also a stone table for getting a "scrub".  In the sulfur baths it’s typical for everyone to be naked (even in the public baths), and I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable at first but quickly relaxed once I was emerged in the hot sulfur waters!  For an extra $5 each, everyone decided to get a scrub down.  A woman in her 70’s entered our room wearing only her bra and underwear.  One at a time she called us over to the stone table and with her scrub mitt covered in vinegar she proceeded to scrub all the dirt and grim off us (and I mean EVERY inch of us)!  Who knew that vinegar helps to life off the dead skin.  It was quite an experience but afterwards I felt so "squeaky" clean!