My last posting of this trip. Today my 5th around-the-world journey comes to an end. Home at last. It hits me every year that I enjoy all of the various other places on the planet - but there is absolutely no place like home in Fort Lauderdale. It is truly heaven to me.
On this trip, I have travelled on 17 flights for a total of almost 27,000 miles and on 1 ship for almost 2,000 miles. Almost 30,000 miles traveled around the world. I wish I had worn an odometer for this trip so I would know how far I have walked over the past 6+ weeks. I would imagine over 50 miles but it is hard to guage.
And I took 1,451 pictures over the last 6 weeks. The most in Istanbul and Paris, and the least during the days on the ship, Bulgaria and Romania. I'll really have to go some editing of those!
I visited 7 new countries this trip - Philippines, Malaysia, Nepal, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine. Revisits to Greece, Switzerland, and France. Good experiences in all.
It hits me that no matter where I travel, I realize that while our American way of life is pretty special, it isn't the only way.
We all share many common human traits - we have families that we love, we want to earn a living to provide for ourselves and our loved ones, we want to have enough to eat and drink, we want to have trust in our government (and we are disappointed when the government is corrupt or causes us to distrust it), we want to feel safe, we want jobs to earn a living, and we want access to good health care. Universal constants.
We may dress differently, live differently, eat differently, drive differently, sleep differently, and sometimes behave differently, but we hold more in common than we have differences. The things that matter the most are held in common. If only we could get beyond the other things that really don't matter.
I got up at 5:45 am and went over to the airport for my last flight - this time on US Airways - from Reagan to FLL. It was a zoo at the National Car Rental check in. That took a while. I checked my bag with US Airways and she wanted me to pay for an overweight bag (57.5 pounds) but I reminded her that I was first class. Security lines at Reagan were slow and a zoo. Very confusing.
Plane was a little late getting in but we loaded up and were on our way south. On arrival, I retrieved my bag, Terry was waiting for me to take me to the Venetian.
I got my bags in the condo - gosh is it good to be home - and then headed out to meet Tim for luch. It was good to see him as I've missed him so during my trip.
Now to plan my 6th Around-The-World Trip!!!!
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