Thailand will be the last country of our trip around the world. We are going home! It’s been the time of our lives, the greatest thing we have ever done and we enjoyed every second of it, every breath we took. We have experienced things and grew from them like we would have never ever imagined before. We thank God for everything we have learned from the blasting times and even more for keeping our backs in the challenging times and letting us grow from them.

We are definitely not the people anymore who we were, before we stepped on that airplane to Rio de Janeiro eight months ago. Traveling changed our appearance maybe a little bit, but our minds a lot. Our eyes got used to seeing things from many different perspectives. We saw lifestyles all over the world, explored different cultures and met amazing people – people from all over the world who will be our friends forever. All of you who have the slightest wish or urge to travel – please – don’t hesitate and GO for it! You will never regret it. 🙂

When we think back to uncountable memories, it almost feels overwhelming and it becomes hard to focus on only one special moment – there are too many! 😉
From sitting in an airport with a one way ticket to South America with no plan to watching the sunset in the middle of the desert, from sleeping in hostels to living in our own van, from hiking at over 5000m in the Peruvian mountains to catching waves at endless beaches, from not showering for days to getting all fancy for weddings, from -12°C/10°F in Uyuni to over 40°C/104°F in Sydney, from 3rd world countries straight to 1st world countries and culture shocks, from the highs to the lows,… a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Wow!

We actually planned on exploring more of Asia and we have even talked about going to Africa but we decided that it is time to go home to focus on Dougs health condition. Stonytrails go on, now it’s our mission to kick this Rheumatoid Arthritis in the butt! We are positive that there is a way and have faith that we will be able to get it under control.
Anyone who knows more about Rheumatoid Arthritis understands how big of an accomplishment this journey has been for us. Doug has been a trooper and I’m so proud of him. I’m really grateful for how strong he was – for us – that we were able to go on this adventure.

– We explored 8 countries,
– spent about 75 hours in airplanes, (excluding layovers)
– went almost 5000km/3100miles by bus in South America alone, (longest bus ride was 18 hours!!! Are we crazy?)
– drove over 15000km/9300miles (between rental cars, our own van and mopeds/motorcycles)
– visited over 100 cities and towns…

242 days of exploring the world! Traveling is so exciting, but also exhausting. It was weird when we clicked the button to book our final flight, but we knew why we did it. We are ready to come home and give our family and friends extra long hugs. We can’t wait!

Woohooo!!!
See you soon!

Anna & Doug