90 Day Report and Trip Statistics
Authored By Brian
We’ve been back now for just over 90 days. Since our last update, Jennifer has taken a job at Aruba Wireless in Sunnyvale, I’ve picked up a business partner in MotorsportReg.com and am working out of an office and we have moved to Los Gatos in the South Bay. Yes, we already miss San Francisco.
The model for our unit
Lots of change but we are getting settled in. Everything is unpacked and I think we’ve gone through our final furniture rearranging for our one-bedroom apartment. We’re living in a brand-new apartment community right off Highway 85 that backs up to the Los Gatos Creek Trail (which we jog on during the weekends). There is a gym on premises and a cafe and private cinema for use by the tenants. It’s a drastic change but we’re acclimating and the pool/hot tub are helping. Let us know if you want to come over for a swim!
It’s so easy to get back into a routine and in some respects it seems like our trip was already years ago. But then we try to recall a date and realize that it was only 6 months ago that we were in South East Asia eating grilled corn off the street for a quarter!
As a final entry, we’re presenting a snapshot of the highs and lows of our trip in statistical format. If you didn’t read the blog while we were away, here’s the whole shebang in the next 60 seconds:
| Countries visited: |  Jennifer: 15, Brian: 13 |
| Number of miles traveled: | 70,000 |
| Days gone: | 199 |
| Combined Per Diem: | $187.88/day |
| Continents visited: | 5 (North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, South America) |
| Longest bus ride: | 12 hours (Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand) |
| Longest train rides: | 18 hours (Bangkok to Hat Yai, Thailand), 16 hours (Mumbai to Delhi, India) |
| Number of flights: | 33 |
| Forms of transportation taken: |  Plane, campervan, train, taxi, elephant, subway, jeep, 6-wheel 4×4, bus, ferry (big like New Zealand/Thailand, tiny like Laos with two canoes and a motor), minivan, toy train, bicycle, scooter, gondola, go-kart, boat (liveaboard, rigid inflatable), kayak, white water raft, zip line, rickshaw, autorickshaw, tuk-tuk and of course FEET. Hence, the name of this travelogue. |
| Top surprises of the trip: | India (way interesting) / Bocas del Toro, Panama (so beautiful) / Thailand (disappointing) |
| Bribes paid: | $10 for Cambodian Visa |
| Time knowingly scammed: | 5 (Vietnam train tickets, Bag stolen in Costa Rica, $20 taxi ride in San Jose, 10 euro cab ride at Mt. Vesuvius, Ear-cleaning guy in Delhi) |
| Attempted scams in India: | 10,549 (The number of minutes I was awake in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra) |
| Number of near marine capsizes: | 2 (Thailand ferry from Ko Lipe to Phuket) |
| Strongest sun (easiest to burn): | New Zealand (can burn in as little as 15 minutes) |
| Most oppresive weather: | Cairns, Australia (100+F/40+C with 80%+ humidity and no beach access due to jellyfish) |
| Best host: | Cousin Patrick Zinelli in Rome, Italy |
| US Embassies visited: | 2 (Phnom Penh, Cambodia / San Jose, Costa Rica) |
| Low point of trip: | Jennifer almost going home |
| Lowest altitude on trip: |  106 feet below sea level while scuba diving @ ~32 meters (Or possibly: bottom of Lucky Strike cave, Waitomo district, New Zealand?) |
| Highest altitude on trip: | 13,779ft (peak of Dead Woman’s Pass, Inca Trail, Peru |
| Most unusual vista: | Looking out the window of an airplane at Mt. Everest but not looking down! |
| Things we no longer look twice at: | Public urination, transportation with 3x the number of people to seats |
| Best pampering: |  Club Med, Bali |
| Best massage: | Siam Reap, Cambodia |
| Top Archaelogical sites: |  Angkor, Cambodia / Machu Picchu, Peru |
| Top Man-made sites: | Taj Mahal, India / Eiffel Tower, France |
| Top Natural sites: | South Island, New Zealand / Bocas del Toro, Panama / La Fortuna/Monte Verde, Costa Rica / Darjeeling, India |
| Number of boxes shipped home: | 6 (Auckland, Sydney, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Rome) |
| Pairs of underwear each carried: | 3 |
| Number of Brian’s customers who know he was out of the country: | 0 |
| Best Pizza: |  Neapolitan in Napoli, Italy. This is a staple of the budget travelers diet. |
| Best Mexican food: | Cusco, Peru (not for lack of trying elsewhere) |
| Best meal: | Herzog Winery, Marlborough, New Zealand |
| Weird stuff we (knowingly) ate: | Guinea pig (cuy), Alpaca, Squab (pigeon) |
| Best luxury bargain: | $10 high tea and unlimited chocolate at the Sofitel Metropole Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam |
| Relatives visited: | 4 (Patrick in Italy / Jeff in Auckland, NZ / Phil and Anne in Bay of Islands, NZ) |
| How to toast while drinking: | Cheers (English), Chayrs (Australian pronunciation of Cheers), Prost (German), Skold (Swedish), Salud (Spanish), Salute (Italian), ? |
| Jennifer’s weakness: | Bartering (How much? 50? How about… 48! 49??? OK! Here, just take my wallet…) |
| Brian’s weakness: | Little girls selling trinkets (Here, just take my wallet…) |
| Number of haircuts: | Brian: 8, Jennifer: 0 |
| Best haircut: | Panama City, Panama, $3 finished with a straight razor |
| Best street food: |  Grilled corn in Hoi An, Vietnam / Banana Crepes in Vang Vieng, Laos / Train station Samosas in Mumbai, India / Thai Iced Tea in Bangkok, Thailand |
| Worst hotel: | $4/night in Darjeeling, India with squat toilet, no sink and a hot bucket of water in the morning for a shower |
| Best Hotel: | Club Med, Bali, 2nd place was Cositera Amalfitana, Italy |
| Biggest contrast: | Rainforest glacier hiking in New Zealand 5 miles from the sea |
| Quietest City: | Tokyo, Japan |
| Loudest Cities: | Bangkok, Thailand / Delhi, India / Panama City, Panama |
| Best “what can you do?” moment: | Pope’s Easter Sermon interrupting the Formula 1 race on television while in Italy |
| Books Jennifer read: | 19 |
| Seas/Oceans played in: | 3 (Pacific, Andean Sea, Carribean) |
| Buddhist Monks offended: | 2 (that we know of) |
| SCUBA dives: |  29 Brian, 27 Jennifer (we started with 0 and were certified in Australia) |
We’ll probably buy a house as things bottom out in the housing market here in the next year. We figure Jennifer has 4 years to vest at her job which gives us plenty of time to plan World Tour 2012! 
Thank you to everyone who read and commented on here while we were gone and many thanks to everyone who sent us notes and good wishes. Leaving our friends and family behind was the hardest part and you all made it a little easier!
September 7th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Wow, fun statistics. I half expected a line at the end: Being out of the country for 200 days…Priceless. (Cheesy, I know.) This was so much fun to read; thanks for compiling all these figures. Hope all is going well and that we get to see you both soon. James
September 11th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I didn’t even go, but I miss READING about it….weird.
Glad you two are back in one piece and it was good to see you last month!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
HI , It sounds like the vacation of a lifetime, and the best thing about it all you guys are still talking to each other, I enjoyed reading about all your exciting adventures, glad you are both back safe and sound , thanks for sharing , xoxoxoxo
September 12th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
pizza my heart, that image from Napoli Italia is breath-taking!
miss u guys. xoxo melissa