Grand Adventure 2017 – The Grand Recap
Although I won't be doing a full November review (27 of the 30 days of the month were on the trip) Jenn and I put together a full recap of our time abroad. You might be wondering why this is posting at the end of December instead of the end of November? Good question. On our last flight from Toronto to LAX we left our iPad Pro on the plane. Luckily two weeks ago Air Canada found it and mailed it to us via FedEx. Once we got it back Jenn put together the last two remaining slideshows for Thailand and India. So without further ado here is The Grand Recap.
After twenty-seven days, away from home, we’re now back home and I’d give anything to be starting this trip over again. If you said Joel you and Jenn can go to all of these places again tomorrow, I’d say give us ten minutes so we can pack our bags. Before we left on this trip I wasn’t sure we would have had as great of a time as we did.
Over this trip, Jenn has been putting together video slideshows of each stop we’ve been on. I think they're brilliant, and am so grateful that she put them together. To accompany each video I’ll just give some of my high-level thoughts on them, and end with a final recap to close out one of the craziest adventures we’ve gone on to date.
Tokyo, Japan (November 1st – November 7th)
The start of a trip can be tricky. There’s always an adjustment to get on the new time zone and also get in the “vacation mode.” We were able to get our barring’s easily in Tokyo because it’s one of the most incredible cities we’ve ever visited. They have amazing public transportation and easily the best food we had on the trip. I’ll never forget doing the Mario Kart excursion or eating sushi on the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental.
We spent the most time of any spot on this trip in Tokyo and yet I feel like there is so much more left to explore. Plus, if we ever got bored we could just eat our way through Tokyo.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong (November 7th – November 11th)
After some rough experiences in Beijing, we were a little leery of going to Hong Kong even if it’s not part of mainland China. Those trepidations weren’t needed because we had nothing but amazing experiences in Hong Kong. I had two favorite moments in Hong Kong that I’ll never forget. The first was walking and boating through the fishing tour in Lantau Island. Everyone was so friendly and it opened our eyes to a world that is so different from our own. The second was going to an empty Disneyland Hong Kong and running around like we were teenagers again. Some of the best moments in both of our lives have taken place at Disneyland and this one ranks as one of the best.
Hanoi, Vietnam (November 11th – November 14th)
When I start to look back and think about our time in Vietnam I’m still amazed with all of our experiences there. I’ll never forget the first night in Hanoi when we were driving from the airport to our hotel and the crazy amount of security on the roads because of Trump visiting. And then going to our hotel which had crazy security for hosting all of the Chinese dignitaries. We went to dinner that night and Jenn bonded with our waitress in the hotels French restaurant and learned about her life, her insanely long days, and her dream of visiting California one day.
We made a lot of long drives in our Grand Adventure and the one to Halong was the longest. It was so worth it. I’ll never forget us sitting at the top of our private boat trip for two hours going back to port. I’ll never forget both of us sitting there and knowing that we were experiencing something that so few are able to do.
Siem Reap, Cambodia (November 14th – November 17th)
Every stop on this trip has been on Jenn or my list of places to go. But Angkor Wat in Siem Reap has been on Jenn’s bucket list items since she’s had the list. After arriving in Siem Reap and walking off the plane and into the humid heat we were whisked away to the beautiful Park Hyatt where we had a spectacular meal. The next morning our start in Angkor Wat didn’t go all that well. The sunrise which we woke up at 4 AM for wasn’t great and soon after it began to pour rain. I’ll never forget having breakfast back at our hotel with Jenn, feeling and looking exhausted. We thought about stopping the tour for the day and going back out the next day. But when our tour guide picked us up and we went back out the weather turned and we had one of the most memorable experiences of our lives.
Angkor Wat ended up being even more stunning in person and I could see going back there again one day just to re-experience the magic of the place and continue exploring both Siem Reap and Angkor Wat.
Phuket & Bangkok, Thailand (November 17th – November 23rd)
We had some plans in Phuket to go out on another boat excursion but at this point in the trip, we were exhausted. We decided instead to just relax at the beautiful Renaissance and just enjoy the tropical paradise. And for four straight days, that’s what we did. We laid by the pool, we drank Pina Coladas, we went for walks on the beach, we watched Stranger Things 2, and we just relaxed. Every night we’d see who was getting married and Jenn would tell me what she liked and what she would do differently.
Those four days in Phuket re-energized us for our last week of our trip. When we arrived in Bangkok we were both eager to get out and explore. We only had two nights in Bangkok which wasn’t nearly enough. We had an incredible tour highlighting some of the amazing temples in Bangkok, but we missed out on some great eats and shopping that I know will have us coming back to Bangkok again sometime soon.
New Delhi, India (November 23rd – November 27th)
Our final stop was also the one I was most nervous about. It turns out though I had no reason to be. New Delhi was a transformative experience. It was such a wonderful city, rich with history, great food, and amazing people. Neither Jenn or I were thrilled with the male-dominated lifestyle of India. I cannot tell you how many times when Jenn and I went out to eat or interacted with anyone that they would only address me instead of her. I hope as India progresses so do their social politics.
We had two unreal experiences in India, both on our New Delhi tour and our tour of the Taj Mahal. Those are two days in my life that I’ll never forget and made for the perfect way to close out our Grand Adventure.
Final Thoughts
I still cannot believe how much we were able to see and do over the last twenty-seven days. We go-karted in Tokyo. We walked a fishing village in Hong Kong. We sailed through Halong Bay in Vietnam. We spent an entire day hiking through Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. We laid by the beach in Phuket. We toured the temples of Bangkok. And we or visited the Taj Mahal in India. And all of those things were amazing and I won’t ever forget them. But if I was to narrow down the trip to one thing, its that for twenty-seven days I know for both Jenn and I we felt alive. We love to travel, we love to experience the world, and for twenty-seven days that’s exactly what we did.
This trip changed both of us. We are not the same people that left LAX on November 1st. I don’t think you can go on a trip like we did and come back the same. Travel gives you perspective, and for twenty-seven days we saw a world that was so different from our own. I’m so blessed and fortunate to have been able to go on such an amazing experience with Jenn. She’s the best travel companion I could ask for. She also has the biggest heart of anyone I know. I cannot tell you how many times she would get interested in a stranger’s life and become their cheerleader within minutes. She’s a truly remarkable human being and I still have no idea why she chose me but I’m so glad she did.
Our trip is now over and I’m sure we will have plenty more adventures in our lifetime. But I also know that in ten, twenty, thirty and even forty years from now we will still be looking back on this trip as one of the best adventures we’ve ever taken.
