The End.

First photo of our trip. In the Vancouver Airport.

Goes By In A Blink......a catchy phrase chosen from our favourite travel tv show. It seemed the perfect title for the blog that we were going to try and keep up to date during our one year trip. A year!! It seemed so long but deep down we knew that it really would do just as the title said...Go By In A Blink and that's exactly what it did!

Thailand.

Thailand with our visitor. Dean's cousin Brenna.

Since returning home in 2009 from a 3 month trip to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, we knew that our life together was going to be one that involved travelling.  We don't mean 2 week all inclusive vacations (yes, we have had a few of those too). We mean getting out into the world. Experiencing countries, cultures and  peoples way of life. We'd taken a small bite out of the world and were starving for more!! We had been dazzled by the beauty of this world and couldn't let it go, we had to see more! We had big ambitious goals and no idea what we were getting into or what the year in front of us had to offer.  All we knew is that life is worth living and if you aren't living out your dreams (big or small) than perhaps you aren't making the most of the time you have.  We were excited and we knew that to not follow our dreams would be to deny ourselves of what would make us truly happy. We prepared ourselves with all the necessities that would fit into a backpack and boarded a plane with only one thing being for certain.....that our next year would have no certainties at all.

Malaysia - Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. 

In Borneo atop an ancient volcano at sea.

 In retrospect, the year was a whirlwind of ups and downs, highs and lows, laughs and tears, happiness and sadness, sickness and health. Since being home we have been asked numerous times, "What was your favourite part?" That is nearly impossible to answer.  A year on the road can not be narrowed down to one good thing or one bad thing. We feel like we did a pretty good job sharing some of our best (and worst) experiences in our previous blogs. So instead, here are just a few of the things that we would list as accomplishments from the last year....

Indonesia - Ijen Crater - above the clouds :)

Cambodia - Angkor Wat.

-Visited 9 different countries and submerged ourselves in their cultures.
-Took 25 flights.
-Rode, in or on, too many buses, trains, taxis, scooter and tuk tuks to count.
- Slept in roughly 124 different beds. This includes those nights on buses, trains, boats, a tent and in the desert.
-Ate over 1460 meals in restaurants.
-Visited a clinic or hospital in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo and Vietnam.
-Lost a combined nearly 40lbs.
-Tried many new and delicious types of food.
-Met and made friends with people from all over the world who are passionate about following their dreams.  (whether that be travelling or something else.)
-Got in one car accident (well, just a fender bender) with a tuk tuk.
-Watched the sun set and rise multiple times. (Something everyone should do at least a few times each year)
-Went scuba diving.
-Swam and snorkelled with sharks, turtles and fish.
-Rode camels (very uncomfortable we must say)
-Watched orangutans play, eat and nurse their young in the wild.
-Played with and fed countless numbers of street dogs and cats.
-Hand fed a hippo.
-Got stung by jellyfish.
-Held a cobra. (Only Dean)
-Kayaked to spot dolphins.
-Boated beside a Blue whale.
-Watched 3 million bats during their nightly exodus.
-Got incredibly lucky and saw many wild tigers on our safari.
-Safaried to see wild Elephants and saw a group of approximately 100.
-Adopted a dog from Thailand.. Raindrop :)
-Contracted an exotic disease, even with being vaccinated for it...Typhoid...Twice! (Again, only Dean)
-Saw some of the most beautiful landscape and views imaginable.
-Showered in cold showers for a combined 5 months.
-Felt like we were freezing and then melting within a matter of a few days.
-Had our first true adventure caving experience...and survived!
-Went through the worlds former largest cave tavern.
-Met an abundance of happy smiling children.
-Were invited to stay in strangers homes and share meals with them.
-Got a tattoo. (Just Dean)
-Were invited to a Hindu religious dance inside their temple.
-Attended an elder Iban tribe member funeral (former headhunter tribe)
-Were chased by many monkeys.
-Travelled with our parents and Dean's cousin.
-Hiked on two islands in search of Komodo Dragons...and found them.
-Mastered Bangkok's transit system.
-Were helped by strangers every step of the trip.
-Wrote a blog that was viewed over 5500 times.
-Stayed within our budget and came home without debt. 
-Fell more in love with each other.
-Dreamed up ways to save up enough money to do it all again.

Vietnam - China Beach.

Vietnam - with our visitor. Kelly's Mom. Flight from Danang to Hanoi. 

We have been home for almost two and a half months and it is hard to believe that our time on the road seems to be already drifting into a distant memory. It's easy for us to start to feel depressed and at the same time, it's easy for us to forget the year that we experienced. We find ourselves getting sucked back into the distractions and routines of day to day life at home. Dean is good at reminding us both to remember and be proud of the accomplishments we achieved. Especially that of going out and following our dream!! Are we finished with travelling? No!!! In fact, we feel like we have only begun to scratch the surface of what is out there to see and experience. Our list of places we want to visit has actually gotten bigger since we got home.

Philippines.

Myanmar - with our visitors. Dean's parents. 

We hoped that a year away would help us narrow down what we wanted to do with life and help us narrow down the way that our life together would look. In reality, it just broadened our hopes and dreams.  What a year away did was make us more excited for what the future has to offer. We both agree that we do well with goals. We have started a new five year plan. It consists of working hard to save more money, starting a family and of course...travelling! We can't imagine not travelling again and are already trying to narrow down where we will head next. We are so very blessed and fortunate to be able to have the opportunities we do.

India - Taj Mahal.

Brenna visits us again in India!!

Sri Lanka - Little Adam's Peak. 

If you followed our blog this past year, we thank you!! It was an honour and a pleasure to share our adventures with you. Our biggest hope is that through our journey and adventure we have inspired you to reach for your dreams. Whatever they are, we hope you are in the midst of pursuing them. However big or small they are, you will not be disappointed! We weren't! We are still dreaming and are so excited for the next chapter in our lives. So we leave you with these very wise words that we feel confident most will agree with. Life is short...make the most of it....it really Goes By In a Blink!!!

Our last photo of our trip. Leaving the Vancouver Airport.