The End of the Beginning

I've been finding it difficult to write a concluding post to our trip around the world. Conclusions are tricky. Though I felt that "Poor Career Moves" was a solid entry, I still need a true ending. Which brings me back to here.

Erik and I returned from England the first week of November. Staying in Leeds with our friend Tara was a good change of pace...and easier on our already barren wallets (actually, my wallet was lost in a river in Laos, so lets just say barren debit card).
We flew from London to Newark, NJ (aka Americas punch-line) and stayed a few days with our friends Nick and Sarah in Brooklyn. Hopefully, my near future will find me living in Brooklyn, so this stop was a good provocation to find a job.

After 14 weeks of traveling we caught our last flight from La Guardia to Charlotte. We made it home. We successfully adventured around the globe (distant cheers across the stadium).

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Throughout our trip Erik and I often talked about what we missed most back home.
As with many items, I kept a running list of "Things America Does Best." These are the things that either can only be found in (North) America, or that America has just figured out the best way to do....most of these are food related...ie free drink refills. Now I don't have the time to write about every thing I came up with (nor do you have the time to read such a post) but continually, one name kept popping up on the list so I feel an obligation to mention it:

Taco Bell.

If fast food was a religion, Mecca would be a Taco Bell. Between the baja chalupa combo, the grilled stuffed burrito, and the colossal grande meal (with 10 tacos), Taco Bell is in a league of its own.
As many of you know, or maybe don't know, Mexican food is rare outside of the Americas (North and South). Europeans eat Chinese and Indian food like we eat Mexican food, which is to say, a lot. In Asia English food is their Mexican food...which also is why no one eats anything other than Asian food in Asia. In India, well, they generally just stick to Indian food as well.
The point I'm trying to make is Erik and I went without a single taco for 14 weeks...and from the standpoint that we probably ate Mexican food on average 3 nights a week prior to our trip, thats a long time to go without anything containing salsa.

Now you may be wondering, "I get the mexican food thing, but why Taco Bell?" And my answer is two-fold:
A.) Because I like how it tastes.
B.) Confidence. Taco Bell is not trying to be real Mexican food. They're not dressing up their tacos to be passed off as authentic, there's no Dijorno's syndrome. No, they are confident to be cheap and simple. If I want pico de gallo stuffed tamales covered in rice I'll go elsewhere. However, when I need sixteen poorly wrapped soft taco supremes (which really just means 'with tomatoes') and a packet of sauce so honestly hot it can only be labeled 'hot,' I know what bell to ring.

As expected, within the first 48 hours of being home I made a (3) trek(s) to the local Taco Bell...and it was everything I hoped it could be.

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Creating a concluding statement on our trip has proved tough. Many people ask questions like, "what was your favorite place you visited?" or "how was the trip?" And I never know how to respond. The trip was unforgettable. I loved something about every place we visited. But within the 14 weeks I have already forgotten things that happened, and in every place we visited there were certain moments that were far from enjoyable.
But I think that's what made this such an interesting experience for me. I let myself go. This trip was an adventure, so I experienced the bad as well as the good. I never expected anything to change me and I think by not expecting and just allowing things to happen, I was ultimately changed. But now I'm focusing on the future. It's time to start the next journey and see where it takes me.
So in conclusion I'm hoping that this won't be my story of a lifetime, just one chapter.

Thanks so much to everyone who followed us through our journaling.
The comments were fun to hear and exciting to know people were reading.
Take care.
-Nick