A Place Both Wonderful and Strange – Tash & Ricki's Career Break Travels

Yes, I’m aware we are well over halfway through 2025 (and rapidly closing in on three quarters…!). But I had promised (threatened) a wrap up post, and the blog just didn’t feel complete without one. So here I revisit my aims for the year, put together some observations/themes and recap the highlights. And don’t worry, I’m not going to pad it out with “outtakes” or “never before seen footage”. 

Let’s get the “performance review” out of the way first shall we? My aims and how I performed against them:

• Improve my Spanish to conversational level (and develop others such as Italian and Portuguese) – I’d give this one half marks. I wouldn’t say we went full conversational, but we did manage to have some rudimentary chats with taxi drivers and others. I picked up some new words in Italian, and Portuguese positively didn’t happen, on account of Brazil being ruled out. There is always future travels for that one. I did however also try bits of German, Thai, Vietnamese, Quechuan, Aymara, Russian, Khmer and German, so you could say I went for quantity not quality!
• Become more confident in asking for assistance and interacting with others – I’d say this is also still a work in progress. But my trip to two Uzbekh pharmacies, neither speaking English, definitely counts for something here. And more generally about interacting with others below.
• Cook from scratch at least once a week – well, the thought was nice. I did do sous-cheffing though, and for the last 3.5 months of the year, neither of us were really cooking. Such is the beauty of life in Asia!
• Go with the flow – check. Things did go wrong, and we just got on with it, with pretty minimal stress. From Ricki cutting open his head, to not getting the necessary immunisations for Brazil; from unexpected visa restrictions in central America to terrorist threats cancelling concerts in Austria. They all formed part of the journey and we remain grateful that nothing posed more than a brief inconvenience.
• Improve flexibility – while I had my travel yoga mat, I was fairly committed to at least one or two sessions a week. And was more than happy to return to the spas of Thailand for some traditional Thai massage.
• Write a novel, or at least start one – possibly an ambitious one, so I’m not disappointed in myself for failing to accomplish. But I did do more creative writing than I had at all in the years since finishing secondary school. And this blog took up so much more time and energy than I had expected!

Now for some observations on the year:

A Good Dose of Perspective

This wasn’t a surprise to us, but travelling was definitely a reminder of how privileged we are. Not just because we are able to do so, but because our home lifestyles are so comfortable compared to many others across the world. Though we might complain about our own government, visiting countries such as Cambodia and Chile was a sobering education about scarily recent human rights infringements.

If everyone could be as lucky as we are, travelling as extensively, I think there would be a lot more tolerance and understanding in the world.

Climate Change is Real

Our beautiful planet is definitely heating up. Almost every country we visited was registering higher than average temperatures. And yes, I see the hypocrisy of this warning given we probably had more flights than hot meals last year. I hope we see change from the top before matters become irreversible.

I Can Still Make Friends…

I didn’t consider the career break as a chance to “find myself”. But one thing I was pleasantly surprised to find was that I still have the ability to forge new friendships. As an introvert, I just need a little time to warm up. So rather than being the drain on batteries I feared it could be, group travel was more of a success than I had imagined. You could say I just need to invoke a little bit of stockholm syndrome on people!

…And I Can Still Be Brave / Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

See above! But in general, as I’ve got older and felt more mortal, maybe I’ve tended towards playing it a bit safer. Last year was a good reminder that even if it gets my heart going gangbusters, I can still go to unfamiliar places; mountain bike; hike for days; sleep under canvas; hitch a ride on the back of a scooter, and come out unscathed. I aim to keep hold of this and keep challenging myself.

It’s Ok to Say No

Maybe conversely, but there is also something to be said for trying to ignore FOMO (fear of missing out). Did I survive mountain biking in Bolivia? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Not really. And based on past (admittedly minimal) experiences, I knew that was probably going to be the case. But I let all the online articles about how great it is and how you MUST ABSOLUTELY ON PAIN OF DEATH do it, sway my mind. But hey, I got a t-shirt and some good photos out of it. And maybe it will strengthen my convictions for future. 

One Thing I Wished I Did Differently

Bought a lanyard or go-pro so that I could have captured even more memories. Then again, there is a lot to be said for being fully in the moment, and not watching through a lens.

This Blog Started Out for Others, but Ended Up For Me

I would have still posted photos on social media, but when various family/friends suggested a blog, it seemed like it would have enough appeal to be worth it. Readership numbers perhaps suggest otherwise, but maybe that’s more an indictment on the calibre of my writing.

It truly doesn’t matter though. What I hadn’t anticipated was that this blog would end up serving as a great aide-memoire. Within months, when I turned back to my first posts I was surprised at the details I had already forgotten. Some small and trivial perhaps, but all forming pieces of a beautiful picture.

So finally, a thank you if you have read this far. And a thank you to those who encouraged me to write it. I had fully intended to include a “Top 10 Highlights” list in this post. In revisiting all my photos though, something that should have already been apparent hit me – almost 50 weeks of travel and over 20 countries could not possibly be boiled down into a list of 10. So here is my highlight reel instead! 2024 – a year of travel, sometimes strange and always wonderful.