As everyone knows, Angelo and I have been back in the States for some time. The efforts to adjust to the usual rhythm of western society and all of its comforts proved to be quite easy and familiar. But lately the familiarity of home is starting to give us both the itch to get back out on the road and see new places. I had intended to write an article about the awkwardness that occurs to an individual when she/he returns from an extended trip away from home.

Of course, life happens; holidays, work and family make the time pass and before I knew it I had realized that almost 3 months have elapsed since writing on this website. We had put so much effort into our posts during our trip that we decided that it would be a waste to let the website lay unmaintained. So now, I am forcing ourselves to begin contributing to this site with new places and adventures. In the meantime, many of you asked, how was it? Where was your favorite and least favorite place that we visited? Well overall, the trip was amazing! Angelo would agree with me that it was incredible to witness all of those different cultures. How fortunate we were able to have those experiences in our lifetime, all the different people we met and places we’ve seen were fantastic.

Our favorite spot overall would have to be Japan. There were other other countries that had definite highlights, but Japan has it all.  The old and new, history, great food, music, dance, art, fascinating culture… We would return in a heartbeat, it’s just very expensive. Our least favorite place would have to be Cambodia and Bali.  Ok, don’t get me wrong – there are some WONDERFUL sights in both countries and the people in both probably were the nicest on our trip. I mean, where are there temples like Ankor Wat and Tanah Lot here in the U.S.? It had to do more with the socio-economic issues of the people and seeing that everyday was somewhat disturbing, especially for us who are very sensitive.  I have to say the water pollution (at the beaches) was pretty upsetting for me.  Imagine (well I think you can understand), you have all these ideas about how clear the water is going to be as your taking the 7 hour trip to Bali, and when you arrive there is trash all over the sand and in the water.

When we got home, it felt strange to be here. Our plans were to travel a whole year, but we ran out of money. That night in November when my parents picked us up from LAX, I was a bit shocked to see my parents and be in a car so big! It also was so great to sleep in a comfortable bed!!! If there was anything holding us back from leaving again, it would be the bed. Yes, it does make a difference. Friends asked if we were a bit shocked when we got home. Shocked, well no. Disjointed, well yes. Some friends and family had kept in contact with us but some (through no fault of their own) we lost contact with, and reconnecting those relationships is important to us.

We have been working freelance jobs and trying to save up again to leave, and what felt like forever – now we are leaving in 2 weeks for San Francisco. Okay, yeah, its not Peru – but it’s a start right? Our goals is to work while on the road this time and to meet more dancers and artists to document. Because you are our audience, any connections or ideas – please post in the comments or email us. I am going to be posting where we are heading next before we travel there, hopefully not after, that way you can share contacts or places with us.

Did we have any regrets? Well, the biggest issue that we had was that we visited 13 countries and only conducted 5 interviews. That was frustrating, and was not reflective of lack of effort to reach out to other dancers. Either people didn’t respond because they were busy or just didn’t know who we were, this is only speculation. On the other hand, it makes us so grateful for the artists we did meet on the road and how much insight it gave us about their culture. I feel like Angelo grew so much with his photography and I enjoy being able to share our experiences with you.  Please keep reading and commenting, please share with friends and family if this little blog inspires you. Thank you for all the support so far.