Main train station in Frankfurt. Cold. Grey. Foggy. On the train back home, we are already missing the moist tropical air and all the smells. It feels strange to hear German all around us, so I kind of pretend to be a tourist for just a while longer and continue to speak English.
Behind us there are weeks full of adventures and when I look back now I hardly believe we actually really did all those things! All alone! One mom, one son, 24 flights, 5 countries, sleeping at forgotten villages in the middle of nowhere, starring at exploding hot lava, swimming with sharks, treks in the jungle, showering in waterfalls, visiting friends on Rarotonga & family in Singapore and an unexpected visit of Auckland in the end. A couple of very dodgy rooms and a couple of very fancy ones. Days when we only ate noodle soup out of a little bag and days when we feasted on the best fish and crabs. Days without internet. Days when our feet were really dirty and smelly. Evenings without electricity. Salty messy hair. Watching the sun rise from our tent on the beach. So many new friends. And not to forget – one book read! Yeah, finally that is also possible while travelling with Lu :).
But well, not every day was without trouble, but that´s just a part of travel. Rocking boat rides, a close hello with a very destructive cyclone that almost changed our plans, cancelled flights, missed flights, extra costs and a few days of light fever – yes, travelling can be exhausting sometimes. And expensive. But in the end, it´s all worth those 5 minutes of frustration when something doesn´t go as planned.
Luckily, we are home without having lost documents or anything else important, nobody really got sick, our backpack didn´t get lost. Lu didn´t get lost :). We didn´t even get a sunburn. We can really say we had absolutely no problems travelling just the two of us. Honestly. Everyone took extra care of us and the locals thought it´s incredible how we do this all by our selves, you know, without a man to take care of us haha. So we have gotten a free banana here and there. And a coconut. And a discount in a taxi. And lots of attention from local kids. Not even once did we feel unsafe or threatened by anyone, as a mom I felt completely comfortable going around on our own.
Have to go to work in about an hour. I hope the car will start. It´s been standing in the cold for quite a while now. You won´t believe it but I´m flying again on Friday. This time without Lu :). And when we get over jet lag and sort out the photos I´ll surely write more about all the places we went to.
