Nine years ago today I was snoring face down in my lunch in preparation for boarding the flight home to the UK. After 365 days on the road our trip ended in a drunken slumber outside a Bangkok restaurant.
16 hours previously I’d walked Deirdre back to the hotel so she could pack and get an early night while I went back out to meet friends for a couple of drinks.
I can’t remember now who I started the evening with but I vaguely remember hooking up with random ladyboys (not in that way) and two groups of Irishmen (or one group twice) at various stages of the night and picking a fight with possibly imaginary people over the whereabouts of my hat.
I’m frequently reminded of this day – Deirdre makes sure of that – and of May 27, 2002 when we boarded our first flight, to Lima, on a journey that took us through South America, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
Though we had been on holiday together this was the first lengthy trip we had taken. Though the stress of visiting 17 countries in one year tested our relationship at times, we both returned home in one piece having resisted the temptation to do the other in and claim to the authorities it was an unfortunate accident.
To celebrate this accomplishment I thought we would present one photo from each of the countries we visited during our around the world trip that we began ten years ago tomorrow.
Peru
Bolivia
Chile
Paraguay
Brazil
Argentina
Uruguay
New Zealand
Australia
Indonesia
Thailand
Malaysia
Singapore
Laos
China
Vietnam
Cambodia
