Emily's elbows were jabbed into my abdomen as she leaned across my body to stick her camera out the side of the horse-drawn carriage, trying to get the perfect shot of the sun shimmering on the Sea of Marmara. I offered to switch places with her, but apparently, my body provided a good prop for her to get the angle she wanted. Among my many roles in life, I am now a tripod.
But I appreciated her enthusiasm for photographic the stunning beauty of Buyukada - the largest of the Prince's Islands in the middle of the Sea of Marmara. On our last day of our 3.5 months in Region 1 - The Mediterranean - we took to the sea one last time and found that an hour and a half ferry trip took us to another world.
We could actually see Istanbul across the water, but the island was green with beautiful beaches, cliffs and coves. Wealthy families' giant mansions and vacation homes lined the streets and the beaches. So close to the city and well connected by public and private ferries - it was easy to see why Istanbullus love to vacation and weekend on Buyukada.
The island allows no motor vehicles, so if you want to get out of it's one and only town, you can choose renting a bike, or taking a horse-drawn carriage. We chose the full-island carriage ride like about half the arriving tourists. Within 20 minutes we were on narrow roads engulfed in green trees overlooking the sea, high atop the cliffs. It felt nothing like Istanbul.
On our last day - a Sunday - we did everything that epitomized our time in this region. We slept in, got breakfast, posted the blog, picked up our laundry, went to the water, took a ferry, had lunch overlooking the sea, checked out an island, took photos, sailed again, shopped, walked and had a dinner involving kebabs and yogurt.
We're ready to leave Istanbul. We're excited about Kathmandu. We're astonished that it had only been 3.5 months since we left home. But there's something about leaving the Mediterranean.
We've seen it from many sides and angles and we've been in some of its tributaries - we have lived with this great body of water and made it our home. It has been good to us.
This also ends the only phase of our trip in which we blend in. We've been in the first world, among Caucasian societies. We blend in. We aren't wealthy. We aren't special. We have no great value to the average merchant other than being able to pay an average dinner check and modest hotel bill.
Within 24 hours, we will enter Region 2 (Nepal and India) - a world in which we are immediately identifiable as travelers, we are wealthy, and we live at the top of the social hierarchy. Some people love this. While the money going further part is great, it changes the game completely and in a very real way takes us further from experiencing life as a local. We will have new moral dilemmas, new choices and social gaps which take more time and thought to navigate. We will no longer share a cultural, social context.
Since July 14th, we have been to Turkey, Greece, Israel, Greece, Turkey, France (Eric), Los Angeles (Emily) and Turkey. Until the last few weeks, we sweated a lot. Emily combatted prickly heat in Alanya, Turkey. We were regular beach goers in Turkey and Greece. We connected with friends and our heritage in Israel. We lived on an enchanted island for a month. I lived in Southern France for two weeks.
We made friends, visited friends and had friends visit us. We learned more uses for yogurt, olive oil, cheese and honey than we had ever imagined. And we learned how to travel together, how to work as a team in a new way and how to be together constantly while not only not killing each other - but genuinely enjoying one another.
I feel like Region 1 taught us a tremendous amount about us, as a couple. Traveling is a completely different game than daily living at home. It's much more intimate, requires more cooperation and there's constant decision-making. Whether it has been learning how to negotiate airports, run for buses, respect each other's personal needs or make the many, frequent financial choices that go with travel - we have, in my opinion, triumphed.
Emily told me the other day that one of her biggest lessons has been that I always figure out whatever I set about solving or achieving. I was touched. One of my biggest lessons has been that Emily is creative about whatever she approaches. When I least expect it, she comes up with the best ideas. In moments when I lose track or don't see choice I like, she comes up with new ones. We make a great team.
One of my favorite aspects of how we operate is that we make sure the other has gotten what they need or want out of each place and situation. If there's something important to either of is - to do or buy - we generally support making sure it happens because in life, you more often regret what you don't do than what you do. No one remembers the $50 they saved not doing that activity or buying that piece of art.
Along the way, we've also learned about what works and doesn't work for us - environments, schedules, social situations, forms of transportation, eating, sleeping, accommodations. We have each discovered how we've changed since the travels of our 20's and we've learned a lot about each other's needs and styles as travelers.
Region 1 has been full of beauty, joy, comfort, sea, sunsets, and blue. We have known no hardship and have with gratitude, enjoyed the lighter side of life.
Israel looks up to heaven and to the unity and community of it's people. Greece looks at the bounty and beauty of what it has. France is all about creating beauty and lifestyle. Turkey lives in a constant tension between ideas, ideologies and directions.
As we leave this region, we have packed up the experiences and lessons of the places we've been. We take them with us. When we face days and places ahead that may be rougher and more shocking or challenging - we can look through our treasury of memories and lessons to find Patmos reminding us of the soft, easy and beautiful parts of life. Patmos, in its soft, easy voice would gladly remind us that it's all just fine.
But I appreciated her enthusiasm for photographic the stunning beauty of Buyukada - the largest of the Prince's Islands in the middle of the Sea of Marmara. On our last day of our 3.5 months in Region 1 - The Mediterranean - we took to the sea one last time and found that an hour and a half ferry trip took us to another world.
We could actually see Istanbul across the water, but the island was green with beautiful beaches, cliffs and coves. Wealthy families' giant mansions and vacation homes lined the streets and the beaches. So close to the city and well connected by public and private ferries - it was easy to see why Istanbullus love to vacation and weekend on Buyukada.
The island allows no motor vehicles, so if you want to get out of it's one and only town, you can choose renting a bike, or taking a horse-drawn carriage. We chose the full-island carriage ride like about half the arriving tourists. Within 20 minutes we were on narrow roads engulfed in green trees overlooking the sea, high atop the cliffs. It felt nothing like Istanbul.
On our last day - a Sunday - we did everything that epitomized our time in this region. We slept in, got breakfast, posted the blog, picked up our laundry, went to the water, took a ferry, had lunch overlooking the sea, checked out an island, took photos, sailed again, shopped, walked and had a dinner involving kebabs and yogurt.
We're ready to leave Istanbul. We're excited about Kathmandu. We're astonished that it had only been 3.5 months since we left home. But there's something about leaving the Mediterranean.
We've seen it from many sides and angles and we've been in some of its tributaries - we have lived with this great body of water and made it our home. It has been good to us.
This also ends the only phase of our trip in which we blend in. We've been in the first world, among Caucasian societies. We blend in. We aren't wealthy. We aren't special. We have no great value to the average merchant other than being able to pay an average dinner check and modest hotel bill.
Within 24 hours, we will enter Region 2 (Nepal and India) - a world in which we are immediately identifiable as travelers, we are wealthy, and we live at the top of the social hierarchy. Some people love this. While the money going further part is great, it changes the game completely and in a very real way takes us further from experiencing life as a local. We will have new moral dilemmas, new choices and social gaps which take more time and thought to navigate. We will no longer share a cultural, social context.
Since July 14th, we have been to Turkey, Greece, Israel, Greece, Turkey, France (Eric), Los Angeles (Emily) and Turkey. Until the last few weeks, we sweated a lot. Emily combatted prickly heat in Alanya, Turkey. We were regular beach goers in Turkey and Greece. We connected with friends and our heritage in Israel. We lived on an enchanted island for a month. I lived in Southern France for two weeks.
We made friends, visited friends and had friends visit us. We learned more uses for yogurt, olive oil, cheese and honey than we had ever imagined. And we learned how to travel together, how to work as a team in a new way and how to be together constantly while not only not killing each other - but genuinely enjoying one another.
I feel like Region 1 taught us a tremendous amount about us, as a couple. Traveling is a completely different game than daily living at home. It's much more intimate, requires more cooperation and there's constant decision-making. Whether it has been learning how to negotiate airports, run for buses, respect each other's personal needs or make the many, frequent financial choices that go with travel - we have, in my opinion, triumphed.
Emily told me the other day that one of her biggest lessons has been that I always figure out whatever I set about solving or achieving. I was touched. One of my biggest lessons has been that Emily is creative about whatever she approaches. When I least expect it, she comes up with the best ideas. In moments when I lose track or don't see choice I like, she comes up with new ones. We make a great team.
One of my favorite aspects of how we operate is that we make sure the other has gotten what they need or want out of each place and situation. If there's something important to either of is - to do or buy - we generally support making sure it happens because in life, you more often regret what you don't do than what you do. No one remembers the $50 they saved not doing that activity or buying that piece of art.
Along the way, we've also learned about what works and doesn't work for us - environments, schedules, social situations, forms of transportation, eating, sleeping, accommodations. We have each discovered how we've changed since the travels of our 20's and we've learned a lot about each other's needs and styles as travelers.
Region 1 has been full of beauty, joy, comfort, sea, sunsets, and blue. We have known no hardship and have with gratitude, enjoyed the lighter side of life.
Israel looks up to heaven and to the unity and community of it's people. Greece looks at the bounty and beauty of what it has. France is all about creating beauty and lifestyle. Turkey lives in a constant tension between ideas, ideologies and directions.
As we leave this region, we have packed up the experiences and lessons of the places we've been. We take them with us. When we face days and places ahead that may be rougher and more shocking or challenging - we can look through our treasury of memories and lessons to find Patmos reminding us of the soft, easy and beautiful parts of life. Patmos, in its soft, easy voice would gladly remind us that it's all just fine.
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