halfway point

Halfway date
I actually missed it by a couple of days. Hadn't realized I had been traveling this long already. My halfway date was Tuesday October 27 in Kharkov, Ukraine. So far I have covered these countries and places, some just a touch (maybe just going through the airport) and some more extensively: England, Jersey, Iceland, Berlin, Poland (Gdansk, Warsaw, and Krakow), Prague, Venice, Istanbul, Uzbekistan, and now the Ukraine. I have yet to go: Qatar, Singapore, Perth, Darwin, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Fiji, Sydney, Puerto Galera & Sabang Beach (Philippines), Hong Kong (just the airport – twice) and Palau. It’s been quite a journey so far. I’ve met and traveled with some wonderful people. Traveling once with my husband for 26 days and will be meeting him again in Perth for another 26 days of travel together. Then everyone I met in Uzbekistan through the Explore/Adventure Center trip was just wonderful and the guide was great. My host at Snorri’s guesthouse in Iceland was terrific – Thanks Magnus. My city guides in Uzbekistan were great. My hubby and I really enjoyed our stays in Berlin and Poland, Prague and Venice. Also just chance meetings with people out and about have been quite interesting and entertaining. The policemen in Uzbekistan who were waiting to be bribed to open the minaret for climbing, the salesladies with gold teeth who try not to smile for the camera and then end up guffawing at the photo you show them, the Segway guide in Prague who tried so hard to show off and ended up falling off his Segway more than any of us, Torban in Berlin who walks way too fast, Helen in Kiev with her great ability to locate seated toilets as well as fantastic knowledge, and many more: all have been delightful.
The Ukraine has proved to be more of a challenge to me. I had chosen to go with apartments rather than hotels and as such, each apartment has been several flights up stairs in dark hallways and my hips and knees and feet are not happy travelers these days. There will be an appointment with the podiatrist and chiropractor when I get home, definitely, many appointments. But unless I had chosen to go with 5 star hotels in the Ukraine, chances are I would be walking up flights of stairs in every location, so you gotta do what you gotta do. My travel agents here are trying their best to make is easier on me to get to the locations but the one I have at the moment is more like a cheerleader – "You can do it! Come on! Climb those stairs! Walk up that mountain! Sit cross-legged on that floor!" That last one I couldn’t do even before I was bedeviled by arthritis.
I’ve slept in everything from the 5 star posh fancy hotels where walking in the door practically costs you extra to a pad on the floor in a yurt, to a private apartment, to a narrow train bed. Oddly enough, the ones where I sleep the best have been the cheapest places but possibly I’ve been the most tired in those places. I’ve eaten all kinds of foods many in Uzbekistan and Ukraine that I still don’t know what it is I ate. I’ve been lucky enough so far not to be sick with the dreaded tourists disease (knock on wood for sure) but did have a wicked cold that my husband gave me in Poland.
My biggest problems health wise have been that my feet and hips are not taking to the trip well. In Poland I had to start using my walking stick for my hip and have continued with it. In Poland also, my feet balked at all the cobblestones and rough pavements. I’ve now gone through 5 different types of inserts and cushions to try and east the pain but some days it’s like walking on nails. I don’t like this new development at all as I have plans to do a lot more trips and a lot more walking. Some how I will have to solve this problem.
My daughter is the one who has taken up the burden of keeping things going at home. She’s been beset with numerous problems that I should have been there to handle and tasks I should be doing. She’s a wonderful person though and does everything without complaint. But I do feel guilty that I have left at a very inopportune time for various projects going on in our lives.
Other than that, sometimes I have been quite lonely, sometimes I have been ready to chuck it all and go home except for all the money I would lose but mainly I am glad that I am traveling and seeing things and meeting people. I have always wanted to do this and am glad that I finally have the time and money to accomplish it. I do wish I had been able to make it a six month trip but on the other hand, I think I will be more than ready to go home at the end of 4.
My last two months will be at an easier pace. Going through Australia, we have several days in each location and there’s not that much to see and do in some of them so I think there were be book days and TV days and sitting on the beach days. My feet will appreciate it. And after my husband goes back to work at the end of November, it will be a diving vacation for me so lots of swimming and lots of sitting around “off gassing” (waiting for the nitrogen in your blood to disburse so you can go under again). I am looking forward to the relaxation and seeing what new things I can find underwater. If I had to rate my trip so far it would be a 5 out of 5. Can I plan or what!