Washington, DC, USA

Home Sweet Home. It's hard to believe that it's been seven months since we last touched American soil. Some things have changed (what are these new fangled I-Pod touches?) and some things never change (Us Weekly still sucks me in). Within an hour of touching down in LA, we had a bagel and coffee and roamed the aisles of Target. Ahh, the little things. We were fortunate to ease back into American culture with our friend Reina in LA (she made amazing Chili and corn bread) and Mike and Brandon in San Diego (we were immediately sucked into Ugly Betty). Both filled us in on all the gossip we missed and blessed us with good California weather before we finally returned to winter. Things have yet to slow down--if anything, our pace has quickened. Within our first week in DC, we leased an apt., moved our stuff in, started a job and filled our social calendars for the next few weeks.

So it's finally time to wrap up the blog and say goodbye to our trip around the world. This is our last post so you'll have to find another site to read on Monday mornings (may I recommend www.usmagazine.com). It goes without saying, this was a trip of a lifetime, but we'll spare you the sentimental babble. Instead we'll finish with a cumulative best-of list. Thanks so much for following along with us!

erin and geoff

Countries Visited: 12 (including California)

Number of Flights: 24

Missed Flights: 1

Miles Flown: approx. 37,000

Number of trains: 20

Beds Slept in: 66

Nights sleeping in a Van: 10
...Bus: 1
...Train: 10
...Airport: 1
...Under the Stars: 5
...Plane: 3
...Boat: 2
...Jail: 0

Passports Lost: 0

Baggage Lost: 0

Books Read: 52

Things we Missed Most: Bagels, Bluejeans (ek) Football Season (gsp)

Things we Missed Least: cell phones, election coverage

Favorite Food: Tibetan Momos (ek), Vietnamese Lemongrass and Chili Chicken (gsp)

Favorite Beer: Indian Budweiser

Worst Beer: Anything Australian. Fosters is NOT Australian for beer!

Cheapest Beer: Bia Hoi- 12 cents

Favorite Place: Leh, India

Best Beach: Ao Phranang, Railay, Thailand

Best Hostel:Dragon Town Youth Hostel, Chengdu, China

Best Airport: Singapore

Worst Airport: Delhi, India

Wonders of World visited: 2

World Heritage Sites visited: 25

Nicest travelers: Italians

Funniest travelers: Japanese

Musicians we heard in all 12 countries: Fergie, Phil Collins

Person we know with the most look-a-likes (doppelgangers): Dave Rees

Scariest Moment: Arriving in Mumbai at 3 a.m., taking a 30 mph taxi, windows open, no seatbelts, no locks, through Dharavi, the biggest slum in the world.

Top Five Best Moments:
5: Singing Karaoke with Mark in Tokyo
4: Seeing the Dalai Lama speak to 10,000 Tibetans in Northern India
3: Taking a camel safari through the desert of Western India
2: Bungee jumping in New Zealand with Kerrie
1: Hugging a Panda!

Place we'll most likely return to: Leh, India