Recipe For Adventures

A look into my love of food, travel and the ingredients found in both

  • Home
  • #BakingWithBeth
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Pastry School
    • Chef Life
  • Countries
    • In a Nutshell
    • Africa
      • South Africa
        • Cape Town
      • Tanzania
    • Asia
      • India
      • Indonesia
        • Bali
          • Ubud
          • Gili Islands
      • Laos
      • Maldives
      • Singapore
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Australia & Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
        • Queenstown
    • Europe
      • England
        • London
      • France
        • Paris
      • Ireland
        • Dublin
      • Italy
        • Amalfi Coast
      • Spain
    • North America
      • California
      • Georgia
        • Atlanta
      • Charleston
    • South & Central America
      • Peru
        • Cusco
        • Mancora
      • Argentina
        • Buenos Aires
      • Bolivia
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
        • Galapagos
  • About Me
    • Contact Me

Six Month RTW Travelversary

January 15, 2013 by Beth Meyer

I can hardly believe that we’ve been on the road for six months! It seems like just yesterday that we left the States and arrived in New Zealand, yet at the same time, New Zealand seems like a lifetime ago. I’m not sure that words can describe how truly lucky and blessed I feel that we’ve been able to take this trip. We’ve experienced so many amazing cultures, seen tons of incredible places and met some of the most wonderful people all around the world! The first six months were so unbelievable that it’s hard to imagine what kind of adventures the next six months have in store!

We decided to write up a fun little breakdown of the first six months of our RTW by the numbers:

6 Months (since we left the states on July 8, 2012, crossed the International Date Line and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on July 10, 2012, we’ve decided our anniversary falls on the 8th, 9th and 10th and do a three-day celebration monthly)

13 Countries – New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, India, Maldives, Tanzania, South Africa, Argentina, Uruguay (not counting layovers in Fiji, Kuala Lumpur & Ethiopia)

     

4 Continents – Australia, Asia, Africa, South America (since we’re from North America and have both visited Europe…it only leaves one continent left to visit…ANTARCTICA!!)

  

10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Sydney Opera House, Fraser Island, Great Barrier Reef, Ha Long Bay, Town of Luang Prabang, Taj Mahal, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Stone Town of Zanzibar, Iguazu National Park

     

Crushes – 3.5 – Beth; 2 – Danielle (we’ll leave it up to y’all to go through mine & Danielle’s blog and see if you can figure out who…)

18 dives in 5 countries and 2 certifications (Beth)

7 minor electrical shocks (probably due to set ups like this…)

3 packages shipped home (Beth – 2; combo – 1)

Percentage of budget gone through (more on the budget later): 93.6% CRAAAAAAPPPPP! (Beth)

40 – largest number of people in a dorm room we’ve stayed in

1 Full Moon Party (Koh Phangan, Thailand)

 

8 – night trains/night buses taken

   

Local beers/ciders tried:

  • New Zealand: Speights, Export Gold, Monteith, Tui
  • Australia: Byron Bay Blonde, Bulmers Cider, Toohey’s
  • Indonesia: Bintang
  • Singapore: Tiger
  • Vietnam: Bai Hanoi, Hanoi, Saigon, La Rue, 333, Halida
  • Laos: Beer Lao
  • Thailand: Chang, Singha, Leo
  • India: Kingfisher
  • Tanzania: Serengeti, Tuskers, Safari, Kilimanjaro
  • South Africa: Savanna Dry, Hunters Dry, Jack Black, Windhoek Lager, Carling Black Label, Castle, Hansa Pilsner
  • Argentina: Quilmes, Andes
  • Uruguay: Pilsen, Patricia

  

4 – insects eaten (2 each)

17 – bracelets (each)

134 meters – jumped from the Nevis Bungy jump

 

14,000 feet – skydive

8 – Tigers played with

 

2 – Cage Dives with Great White Sharks

1,274,565 – Wedding Crashers quotes (we could almost act out the entire movie as a duo…almost)

547 – Times watched Wedding Crashers

17 – friends/family who’ve met up with us or we’ve visited in other cities or have taken us into their homes (including friends we’ve met on the road & then met back up with): Casey, Adrian, Jamie, Martin & Sonya, Lauren, Monica & Kris, Kendall, Byron, Grace & Lisa, Luke, Brent, Marc, Momma & Bill

     

Favorite Country – Thailand/Maldives – Beth; Thailand/South Africa – Danielle

  

Favorite City (both) – Cape Town

  

Favorite currency: Vietnamese Dong – both (obviously!!! The jokes are ENDLESS…)

 

5 – Starwood Properties stayed in (including one AMAAAZING upgrade to an Ocean Villa at the Sheraton Maldives!!!)

 

Best thing packed: iPhone – Beth; iPod – Danielle

Problems on the road:

  • 4 robberies (2 each)
  • Items lost – ATM card, bathing suit bottoms, sunglasses (Danielle); earrings (Beth)
  • 2 bookbags left in cars & recovered – one by a veryyyy nice Thai taxi driver that returned Danielle’s bag to her after leaving in a cab & one left in our hostel shuttle that I hitchhiked a mile back to our hostel from the bus stop and recovered the bag…and made the Greyhound.

Thing I wish I’d packed (Beth) – Swiss Army knife with mini screwdriver or a wheeled backpack combo

Thing I wish I’d packed (Danielle) – computer (but was shipped to Australia); iPod touch or a wheeled backpack combo

Things I miss most – baking (Beth); gym (Danielle); cooking in our own kitchens and obviously family & friends (both)

Top 5 albums listened to the most on the road (Beth) – Sweedish House Mafia – Until Now; Local Natives – Gorilla Manor; My Morning Jacket – various; playlists of music sent to me by friends; Rise Against – Appeal to Reason

Top 5 albums listened to the most on the road (Danielle) – Kings of Leon – Come Around; Joshua Radin – Underwater; Carrie Underwood – Blown Away; Taylor Swift – Red; Of Monsters & Men – Self Titled

Plus, a few more of my favorite photos:

                       

Filed Under: Countries, In a Nutshell Tagged With: reflections, Round the World, RTW, six months, travel

Comments

  1. Casey says

    January 22, 2013 at 10:46 pm

    Loved this Beth! Very cool, quite an enjoyable read! So glad you guys have had an amazing never-to-be-forgotten trip! 😀 ( And I was pretty excited I made the blog 😉

  2. Fred Meyer says

    January 22, 2013 at 10:49 pm

    What a trip and what wonderful experience for these two young women. How many of us would have the nerve to do this at their age??
    As Beth’s grandfather, I can brag and tell everyone how proud of her I am.
    I did some of these countries at an earlier age, courtesy of the U.S, Navy, a war kept me from enjoying it as much BUT, it is an experience I will never regret or forget.
    As Lady Beth’s partner, Frisco Fred ! !
    P.S.
    Looking forward to the book.

  3. amy tangerine says

    January 23, 2013 at 4:09 pm

    this recap rocks. LOVE following you on this big adventure.

  4. Nichole srott says

    February 17, 2013 at 4:18 pm

    Love reading your blog Beth- although it does make me jealous! Such an amazing adventure. Wishes of fun on the next 6 months!!!

    • bethmeyer says

      February 28, 2013 at 2:21 am

      Thank you so much Nichole!! That’s so sweet!

Beth Meyer

Hi y’all, I’m Beth. Born and raised in Atlanta. Moved to Los Angeles to work in event marketing. Spent 2012-13 traveling around the world for a year with my best friend. Followed by living in London for nearly three years where I attended pastry school. In April 2016, I moved back to the City of Angels, where I am a pastry chef and food stylist... read more...

CONNECT

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No connected account.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to connect an account.

Tweets by @BeMeyer

Recent Posts

  • Rhubarb & Strawberry Almond Crumble Bars
  • Chocolate Avocado Mousse
  • Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie
  • Cherry Hand Pies
  • Irish Guinness Cottage Pie
  • Pi Day Pizza Pie
  • Mint Chocolate Chip Grasshopper Pie
  • Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie with Dulce de Leche

Categories

Copyright © 2023 · Recipe For Adventures