November 28: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Dear Family and Friends,

We are back in New Jersey! Our flight from London Heathrow yesterday was flawless in its Newark, NJ, arrival. We are now with Martha's parents and Capt'n Harry at her growing-up house and should return to our abode tomorrow. Willow, the wee doggie, recognized us immediately and has been following us around some ever since.

What an amazing experience, and how lucky we have been to make this journey without being robbed or injured. So thankful also to have made it home with the computer and all of our other items. Even the three boxes that we mailed home over the last six and a half months have made it! Just in time for Christmas!

Happy Holidays to everyone. We will be finishing up the postings of our adventures in the months to come!

Much love and thankfulness,

Martha and Dani

November 20 ... One Week Remains

AND, we have a new post:
August 28 to 29 (Tailors, My Son,
and Getting to Hanoi)

Dear Family and Friends,

So sorry for the delay in postings. Our last couple of months have been a blur of incredible visits with friends and family across many nations. We have also encountered an overwhelming lack of Internet access as our sleep holes have become, shall we say, 'cheap as all get-out'! (Especially those kindly supplied by said friends, family, and even random strangers ... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!)

We are currently in Portugal, relaxing at a lovely four-star hotel called Solar de Mos (yes, off-season prices ROCK!). Capt'n Harry is right, we think, Portugal is one of the most wonderful places on earth; the countryside and people have made an impression on us in a very short time. We are so sad to have just a few days here, but will look forward to an extended holiday to really explore the country. And soon we will be in Country #15, Ireland, with our friend, Lyris, for the final days of the adventure.

Anyway, ONE WEEK LEFT!! Our emotions are mixed between: the immense joy of our return home to much-missed loved ones and the impending gloom of coming off of this incredible experience ... and time away from each other once again as work responsibilities take hold of us. Stupid responsibilities. :)

We will get back to posting our stories upon our return home, as we have managed to keep up with some of the extensive writing and have otherwise been taking notes each day along the way. So, look for the 'adventure to continue' as we share our experiences further in the coming months by posting the rest of our journey. Look also for several postings summing up some of our observations, including photos comparing different landscapes, work habits, peoples' faces, cuisines, portion sizes, and more ...

You may have noticed that the format of our Blog Title has changed to an abbreviated system. Blogger has kept us from posting the full names of all of the nations we have visited with a limited word count. Therefore, we get to show off our nerdy tendencies with the amazing International Two-Letter Abbreviation Codes used in the Internet universe (except for Montenegro, which does not have a country code yet, poor little new Montenegro). You can find out where we've been by going to this Web site: http://www.web-l.com/country-codes/. Tee hee. Work for YOU!

OK, time to go explore the coastline of Lagos, Portugal. The rain has finally let up and the sun is shining brightly. Now, where are my shades and sunscreen ...

Love,

Martha and Dani