February 12, 2008. Exactly one year since we pulled out of the driveway in Denver, Colorado to begin our journey around the world. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year. In that time we have managed to travel through 37 countries… 33 of them with the Toyotas, and rack up about 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers). We have seen more than you can imagine and have been through the good, the bad and the ugly, but mainly the outstanding. This truly has been the trip of a lifetime and the people we have met and the things we have experienced thus far will ensure that we will have stories to tell well into the next lifetime. For many, what we have already accomplished is a feat in and of itself and wether it is the Spanish baker, the German firefighter or the Swiss mountain guide, all of them tilt their head back in amazement when we tell them that we are only about halfway done. Well, I guess we are a little bit more than halfway done, but we still have a long road ahead of us.
We have all learned a lot about overland travel in the year that we have been gone. We have learned the ins and outs of the shipping business and the formalities and informalities of crossing a foreign border with a vehicle. We have been schooled in how to avoid paying bribes to overzealous cops and have become keen to situations that might actually merit paying one. We have also learned a lot about the Toyotas. We have learned how much punishment Little Pepe and the Tundra can take in countries where a road is an alien concept and have fortunately learned that we can take them well beyond what you can possible imagine. Depending on which way you look at it, fortunately or unfortunately, we still have many, many more lessons to learn. We are currently learning how much fun it is to clear car parts through Spanish customs and I am sure our edification will come hard and heavy in Western Africa. I guess that is what makes a trip around the world unique. Just when you think you are a veteran road warrior and know everything, you realize you know nothing. O.K., saying we know nothing is a pretty absurd statement, but sometimes it sure feels like it.
In any event, this past year has raced past faster than a Porsche 911 Turbo on the autobahn. That is usually an indication that you are having fun. The next 10 to 11 months will probably also race by just as fast but in the meantime, Africa and South America still await the arrival of TWBR. Are we ready? Next question…
