Everything has to come to an end...

With taking the flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL), we both had the first real feeling of coming towards the end of our big trip. We had about 24 hours in KL, so after an uncomfortable night bus back to Manila, we booked a private room in a hostel near the city center to be fit the next day to explore the city.
We mainly spent the day checking out some big shopping centers, walked around the Petronas Twin Towers, buying some souvenirs in China Town and enjoyed some good Starbucks drinks before making our way back to the airport.

Since we did not plan our last destinations very wisely, we had a late flight to Bangkok that same day. The following morning we had a 10-hour flight to Helsinki, so therefore we wanted to get some good sleep still. Upon arrival in BKK, we had some trouble to be let into the country – we checked our baggage straight through to Helsinki so the immigration officer said we had to spend the night at the airport. Luckily, there is not only annoying officers working these jobs, so after some explanation we did get a stamp and spent the night in a cheap hotel close to the airport.

And there we were – our flight back to Europe was ready for boarding. Because we had a stopover in Helsinki anyway, we had decided that this was a good place to acclimatize and reflect on this amazing year before falling back into the real life. We booked a nice Airbnb apartment near the city center for 3 nights.

Getting off the airplane was literally a shock! It could not have been any worse – we just jumped from humidity, sun and 33 degrees to rain and something like 6 degrees. It was time to store the flip-flops and shorts back in the backpacks and get the winter clothes out again.

Helsinki itself is quite a small city and not as interesting as we thought. Since we did not have any expectations and just wanted to take it easy, that didn’t matter much. We explored the city a little bit, enjoying some good salmon dish for lunch at Market Square and hopping from coffee shop to coffee shop in-between the rain showers. With very fast internet, a big flat screen & Netflix and the best shower we had in months, we mostly enjoyed our quality time in our apartment.

On the 25th of April, the time had come – our very last flight back home. It definitely was a rather awkward, but also sad and happy feeling at the same time. We both haven’t been so nervous for a long period!
We collected our luggage in Amsterdam and walked through the exit doors towards the arrival hall. Karen, Boris, Fanny, Rose and Jaap (a good family friend) were awaiting us there! We had a welcome-drink at the airport and then drove to Karen’s apartment, where we would be spending the first night. The weather was about the same as in Helsinki – cold, rainy and grey: a very nice welcome-gesture to make us feel back at home…!

The very good thing was that Koningsdag was coming up in two days, on the 27th. We on purpose only told 2 friends that we were back for that day, so they could organize a big welcome-back/Koningsdag/surprise party. Although the surprise was not such a surprise anymore due to the fact that some people did find out that we were back – but the re-union with everybody was just amazing! We started off with a party at Femke & Alans place with about 30 people, before we headed into the city. The weather was not too bad, so it was nice to be outside for a while. The party atmosphere on the streets disappointed a little this year, and after finding a stage on Veizelstraat we ended up at Omar’s place (Sven’s old neighbor) in the Kerkstraat. That was also a funny feeling – being back there but not actually being back since Sven did not live there anymore. During the party there, some more friends came by which we haven’t seen yet. So by the end of the night, we basically saw almost everybody of our friends! It was a very nice get-together and we were both really happy to be back in Amsterdam!
 

And this is actually the end of our stories.
Yes, it is time to close a big chapter of our life.

Almost 1 year, 12 months or 51 weeks. 5 continents. 17 countries. 20 flights. Tons of bus rides, boat trips, taxis, mopeds, tricycles, jeepneys, hitchhiking and walks. Lots of delicious food, beautiful cultures, stunning landscapes, marvelous experiences and amazing people. Almost no incidents (apart from the Philippines!) and no severe injuries or sickness. We guess we did a hell of a job!
It was an absolutely awesome and breathtaking once-in-a-life time experience. To be honest, this was more like an orientation journey, since our bucket list is about triple the length of that one before we had started our trip! We have seen so many places, but for some we did not have enough time, which means we will definitely get back to some of the countries we have been, but also plan trips to countries we did not explore yet, such as the upper part of Central America, Argentina, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and many more. Of course this costs time and especially money, but our goal is to work to travel. And we still have many years to go to live our dream.

For now, these were the last words and our blog has therefore come to an end.
We sincerely hope you enjoyed following our trip online with reading the stories and looking at the incredible pictures. We sure did! And for now, it’s time to settle back in Amsterdam, enjoy the beauty of Europe again and start planning our next journey! :)

xxx ps.