The Altai Mountains

Skolko let, skolko zim!

"Skolko let, skolko zim" is a Russian greeting when you haven't seen someone in a long time. It literally means "how many summers, how many winters." That is how I feel right now. It is nearing the end of September and I haven't blogged once this month. Not only that, but we just passed the one-year mark for our round-the-world journey. 

And in that time, we have missed too many birthdays, weddings, important celebrations, and time well spent with our friends and family. 

What have we gained instead? I think it's fair to say that Kristin and I have learned more about each other than we have learned about the world. I won't give a year-in-review. It's too early. Let's wait until this journey really is over.

If you want to see some interesting numbers, please visit our travel stats page. If you want to see our pictures, visit my photo site. And if you want to read about our previous month of traveling, then Kristin's blog is your best source right now. 

Of course, we couldn't have gotten where we are without all of your help. We cannot thank you enough, so we'll try our best to entertain you with our travel stories and photos. 

And most of all, I want to thank Kristin for helping me make my dream come true. I hope you all have, or will find, your own dream-maker.

Enjoying the brisk cold autumn weather, mid-September in Siberia. 

In The Caucasus, Part 2

A short clip from our second backpacking trip in the Caucasus Mountains, Russia.

Hiking in the Caucasus Mountains

Our first backpacking trip in the mountains here. We spent a leisurely three days hiking from Teberda over Ebchick Pass.

North to South - Russia Update

I cannot say that we are moving at our fastest pace, yet I somehow can't find time to blog and upload photos. I apologize. In the last two weeks we:

-Took a sweltering 17-hour train ride from St. Petersburg north to Kem. The town has nothing to offer except being close to the White Sea, where we took a 3.5 hour boat to Solovki Islands. There are half a dozen islands, just below the Arctic Circle, where a monastery has existed for several centuries. During soviet times, the monastery was turned in the infamous prison camp of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. We stealth camped in the woods, and we paid the Russian far for the boat ride instead of the foreigner fare. Read the full blog post

-Spent another night on a train, heading further north into Arctic. We found two awesome towns, Kirovsk and Apatity, where the people were just super friendly and helpful, beyond anything I had experienced elsewhere in Russia. We camped a few days in the Khibini Mountains, which rise just above 1000 meters but have some pretty gnarly weather that nearly took down our tent. It was also light enough outside that I could read until midnight. I loved the long days here! Read the full blog post

-Celebrated our one-year anniversary in Murmansk, the largest city in the Arctic. We ate a lot of cake, got a tour of a nuclear icebreaker (one of only six in the world), and had a great time hanging out with our couchsurfing host. That was, by far, the most north we had ever been. Read the full blog post

-Flew from the very northern tip of Russia to the southern. The people in the north told us not to come down here, to the Caususas Mountains, as the people weren't as nice. However, we are finding generosity even beyond what we experienced up north. Everybody is interested to meet us. Like in the north, there are very few travelers here and we are kind of like celebrities.

We are now heading into the mountains for a three-day backpacking trip. Nothing too extreme, that's for sure. But we'll be topping out at over 3000 meters and will have a grand view of Mt. Elbrus, the tallest mountain in Europe.

Eat Play Love

One Year Ago: Kristin and I surprised a few of our family members with a picnic wedding at Crissy Fields. With the Golden Gate bridge as our background, and typical summer fog keeping things cold, our ceremony lasted all of 45 seconds. We wrote it while covertly driving my old Geo from City Hall to the park.

Six Months Ago: Kristin and I were in the dead-of-summer heat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We were staying with a friend, taking part in Carnival, and surviving the heat by running early and cooling off with a frequent acai drink.

Today: Kristin and I celebrate our one year anniversary in Murmansk - the largest Arctic city in the world. We are staying with a new friend from couchsurfing. We have not only escaped the heat of central Russian summer, but we have found near freezing temperatures. This morning we left the flat wearing wool baselayers, our favorite puffy blue Montbell jackets, our down parkas, gloves, and fleece caps. We are prepared for the cold.

Our schedule for the day? A healthy start of millet/oatmeal with fruits and yogurt, free internet at the library, fruit/veggie/cake shopping, and a ride on a nuclear-powered ice breaker!

When we started our journey in Guatemala last year, Kristin brought Eat Pray Love for me to read, and for her to reread. We both love the book and can relate to it in some ways. However, instead of divorcing and then following our dreams, we got married first and making our dreams into goals that we are achieving. Why wait any longer?

As much as I have learned from travelling, I have still learned more from being with Kristin. She constantly pushes and challenges and inspires me.I wish I could say I do the same for her, but I think there are many personal things that I can work on to improve our relationship. So after one year, I can definitively say that, even though there is a giant world out there to see, my energy is best spent exploring and illuminating the depths within me.