Kindness of Strangers

Thank you. Obrigada. Tesekkür ederim. Shukran. Dhanyavaad. Kadrin chhe. Terima kasih. Gracias. However you choose to say it, we owe a huge round of THANK YOUs to the countless people, from all corners of the globe, who helped make our journey a success.

Our Hosts

Inci and Bahattin of Istanbul, Turkey; Kristi and Jonathan of Amman, Jordan; Ben and Colleen of Adelaide, Australia; Beverly of Dunedin, New Zealand; Pam of Mendoza, Argentina; Rene of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dot and Rich of Quito, Ecuador.

Thank you for opening your homes to us and giving us your tremendous hospitality when we visited your neck of the woods. We will never forget the kindness you showed to strangers; know that our home is always open to you.

Our Friends

Anton and Monica from Lisboa, Portugal; Jose Manuel from Favaios, Portugal; Onur, Burcin, and Tugay from Istanbul, Turkey; Rebecca and The Boys from the train station in Selcuk, Turkey; Cecile from Pamukkale, Turkey; Annie and Jules from The Fairy Chimney Inn in Cappadocia, Turkey; Diler, Dunya, Carol, and Penny from Cirali, Turkey; Mzied from Wadi Rum, Jordan; Doug and Paula from Amman, Jordan; Phub, Rinchen, Kichu, Deki, Irene, and Bogdan from Bhutan; Linda, Pushpendra, Zoya, and Ramen from the Jaipur Inn in Jaipur, India; Wim and Cindy from Lovina, Bali; Paul and Ishara from Ubud Bungalows in Ubud, Bali; Hugo, Monica, and Delly from Ubud, Bali; Brian and Aidan from the Milford Track, New Zealand; Ruth, Monica, and Elsa from Easter Island, Chile; Ben, Laurel, Matt, and Lynsey from Valparaiso, Chile; Claudia, Anderson, Jeff, and Erin from Torres del Paine, Chile; Tatiana and Veronica from Puerto Natales, Chile; Frank, Nina, and Brian from Mendoza, Argentina; Bronwyn and Alex from Casa de los Angelitos in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Nicole, Yvonne, and Nira from El Bolson and Bariloche, Argentina; Cerise and Al from Puerto Varas, Chile; Hugh, Hellen, Mathew, Maria, Jose, and Giovanna from Lake Titicaca, Peru; and the countless others who have lent their kindness and support to a couple of strangers.

The thing we never predicted about this trip is the impact of the people we met along the way. Whether we spent minutes or days with you, you made a difference in our lives. We feel so fortunate to have met so many interesting people over the past eight months, who by sharing their lives with us helped us to shape ours.

Our Pit Crew

A huge thank you to Mark, who kept our roof from leaking, collected our mail, changed our dead car batteries, and kept our household running. We couldn’t have chosen a better person to take care of our home. Thank you to Tim, our technical support specialist who hosted our website and helped us with countless computer problems along the way. We also appreciate you taking three weeks out of your life to meet us in New Zealand, stoats, Scroggin, and all! Thank you, Kelly, for making mid-journey trips to Target and emergency runs to the pharmacy, and to Heidi for your daily emails, which kept me sane, grounded, and always entertained. And a huge thank you to our parents, Cecilia, Don, and Chris, who showed your support in different ways over the past two years of planning and executing this trip, and who never thought we were crazy for doing this. Finally, a huge thank you to our friends back home and faithful readers, who followed our journey from the start. Your interest has meant the world to us.