I’m back home in Canada after circling the globe over the past 107 days. It was in many ways not the trip I was expecting but perhaps for that exact reason it was also exactly the trip I was expecting. For you see I was looking for adventure, something which is eminently un-plannable, and adventure is what I got.
However, the success of this venture rested on more than just my own overtures toward worldliness and Quixotic affectations. Rather, I was helped at almost every step by others; some I knew beforehand, most I did not. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who made my trip not only what it was, but possible in the first place.
So, Thank-You…
To my friend Tommy and my brother Adam for helping me try to get financial assistance for the trip. It may not have been successful but it was a lot of fun to hang out and make videos.
To Steve and Lynn from modrobes for the clothing you provided and the re-supply mid-expedition.
To Mark from Oakley U.S.A. for your generosity.
To Maria, Victor and Wilson, the first three people who showed me any kind of goodwill in my trip but whose contact information I lost in the robbery. Thank-you so much and I will keep attempting to find you guys on Facebook.
To my parents for all of their help after I got robbed. Thank-you for booking my flight back to Lisbon, scrounging through my boxes in the basement to find pieces of documentation so I could procure a new passport and making sure replacement cards, documents and gear made it out to me as quickly as possible.
To the staff of TAP Airlines in Funchal Airport for giving me money to buy lunch when I had lost everything.
To the flight attendants on my TAP flight from Funchal to Lisbon for giving me all the food I wanted after learning I got robbed.
To Bev and Darryn Cross, who saw to it that I had a hotel to stay in upon my arrival in Lisbon.
To Eneida and Gisella at the Canadian Embassy in Lisbon. Thank you for all of the free calls and the speed with which you helped me out.
To Antonio, Antonio & Penelope for making my stay in Lisbon better than it could have been given the shitty time I was having.
To Vasil & Nadia for letting me camp in their garage during my last night in Portugal.
To “Belgian Teacher,” Greg & Maria, “German Couple,” Samuel, Jose, Sergei & Andrej & Dimitri, Bianca, “Hungary Dude” & “German Girl,” Therese & Stefano & Hannah, “Granada Dude,” “Guadix Family,” “Lorca Dude,” Juan & his Dad, Paul & Sonja, Andrew & Laura, Antonio, Julius, Maria Jose, Xavien, Keira & Ali, Claudia, Rene, Hugo, Tomas & Sandra, Moroccan guy who may or may not have wanted to rob me, “Gay Michele,” Dominique, Miro, Benoit, “Fronk”/Franc, Mohmed & Kh____ (x2), Simon, Gwen, Claudio, Nasir(?), Orsun(?), “Gas Station Patron,” “Nameless Dude,” “Old Dude,” Erol, Veysel, Ali, Ibrahim, Mehmet & Besir, _____ & Ramazan, “Some Trucker,” “Mini-Bus Full of Dudes,” “Big Bus Full of Dudes,” “Turkish Family,” “____ From Antakya,” “_____ & ______ From Antakya,” “Family in a Pick-Up Truck,” “German/Turkish Couple,” Hasan & Usan, _____, Mustafa & _____, The Syrian Secret-Service/Cab-Drivers, Jima, and finally Havid & Family. Thank-you for picking me up instead of just speeding by.
To Ricky, who came out of left field to offer me his house to crash at in Rota, Spain. Your generosity was overwhelming.
To Annelies & Annejet, who gave me sunscreen, a pink towel and would have given me a ride to Malaga but I slept in like a dunce.
To Toby, who came back and picked me up from McDonald’s just like he said he would.
To the Collet family who picked me up and let me stay in their beautiful home. If you have any plans to visit the south of France you should definitely consider a stay in one of their residences: http://www.bormeslesmimosas.com/locationscoulomb/.
To Neil, who showed me around San Remo, bought me a bus ticket, and warned me about just how corrupt Italy was on arrival.
To the proprietors of the cafe in the Suez bus station for letting me crash in the back-room.
To Brian for for offering his flat in Zanzibar which I never made it to.
To Robert for sharing his campfire in Ein Gedi.
To Amina & Gulmyra, my Kazakh “aunts” who forced me to eat with them on the train and led me to the bus station in Almaty.
To “Opie,” who made my welfare the highest priority in his life.
To everyone I met who posted pics on my Facebook. Thank-you so much for enabling me to have photographic reminders even after the loss of my camera.
To my regiment and my friends back home. Thank-you for being there if I needed something taken care of.
To all my siblings who were supportive of me through the duration of my time away.
To my sister Tanya who posted entries for me while I was in China and unable to access anything but hotmail.
And finally, to my beautiful woman, Chelsea. Thank-you for not making me feel bad about leaving and for encouraging me in all my goals.
Nobody makes it through this life on their own and even when I felt most alone, I knew I wasn’t.
Oh the song of the future has been sung
All the battles have been won
On the mountaintops we stand
All the world at our command
-Gordon Lightfoot
Stay Thirsty,
Andre Guantanamo
Write-Errantry 