While in Izmir, we finish one year of nomadic life, achieving thereby the goal we had established when we sold our house late October last year.
What a year it has been! We have stayed in more than eighty hotels, Airbnbs and homes of friends and family. We have enjoyed hospitality of folks we had not seen in ages, further cemented our ties with family members, and experienced what so many interesting places in the world have to offer. We have met hundreds of people, locals and tourists alike, and made new friendships that we hope will last a long time. We have travelled by airplanes, trains, buses, taxis, long boats, huge ferries, local trains, and tuk-tuks. We have also made it a point to walk to places we can in each place we stay, thereby wearing out a couple of pairs of shoes and keeping fit.
Now our trusted suitcases and backpacks need some rest. They have served us well. So have my old laptop and camera equipment. Although we have not missed a thing stored in a small container, perhaps it is time to release our stuff from confinement.
We look forward to the next phase of retirement. Travel will still feature prominently in our lives, and continue to do so until we remain healthy. There are still so many places we have not been to and there are experiences to be had. However, we doubt we will ever have a year like the one that just ended.
