It didn't take me too long to work it out though, having been in Kuala Lumpur 3 times now, i knew how to get to town, i knew the hostel i was heading to and i was overly excited about the curry and roti i would be eating. As i trekked through the crowded streets the smells of asia were back in my life. I was back on the road, i was alone, but i was continuing on. It wasn't scary to me, i wasn't nervous, it was an anxiety which has been 4.5 months absent in my life, that got my blood moving a bit faster. I squeezed my wallet making sure it was there, i patted my passport in the other pocket, and a flash back of the past comforts quickly vanished from my mind as i plopped down on my tiny bed, in my tiny room, with my tiny fan blowing as hard as it can on my travel weary body. One more day in Kuala Lumpur and then i'm on to Sri Lanka.
Forgetting how to travel was easy when being away from a while, the comforts of home can put you at ease, and although i was happy to have my friends and family back in my life, the trasition back into travel was a hard one. below is the beauty of having great family and friends.
***side note*** as i travel one major regret is when traveling and spending time with people i care about the last thing i think about is taking out my camera and getting a picture. I have you all in my heart, everyone in Aussie and NZ it was great to see you.
Having my Parents and Sister come to Australia for a visit was a nice break, in fact Australia and New Zealand was a nice break from the constant traveling i have been doing. Although I have not yet come home, being in familiar places with familiar people brings that sense of home back into your heart. After taking a huge cross country drive in Australia back in 2001 a regret of mine was that I had never made it to the Whitsunday Islands and fortunately i got the chance to do so with my family. 
Seeing the White swirly sands of the iconic beach and getting yet another opportunity to experience the Great Barrier Reef was something i had look forward to for years. Getting the opportunity to do it with my family was even better. Being in a "western" country for the past 4.5 months at first was a bit of a reverse culture shock after traveling Asia for so long, but the familiarity of understanding the customs and even understanding the city of Sydney (having been there before) was something that took me out of "travel mode." having my parents with me for two weeks was a nice treat and in fact it didn't even feel like i was away from home. Saying good bye at the airport was a bit sad not just because i won't see them for another 7 to 8 more months, but also because a bit of that comfort and warmth they brought with them from home was slipping away.
Jill and I boarded the plane for New Zealand, which was what i knew would be the closest thing to home that i would come across until crossing back into the USA. New Zealand a place i have been a 5 times before, roads i have driven, landscapes which i love, familiar food, familiar faces, with a year away from home closing in on me this was a great place to be before moving onward.
Jill and i made short work of the South Island, driving as much as we could
in her short time in New Zealand. Just 10 days on the road and we covered some serious ground and got to stay and meet up with all those Kiwis which makes coming back to New Zealand something special every time. Pancake rocks, the rugged west coast, Fox glacier, parts of the Fiordlands, Bluff, Central Otago, Wanaka, Queenstown, Mount Cook, Tekapo, Moraki bolders, and Dunedin was quite the road trip for Jill, I never expected to cover that much ground in the time we had. Unfortunately the rain curse that has been cast over me and proceeds to plague me ever time i go to NZ was ever so present, but we managed a day or two of sunshine and even in the rain we had a great time.Saying goodbye to Jill and driving slowly back to Dunedin from the airport was a bit of a reality check that my
last touch of home has left me. I still had my friends in Dunedin and a very large responsibility of judging a hamburger patty contest that evening so tears didn't build up for too long, relaxing in Dunedin with friends whom i haven't seen in a long time was great and saying goodbye was the only thing bad about it. An evening in Christchurch with a good friend and talking travel was great because it was a much needed kick in the ass to get my brain back in travel mode.Finishing up in New Zealand in Auckland was fantastic, seeing Gary and Sammy amongst others was great, years in Tahoe together, countless parties and good times together made this trip to
AK no acceptations. Some times you just can't come up with words to describe seeing old friends, some times no words are needed. Smiles, hugs, a few too many cocktails, one too many dangerous 70's style dance moves, and a painful hangover speaks for its self. This part of my trip was a hard one to walk away from.New Zealand Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/vaccaro.marc24/MarcvaccaroNewZealand2009?feat=directlink
Australia Photos: unfortunatly I sent all my cooking photos home on dvd :(
http://picasaweb.google.com/vaccaro.marc24/MarcvaccaroAustralia?feat=directlink
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