Bombino World Tour

Monday, July 25, 2011

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
– Lao Tzu

My return to the US of A!

My around world tour was finally complete when I arrived to California on June 29th, 2011. I can now officially say I traveled around the world. There is still a lot to see out there but I can't describe the immense amount of joy and gratitude I feel for having seen all that I have. 12 countries and a countless amount of cities, all in four months! Coming home to America makes it 13 countries. Before I completed my world tour in California I made a stop in Florida to visit my best friend of many years and enjoy a smooth return to the US.

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

Florida

Florida was the perfect return to the US. I landed in Miami, Florida after 24 hours of travel. My best friend Stephanie and her family welcomed me into their home in Fort Lauderdale so I could enjoy a relaxing week at the beach before I returned to the grind of the US lifestyle. I must admit coming home was a small culture shock but I was happy to be in Florida with my friend. I spent the week with Stephanie's friends and family and had a great time. I was surprised and overwhelmed with how many of Stephanie's friends knew me from my blog. It meant so much to me to see that people had followed my trip and enjoyed the ride with me the whole time.

While in Florida I was able to do more than just enjoy some beach time. Steph and her boyfriend work at an incredible restaurant called 3030. Their friends treated us to an 8 course meal that may have included some of the most wonderful foods I have ever tasted. We also enjoyed a fun day at a water park that made me feel like a kid again and a night out at the bars- American style- that ended with us dancing in the rain at an outdoor bar until the evening ended at 4am. It was a wonderful return to the US. I had spent much I my youth visiting Stephanie's dad in Florida and I felt like I was at home. It was wonderful to spend time with Stephanie and her friends and family and I must thank them all for making my return to the US a happy one!


Yup- I am back in the US- Hummer and a Bentley in the same garage

Steph joins bracelet power

Steph on the beach- best friend from growing up

Steph and me- out and about celebrating my return to America

Dancing in the rain!- by myself at this point of course!

I got Steph to join me in the rain

I love to climb trees!

Chillen with the tree

Finally got everyone out dancing!- Steph's friends

One of our amazing courses from 3030

Last night in Florida with Steph, her boyfriend Steven, and just a little bit a beer

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard

Oh Sweet California

From Florida I made my way back to California. I was so excited to be back to my beloved California and reunited with so many friends. On my first night back my friends welcomed me with an amazing American BBQ and nothing other than grape bombs. It was a great night spent with some of my dearest friends. I truly felt welcomed home and I can't thank each of them enough for joining me on my first night back in California. The rest of the week was a celebration of our countries Independence- 4th of July weekend! It was 5 days straight of friends, BBQs, fiestas and beach time. I had a fun time reuniting with so many people that make the US home for me. California is truly a beautiful place and my week spent there only confirmed the love I have for it. I cannot think of a better place to have both started and ended my world tour!

Sasha picks me up from the airport!

Yeah for reunions!

Welcome Home BBQ- thank you friends!

Me with my Sign- "Countdown Until Bombino Returns to California"- I felt loved!

Best buds!- Matty with the ladies :)

Reunion with my life coaches- Katie and Kendra- wouldn't have had the courage to do this trip with out you ladies! Thanks!

Planking! Wish I had done this throughout my whole trip! Amazing.

Beach day- this is California. Love.

These flip flops took me around the world and survived 4 months and 13 countries- these bad boys were amazing!

Yay! America!

4th of July in California

American BBQ- kudos to my friend Adam who BBQ-ed for me the whole weekend! :)

Adios BBQ- thanks friends- so great to be back in California :)

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine

Chi City

While my world tour was technically complete in California my adventures are still not over. I am now in Chicago and have been moving from city to city for 5 months now. My arrival to Chicago was absolutely perfect. I flew into the city on the evening of July 8th, saw my very pregnant and beautiful sister on law on July 9th and was here for the arrival of my incredible nephew on July 10th. I am now a first time Tia (aunt) and happier then ever. The past 6 months have been such a whirl wind for me: I left everything I knew, traveled for 4 months, and now have welcome the most amazing little family member into my life. For those of you who know me well, we were all a little worried how I would handle a baby coming into my life (I am not exactly a natural in the kid department)... but in reality I actually am. I am head of heals in love with my nephew, Jaxon Rafael Bombino, and I spent the first 10 days of his life staying with him through the night and doing all I could to help my brother and his wife with our new amazing family member!

Some of you may be wondering what is next for me. If I knew exactly, I promise you would all be the first to know. I can say that I hope to always live life the way I have lived the past four months- embracing each moment and being grateful for all that I have in front of me. I am glad to have realized that people are truly good and giving and the world is such beautiful place. Travel is now a part of me. I will do all I can to continue to see the world and share my experiences. All that I have learned though this experience cannot be put into words so all I can do is encourage all of you to see new places and as much of the world as you can. I can't thank all of you enough for the support you have given me and for keeping me company through my blog. Thank you to all of those who shared this trip with me; it will forever be in my heart and a part of who I am. I am so happy to have been able to share the last five months with all of you. Until the next time....Salud, Yamas, Slainte, and Cheers- to new adventures friends....

Lindsey's baby belly! So happy I got to see her pregnant!

Bombino women

Mom and Dad

Celebration dinner- my return and the upcoming arrival of my nephew- Rafi and I drank something called a Volcano to celebrate!

One day after my return to Chicago- Jaxon Rafael Bombino was born!

Such a cute family- Congrats!

So small and precious!

Our little burrito

What a beautiful picture!

Poor new dad is tired! Catching some z's while he can

Abuelo y Abuela

Amazing! My brother is a Dad :)

I love him so much

A new life begins- may your adventures be as filled with love and happiness as mine have little man. Love you.

Thanks again for following! Best wishes to all!

Monday, June 27, 2011

England and Scotland

My time in the UK was the perfect end to my European travels. I had 10 days with two of my dear friends from California, Alexis and Buster. They are currently living in the lovely town of Bedford for four months while Buster is there for work. Well, they definitely wouldn’t describe Bedford as lovely but I had a pleasant time there due to the great company. My first few days in England were in Bedford, a very small English town. I met some of their friends, got to see and American movie, and enjoyed some quality time with Alexis and Buster. Their hotel was like a palace for me so I was also able to catch up on some rest and relaxation which was much appreciated!

While in England Alexis and I took a small road trip to a small town called Malvern. It is the hometown of my good friend Ed, who was part of my South East Asia travel family. I was so excited to be reunited with Ed and he took us all around his cute hometown. Malvern is so pretty and surrounded by the Malvern Hills. We took a hike to the top of the hills and were able to see a view of seven counties. It was really beautiful and my pictures were not quite able to capture how lovely it was. While most people spend all of their time in London while visiting England, I was so happy to be in the country side seeing the small towns of England. Ed and I remised about our time in Asia, telling Alexis all of our funny stories and we had an absolutely wonderful day. Unfortunately, we had to say bye to Ed by early evening but we returned to Bedford and had an amazing Thai dinner with Buster and his friend. I was super happy to have my first Thai meal since my time spent in Thailand. We had a night out in Bedford which included an Elvis kareokee performance by Buster! I learned that my friend could not only sing but do once class act Elvis impersonation!

The next day Lex and I went to London to meet two of my hometown friends for a lunch abroad. My friends from Crystal Lake, Jacqui Zuniga and Jamie Wagner, were travling Europe for one month together. We happened to be in England at the same time so we took the chance to reunite. Two reunions in one week! I was so lucky. We had a great lunch and exchanged funny travel stories. That afternoon was the only time I spent in London. I had spent a week in London in 2006 so I had already done all the tourist must sees in London a few years back. That night we made our way to Buster’s home town in Northern England. It was another picturesque town covered with hills and green landscape. I had my first traditional cup of English tea and yes, it was quite crappy! … which I was warned it would be as it was handed to me by Buster himself. We had an afternoon of an exhilarating game of cricket- not so exhilarating- and beer. It was a traditional English Saturday. I was so happy to meet Buster’s lovely family and spend more time in the country side of England.

From there Alexis and I made our way to Edinburgh, Scotland. Scotland was amazing! I loved the accents and the people were so nice. For some of you who may not know, I have a slightly excessive love for all things Scottish. I was super excited to be in Scotland and while I would have loved to spend more time here, and I know I must go back, I am so happy I got to spend a couple of days there. We did a lot of touristy things while in Edinburgh and saw so much in a small amount of time. We took a tour through the Edinburgh Castle and the Hollyrood Castle (this is the castle Queen Elizabeth stays in when she visits Scotland). I loved touring the castles since they explained so much of Scottish History which I found so interesting. On our last night we did a haunted tour of Old Edinburgh and the underground vaults that lie below part of the city. It was pretty interesting. We learned where certain sayings like dead ringer, saved by the bell and shit faced come from!....

· Dead Ringer and Saved By the Bell- back in the day, when autopsies, causes of death, and hospitals were not of the best quality, people were occasionally buried alive by accident. To try and prevent a death when someone was buried alive they would tie a string to the finger of the buried body which lead to a bell above ground. If you woke up buried alive, you could ring the bell and hope that some simpatheic soul would hear your call and save you! So... if you got out... you were "Saved by the Bell!"

· Shit faced- back when homes did not have toilets and they had to use a simple bin or bowl to “do their business” at 10pm every night the people in town took their bin and disposed of their business with a good toss of the continents from the bowls straight into the streets. 10pm also happened to be the time the bars closed; so more than once a wandering drunk would leave the bar, stumble along the street, and get a good face full of unpleasant “business” if he was not paying attention. He would wake up in the morning “shit faced”…. Hence the saying we all use today!

So as you can see, not only did we get a scary underground tour, but we learned something too! The Ghost tour was fun and to give you an idea if it was any good Alexis and I did end up curled in a ball sitting on a wet and dirty floor, hugging each other and screaming in fear at one point! Yikes... and yes... kind of embarrassing but mostly hilarious! Scotland was awesome. The people were kind, the accents were great, and Edinburgh was a fun town filled with tons of history. I definitely must go back for more time someday. After Scotland we made our way back to England for my last day in the UK. I had a traditional English tea time with Alexis and a goodbye dinner and drinks with Alexis and Buster. I was so nervous to leave and head back to the states but I was excited to be meeting my dear old friend Stephanie in Florida. After England I have one pit stop in the US before I head back to California and officially make it around the world. I must give a big thank you to Alexis and Buster who treated me so well and made my time in the UK absolutely lovely! I cannot believe the Bombino World Tour is almost complete. Please stay tuned for the final “return to the states” post coming soon!