This is our final blog for our tour around the world. We might post again after a vacation, but this wraps up our long-term journey. We left Portland end of June 2018 and have been traveling for 18 months. We visited 16 countries and about 70 cities. Looking back, we have seen a lot and it’s been an amazing experience. We are very glad we did it and don’t regret a thing. Like everything in life, we had some great, good and so-so experiences. The goal of this journey for us was to stay in each place long enough to get to know it better and not rush in and out. We were interested to learn how people live, what are their cultural habits, what do they eat, how do they do things differently, learn a new perspective and understand their history better. Soren read the history of many of the countries we visited, and it gave us a better understanding of how things have developed and why some of the structures are the way they are. Like how Thailand managed not to get colonized while all its neighboring countries did. Looking back, the places we stayed the longest, we enjoyed the most. Four weeks was a good length to feel like we know a place and have a chance to meet locals and see them again to build a relationship. If you’re planning long term travel or just want some general traveling tips, we’ll be happy to share stories over a glass of wine. The last two months (November and December) including the holidays before returning to the US, we spend it with the family in Sweden. The summers in Sweden are much nicer than the winters especially when there is no snow. We enjoyed the family and friends indoors while the outdoors was what it was: gray, cold and wet. Early December, the radio announced we had 22 hours of sunshine for the entire month of November. Sunrise was around 9am and sunset around 2:30pm. You snooze, you lose! Literally! Sunshine!One of the few days with sunshine and a little snow. Frozen On the horizonLooking south at noon New Year in Stockholm Torchbearers Mid-January, we flew back to Houston. We enjoy visiting with our family and friends, but the traffic in this town has gotten worse which makes getting around a pain. We planned to stay here until we found a job. We were not sure how long the job search was going to take but we are thrilled to announce the transition was short and we are moving back to Portland. We are excited in every way and we are looking forward to making our new home again. Too much trafficI10 in Houston and it's not even rush hour

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