December 25, Christmas Day, marks six months that we’ve been on the road, and we thought we’d mark the occasion by sharing our thoughts about the time behind us, and what still lies ahead.

We’ve had a fantastic and nearly surreal time so far. We’ve been to so many places we never thought we’d see in our lives, experienced so many incredible things, spent time with some amazing people, undertaken and overcome some personal challenges, and had so few setbacks that they hardly bear mentioning. We feel incredibly lucky that we’re able to have this experience each day that goes by.

One of the biggest surprises for us has been how short a year actually is (or maybe we’re surprised at how big the world really is). Everywhere we go we find places that are worth spending much more time in than we’re able to, and places we promise ourselves we’ll return to. Many people see our pace as a fast one, but it’s working for us; we’re not bored or tired of exploring, not getting on each others’ nerves too much, and, frankly, we often get itchy if we stay in one place for too long. One person we met described our approach as “window shopping”, and we think that’s apt: with this plan we’re able to experience a tremendous variety of different environments, landscapes, cultures, food, music. It’s hard to describe, but as we see more places and do more things, the similarities everywhere we go become much more apparent than the differences.

The hardest change from our “normal” lives has not been an adjustment to comfort level, language barriers, or the inability to find luxury items such as good beer and cheese; it’s our friends and family that we miss most. We absolutely love to hear from you and how you’re doing, and there is nothing that brings a bigger smile to our faces than receiving an email from our loved ones. We’re lucky to be traveling in an era where long-distance communication (email, Twitter, Skype, Facebook, etc.) can make 10,000 miles feel much shorter. We know many of you are reading about our experiences, and some of you often email us after reading a post to tell us what you think of our latest adventure. We love receiving comments on our posts, whether it’s because you have a question about where we’ve been, a reaction to what we’ve written, or just want to say hello. So please keep up the communication, or drop us a line if you haven’t before.

At the halfway point of the trip we’d like to ask what we can do better, and what you’re curious or interested about. Are there are any questions about our trip we can answer? Is there anything you’ve been wondering? What parts of the trip should we talk more (or less) about? Please, we’d love to hear what you think!

Here are some of our favorite memories from the first six months. Thank you all for reading!