Dated 5 November 2010: Although the next few months will be an adventure for Andrew and I and viewed as crazy or exciting to many of our friends and family back home, we have come to realize quickly that our uniqueness is gone. Since our few short days here in Fiji we have made several new international acquaintances that have just chuckled ever so slightly when we told them how many days we have been travelling (3 at this point). The reality of it is we aren’t all that special anymore. We have a lot to learn and to see. There will be many things that we find out along the way and there will be many people that awe us with their courage. There has been Peter from Prague who has been travelling for 16 months via yachts and ships from South America to the islands. Then there are Sally and Andrew from Nova Scotia who began their travels last May.  They are en route to Australia to work for a year before continuing their travels. There is Xavier from the Basque Country in Spain who bicycled from New York through Canada, down through California, over to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas and is now resting for a few days in Fiji. He begins his bicycle journey around the world again when he arrives in Australia in a few short weeks. There was also Edwin and his girlfriend from the Netherlands who started travelling one year ago in Peru and offered us some very insightful information about treks. And then there are our newest Aussie friends- Thomas and Louise who we will hopefully see in Queensland in a few weeks time.

Life here is basically you meet some people, have a meal, and then say “safe travels!”  People don’t often make an effort or waste precious time to just talk to strangers back home, but in Fiji, we’re all friends.