My view this morning from a park bench in Seoul’s Sajik Park. As early walkers looped past me every so often, I considered my last morning on foreign soil.

Tomorrow, we wake up in Hawaii.

Today, on a bench — I read in the Old Testament about something the Israelites did after arriving in the land they’d been promised. They offered up the first, best parts of their new harvest … they recited together all the ways they’d been rescued by a Holy Hand … they bowed their heads in worship … and they celebrated.

It was the end of a journey and they marked the moment in a special way.

It was a moment to remember and re-tell their Story. Then, looking ahead … they claimed the same Rescue, the same Story, in the days to come.

Our round-the-world journey is ending, of course — and we’re so thankful for how we’ve been rescued and cared for and helped and guided and protected and blessed along the way. There is such fruit from this journey to be harvested.

I’m also thankful for the journey RIGHT NOW — for that couple walking past my park bench, for that woman’s radio in her back pocket blaring “Call Me Maybe,” for that man who walks past while shaving with an electric razor, for that pigeon resting in the dust of an empty clearing in the park. This is fruit for me, too.

My translation of the Old Testament passage that I read this morning in Seoul includes these CLOSING words for the Israelites to say together:

“So here I am. I’ve brought the firstfruits of what I’ve grown on this ground you gave me, O God.”

Those are my words now … as one journey ends … some journeys continue … and other journeys are yet to come. I claim Rescue and Story yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I mark these things.

So here we are.

While planning for our year, both in advance and on-the-go, TripAdvisor became our sixth family member. We poured over reviews and suggestions of restaurants, apartments, hikes, hotels, trains, and self-guided tours. As a school writing assignment, we even studied what makes a good review and published some of our own.

Because it was so useful to hear from those who have gone before, we want to share some of our recommendations for YOUR trips abroad. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just many of the great things that come to mind when we look back on our year.

Sorry there are no helpful comments here, but we wholeheartedly recommend all of these places and activities linked below (we DID have some disasters and some less-than-ideals, we just left them off the list). If you want the full story, feel free to email us and we will talk your ear off!

GENERAL TRAVEL

AirTreks Round-the-World Airfare

Renault Eurodrive Lease/Buyback Program

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor CityGuides App

HomeAway Rentals

Holiday Lettings Rentals

AirBnB Apartment Rentals

Rick Steves Audio Europe

ICELAND

Iceland Camping Card

Hotel Keilir, Keflavik

Northsailing Whale Watching, Husavik

FRANCE

Hotel Esmeralda, Paris

Le Manoir Quinquis, Bannalec

Cro Bique, rental in Beynac-et-Cazenac

Font-de-Gaume Cave Paintings, Les Eyzies

Beynac Castle, Beynac-et-Cazenac

Transmanche Ferries

ENGLAND

Broadhembury Campground, Kent

Dover Castle, Kent

Farriers Arms Pub, Kent

London Eye

Tower of London

Blenheim Palace, Oxford

Helm Lune Cottage Rental, Bowness

Holiday Inn Maidstone, Seven Oaks

Car train through the Chunnel

BELGIUM

Maison Antoine Frites, Brussels

European Union Visitors Centre

SWITZERLAND

Chalet Im Batzenboden, Wengen

Trummelbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen

CROATIA

Montona Gallery Pizza, Motovun

Perfectly Charming House, Viganj

Antony Boy Camping and Windsurfing, Viganj

Jadrolinja Ferries

ITALY

L’Arcobaleno Apartment, Rome

Il Sorpasso Ristorante, Rome

MOROCCO

Riad Safir, Meknes

Rough Tours Company, Sahara

TUNISIA

Novotel, Tunis

GREECE

Hotel Phaedra

TURKEY

Villa Blanca Rental, Davutlar

Ephesus Archaeological Site, Izmir

Perge Archaeological Site, Antalya

Flintstones Cave Hotel, Cappadocia

Red and Rose Valley Trails, Goreme

Sedef Restaurant, Goreme

Hitchhiker ATV Rental, Goreme

Sahkulu Place Apartment, Istanbul

TANZANIA

Nomad Tanzania Safaris

RWANDA

Solace Guesthouse, Kigali

Kigali Memorial Centre, Kigali

Meze Fresh Burritos, Kigali

MALAYSIA

Petrosains Science Museum, Kuala Lumpur

Novotel City Centre, Kuala Lumpur

THAILAND

Thailand Elephant Conservation Center

Sojos Cafe, Chiang Mai

Khaomao Khaofang Restaurant, Chiang Mai

Free Burma Rangers

Medici Restaurant, Bangkok

Navalai River Resort, Bangkok

Bumrungrad Hospital, Bangkok

VIETNAM

V’Spirit Cruise, Ha Long Bay

Hanoi Charming 2 Hotel, Hanoi

CHINA

New Day Foster Home Guesthouse, near Beijing

Huanghua Great Wall of China

Olympic Water Cube Water Park, Beijing

Xian HQ Apartments, Xian

Mt Huashan Hike, Xian

Terra Cotta Warriors, Xian

JAPAN

Japan Railpass

Sakara Kyoto Guesthouse, Kyoto

Sakara Gion Machiya Rental, Kyoto

Musashi Sushi, Kyoto

Hiroshima Memorial Park, Hiroshima

Andersen Kitchen, Hiroshima

Toyota Plant Tour, Toyota City

Pepper Lunch, Tokyo

KOREA

Cozy Residence Apartment, Seoul

… AND SOME ORGANIZATIONS WE HAVE GROWN TO LOVE

St. James Muswell Hill, London

Friends of the Lakes District, Kendal, UK

Lakes Christian Centre, Bowness, UK

St. Paul’s Cultural Center, Antalya, Turkey

World Relief Rwanda

Sonrise School, Musanze, Rwanda

Akiba School, Nairobi, Kenya

Light and Power Centre, Nairobi, Kenya

The Ocean Church, Tanzania

Kenya Connection, Kenya

Dave and Lucy Chaves, Nairobi, Kenya

Christ Church Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya

International Justice Mission Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Grace International School, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Free Burma Rangers, Chiang Mai, Thailand

New Day Foster Home, China

HAPPY ADVENTURES TO YOU ALL!

“Writing writing prompts”???? Sheesh, I sure am glad J is teaching them writing instead of me!

W is practicing for his Algebra End-of-Course exam in a park in Seoul. H and E are back at the apartment with J working on writing writing prompts.
Tomorrow is our last day of school!

The perfect place for a date excursion here in Seoul later this week: I plan on cake and wine, he plans on bread and cheese. Happy together!

When you think of Kyoto, Japan — you think of a “hamburg(er)” restaurant decorated like an Alabama southern cookin’ joint playing “You make me wanna roll my windows down” to a host of empty booth tables, right?

Pass the fried chicken. Seriously. At Kyoto’s Bukiri Donkey restaurant.

That’s where we were last night on the final moments of an epic, three-country journey in three days — China to South Korea to Japan.

W’s luggage was flagged — and wrapped in an unbreakable alarm gizmo, a little bit like a car boot — because of a nerf gun packed inside. We rode a grand total of five train-like vehicles — a mag lev train in China, a people mover in South Korea, a “regular” train in Japan, a bullet train in Japan … and then finished off with a Japanese subway ride. (We had Subway sandwiches for dinner, standing over our luggage in the terminal of Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair Airport.) No luggage was lost or missing. We opened some airplane sickness bags for real — thankfully, for naught.

The trip tested us — still testing us, as we’re still a bit testy. And it apparently rains in Japan.

But we made it. We’re making it. We’re already remembering bits from our journey over the last few days with giggles. The boys are sleeping now. We’re in a beautiful guest house a few minutes walk from the old temples of The Philosopher’s Walk. S and I are making final plans for South Korea. We read Chapter One of “The Last Battle” tonight from the Narnia series.

And — moment by moment — we’re building a grand story.