Francis & Edward, Taste of the World

We feel incredibly fortunate to share our travel experience with everyone. Backpacking through China, South East Asia, India, Tanzania, Egypt and Cuba has changed us in ways that we don't even fully understand. Below we try to summarize some the lessons, insights and observations from our 5 months of travel. Thanks for joining us on this journey!

1. If you travel with humility and an open mind, than no matter where you are in the world, you will find people that you will love, and that will love you too.

[i]With Hindi family in New Delhi: Sanjay, AD Sharma & family

With Muslim family (Salim & Farida Khan) in Udaipur, Rajasthan:

With Buddhist family (Hel Poungsinal, Wife, & Peter), in Phenom Penh, Cambodia:

With fruit vendor in Hanoi, Vietnam

With Buddhist family (Ponsothat (Jimmy), Kimsong, daughter, Monique, & son, David) in Siem Reap, Cambodia

With Hindi family in Goa

With bus boy from Paharganj, India

With Joseph, our camping safari guide: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

2. If you make the effort to learn two words in your host country's language, "Hello" and "Thank you", people will open their hearts and minds to you.

A simple "Namaste" started a friendship with a Commanding Officer in India's army: Almora, Uttaranchal

3. The more we traveled, the more we realized just how much we haven't seen in our own backyard.

We hope to make it out to the Grand Canyon one of these days

4. Learning about and seeing how different religions are practiced throughout the world will change how you think about religion.

The bathing Ghats on the Holy Ganga: Varanasi, India

Monk reading by window at a temple: Luang Prabang, Lao

Minerets of Al-Azhar Mosque: Cairo, Egypt

Church of San Antonio: Matanzas, Cuba

5. Traveling will help you understand history and politics in a different light.

Mao's portrait near Tienanmen Square

6. Complacency, fear and self-righteousness and can lead normal people to do terrible things.

Memorial at the killing fields. From 1975-79 the Khmer Rouge murdered or starved 1.7 million Cambodians, about 25% of the entire population of the country, in an attempt to form an agrarian utopia by creating a Communist peasant farming society. Phenom Pehn, Cambodia

Learn more here: http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/pol_pot.htm

7. Life is precious; enjoy every minute of it!

Francis and Edward diving in the Similan Islands: Thailand

8. Man-made beauty can never compare to our planet's natural beauty.

View of Keshar Devi, 100 miles out, from Almora, Uttaranchal, India

Baby elephant and it's mother at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania

9. Traveling with kids is difficult, but extremely rewarding.

Francis, Edward and our nephew, Donnaven, traveling via bicycle rickshaw in New Delhi, India.

10. If there is something you really want to do, don't leave it for tomorrow, do it now.

Francis, Edward and our nephew, Donnaven, at the Great Pyramids of Giza