I am back home now, having circled the globe in 3 weeks - climbing mountains, exploring caves, eating crickets, finding obscure unmarked historical sites, comparing beer flavors before 10 AM, traveling in crowded filthy second class trains, using restrooms that make you gag before you even see them, let alone use them...and I am thrilled to have had the opportunities. I met fabulous people along the way - like Moussa the taxi driver in Amman, Cristina the university student in Bratislava who helped us find the required five places in the 45 minutes we had in her country, and Farzath the warm Sri Lankan who welcomed us into his home for dinner. My partner Christine was a great competitor and a great sport. We came into the competition sharing a love of adventure and international travel, but not knowing each other particularly well. We ended with great respect for each other and the satisfaction of accomplishing 21 straight days of hard planning, running, doing, talking our way into private clubs, government buildings, closed museums, "impossible" situations, and recording it all - and the joy of learning and discovering! Right about now, I would love to have the chance to have my feet cleaned again in the Thai Fish Spa, and to have my body stretched again by the Thai masseuse, who made me feel like I was as tall as Travis (a little delusional on my part). But, the travels are done and it's time to go back to reality.