# 8 - Half-year summary.

We have now been on the road for half a year. Wow, we can hardly believe it ourselves yet.

One of our last adventures was to go to the Cajas National Park near Cuenca in Ecuador. Besides the spectacular lagoon and the interesting fauna, the altitude was special. The national park is at an altitude of about 4000m, so we ran out of breath pretty quickly.

Before our trip, there were some who told us that we could be very proud if we managed to travel together for half a year. And we are proud. Proud of ourselves, and proud of all those who accompany and support us.

And now the time has come. Half a year is over. Half a year full of highs, some lows, difficult situations and above all so many experiences that we can hardly keep up with the story.

Here we would like to draw a short interim conclusion.

12 countries
4 continents
30 accommodations
Buses, ships, taxis and aeroplanes that can no longer be counted, with which we have now travelled completely around the world more than once. 

But what has been most important to us from the beginning on, are the many dear people we have met. They let us sleep on their couch, showed us typical regional food, shared insider tips with us and spent so many wonderful hours with us.

We set off 6 months ago with the goal of travelling to 6 continents in one year. After half a year, we have already left 3 of the 6 continents behind us and are currently on the fourth. Ahead of us are continents 5 and 6 with North America and Africa. For those of you who have been paying attention in geography, you know that one of the seven continents that exist in the world (at least from a European perspective) did not make it onto our list. We have met several who already have made their way to Antarctica. Unfortunately, it doesn't fit into our world tour, both in terms of time and budget. Besides, we can say that Antarctica is not the optimal place for Alex. But maybe a trip to the coldest of the seven continents could still be an option for us after the year, sometime. For now, however, we are concentrating on the coming months.

At the moment we are still in Ecuador, Baños to be precise. A small town somewhere in the Andes and not far from the Amazon, made for adventurers and adrenaline junkies. Besides bus tours to waterfalls, activities that involve adrenaline kicks are especially popular. Be it paragliding, whizzing above a canyon on a zipline, or plodding along narrow paths on a mountain bike. We have already done both of the former. But even the bus drive to Baños is adventurous, when you overtake cars on narrow (gravel-) roads right next to the abyss or drive past trucks that have turned onto their sides in a bend...

From left to right: Santiago, the pilot Alex flew with, paragliding. Next to him is Doro, whom we met in Cuenca and with whom we are currently travelling through Ecuador with her boyfriend Basti. On the far right with the flight jacket is Javier, with whom Lovis flew. Basti took the photo 'and captured behind us the volcano Tungurahua shrouded in clouds.

And now we are going for a few days to the Amazon. For us, this means mastering a few different challenges. Boat trips, night hikes and something we both haven't experienced in such a long time: for three days we won't have internet. In this day and age, this is certainly a big experience, but it is also certainly a liberating one for us. We will report shortly!

How we will travel afterwards, we don't know yet - as we (almost) always do. The rough plan, however, is that we will travel to Colombia as our next country. This was especially recommended to us by other travellers we met in different corners of Ecuador. After that, we may choose one more Central American country (do you have any tips? Feel free write us on Instagram or here in the comments). After that, it's a quick trip to Puerto Rico in the Caribbean before we head to the US and Canada. The final destination of our trip - as far as the plan goes - will be South Africa. Alex has a personal connection there. You will find out what it is then. Stay tuned.

So that's the plan for the rest of our journey over the next six months. But of course, as has already happened, it can change again. We are just as curious as you are. But the rest of the journey isn't quite right either, because we're already sure: Even after the year is over, the two of us will continue to experience adventures as an 'Interabled Duo' which we will share with you again, of course. We will continue to work on our vision and make inclusion more and more normal!

Thank you for joining us on our journey. Stay tuned for what is to come. See you in a few days.

Alex and Lovis