July 14, 2020
Every good thing has to come to an end!
Although we were comfortably settled in Noumea, we had a decision to make early July. We could not stay forever in my friend’s apartment, so we decided to wait until Tahiti reopened to fly through there before heading back to France via North America (that’s how our RTW ticket was set up).
Unfortunately, New Caledonia’s government had all commercial flights suspended until July 31, 2020 and Tahiti was no exception although the latter was reopening to the US on July 15, obliviously voiding the quarantine upon arrival. Who knows what the Caledonian government would decide after July 31? We would not want to wait indefinitely either…
Also, Qantas, whom we were supposed to fly with our RTW tickets, had just announced they were suspending international flights until October 31.
So we were at a crossroads, and we made the decision to cancel our RTW tickets (should get partially refunded though) and buy direct flights back to France on Air France via Tokyo 3 weeks early, for July 14, 2020… Bastille Day, was it a symbol? Well that was not on purpose.
After the decision was made, we prepared for our departure, also getting used to the idea that our trip was almost over.
Tontouta airport, 40km north of Noumea
The trip back was as smooth as can be, wearing a mask for 30 hours!
On the Noumea-Tokyo 8-hour night flight, we all slept so that was easy! In Tokyo, all shops were closed in the terminal, looked like a ghost town. Then, the Tokyo-Paris flight was 12.5 hour-long and we watched A LOT of TV (Thank God for IFE!). Going through the passport controls and X-rays in the Paris terminal was a piece of cake as it was a deserted place.
Liberation was truthfully when we stepped out of the Toulouse terminal and finally could take our masks off! Fortunately, the girls did not have to wear them the whole way but tolerated them more than we had anticipated.
Hand-made masks for the Noumea-Tokyo flight
Konichiwa from Tokyo
Surgery masks mandatory on Air France flights
Salah’s Dad picked us up at the Toulouse airport where he had dropped us off 302 days earlier for this incredible adventure. An air of déjà vu… well almost!
Upon our arrival, we had to get back into the habit of social distancing (no hugs after being gone for so long, ouch), wearing masks, hand sanitizing, and being cautious…
Back in Noumea, these habits were long gone as the virus has never circulated on the island. Pre-Covid19 life had resumed shortly after the end of the lockdown on April 24.
But in France, it is a whole different story, blatantly obvious as soon as we deboarded the plane.
Departure on September 16, 2019 and return July 14, 2020
As you can imagine, after such a long trip, we were exhausted and craving for a shower.
2 weeks later, our bodies had finally adapted to the 9-hour time difference with Noumea and we were back to normal (as normal as can be, right? 😉)
We feel so grateful to have traveled as we had envisioned this year, spending quality time as a family, travelling slowly, discovering as much about countries as about ourselves, and “feeling comfortable with the uncomfortable” (that was Coralie’s mantra).
Over 10 months, we visited 11 countries and spent
4 months in New Caledonia
1 month in China, Vietnam, Thailand
3 weeks in Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand
5 days in Hong Kong
3 days in Singapore and Sydney
The trip taught us to manage stress like when an old Chinese lady almost kidnapped Lana on the 1st week of the trip (without Naema’s alert, she would literally have disappeared) or when Salah lost Naema in Ubud in the middle of a thunderstorm.
We learned to surpass ourselves like when we managed the girls with low energy levels as we were fighting dengue fever for 7 days in Bali, or when we were teaching 3rd grade and Pre-K to our girls in French and in English.
The trip also allowed the 4 of us to deepen our bonds, being together day-in day-out. For us, there was no such thing as watching our kids bloom right in front of us on this trip.
We also deepened our bonds with family in New Caledonia. Salah and the girls got to learn about the island and its culture, while Coralie was gladly leading them through this pilgrimage.
We also learned about our family history in China, Vietnam and New Caledonia. This was amazing!
The trip opened up our horizons as we came across so many people, personalities and ambiences that made our trip. For example, witnessing this undercover arrest of a Chinese 40-year-old man in Guangzhou (political opponent or actual criminal?), this lady coming daily on the Luang Prabang market with her 2 young daughters to sell fresh juices, or this messy, noisy, smelly atmosphere in Saigon that we enjoyed so much!
We got used to adapting quickly to a new country, like learning basic words in the local language, or making out the local currency and its exchange rate for a USD, varying from 25,000 to 1.4 across visited countries. We were millionaires in Vietnam, Laos and Indonesia but we remained down-to-earth 😃
The girls learned the words too and tried to communicate with the locals. They never got used to curious people touching their skin, hair and photographing them though. Blending in the crowd in New Zealand was welcome for them.
They learned a whole lot this year and classroom content was only a part of it. Naema is still an avid reader. After Harry Potter and Narnia, she went through a Greek mythology youth series (thanks Lena for the recommendation!). Lana can read in English and list all the countries we visited.
They can say Hello and Thank you in 10 languages and their mind is opened up to different ways of living.
We saw the value of them speaking English when we visited museums and went to the movies in Vietnam and Thailand. What a great asset to start off in life with 2 languages!
The girls never whined even after going around for 2 hours in Xi’an looking for our (shithole) apartment, walking 18km in the mountain of Kunming, visiting hundreds of wats (temples), or waking up at 4:30am for tak bat in Luang Prabang. They were adorable while we were zombies in Ubud fighting dengue fever!
They also ate and enjoyed local food all along, just like us! Indonesian food was a little too spicy for Lana but that was it!
These girls are globetrotters in the making…We are proud of the girls following us in our crazy adventure.
For sure, we did not make it as planned to Tahiti, Easter Island nor South America but this will be for another time.
We came back full of memories, anecdotes and eager for more. But another adventure is setting upon us: settling back in France after 12 years abroad!
We are currently located at Salah’s parents in the south of Toulouse, in a village of 1200 souls. The girls are registered to the local school that starts on September 1st. Besides running to various administrative appointments to get back into the system, Salah and I are job hunting. How could this be a better timing with Covid19? Dunno… but impossible is not in our lingo. We are keeping a positive attitude and staying alert.
August is usually a slow (not to say dead) month in France so not many things happening anyways. The Fall term will be critical for us.
Thanks for reading us so avidly during our trip. We enjoyed sharing our adventures as much as reading your emails for news.
Let's keep in touch until next time!
The Elsankari family
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