Doug and Kerry Hudson's World Trip Highlights

Doug and Kerry looking very tanned and relaxed towards the end of their trip in sunny South Africa

In anticipation of the inevitable question, "What was your highlight?" we wanted to list our highlights from our world trip. The following list includes everything that stands out for us from our year of travelling.

Without any further ado, here is our list:

The first flight of our year (London to Toronto)

We felt the magic feeling of freedom and the thrilling anticipation of the adventures to come! It was also cool to fly over the ice flows of Greenland and Newfoundland. More...

Walking hand-in-hand together from the Musée du Louvre, through the Jardin des Tuileries, along the Avenue des Champs Elysées, to the Arc de Triomphe (Paris, France)

Is there anywhere in the world more romantic than Paris? More...

Cage diving with a Great White Shark (Gansbaai, South Africa)

This is one of Doug’s top highlights, obviously, as Kerry wouldn’t dream of doing something so foolish! What an incredible creature, so awesome and yet so beautiful! Thank goodness our photos of it do justice to the experience. More...

Experiencing Zion National Park (Utah)

In our opinion, and also that of quite a few Americans we have met, the best thing about America is the National Parks, and Zion National Park really stood out for us. The scenery was truly spectacular, and walking trails such as ‘Hidden Canyon’, ‘Zion Narrows’ and ‘Angel’s Landing’ are unequalled in our experience. The key thing we remember, though, is the serenity we felt sitting on soft green grass in the shade of a big oak tree as we ate our picnic lunch, our view dominated by the giant, red sandstone cliffs that towered over us. More...

Doug spending the night in hospital on a drip (Hua Hin, Thailand)

We each remember this night in different ways. Doug proudly remembers the way Kerry kept it together and made all the necessary arrangements, despite being so upset at seeing him in hospital. He also remembers the doctor sniggering as she asked him to describe his "poo-poo"… Kerry remembers it thus: "I cannot tell you how desperate and sick I felt at the thought that my Doug wasn’t well. Seeing him lying in that hospital bed with a drip left me feeling so helpless. Leaving him there was heartbreaking." More...

Floating on his back in the Stove Pipe Wells swimming pool at night, with bats dipping and swooping all around him (Death Valley, California)

This is another one of Doug’s highlights, as Kerry can’t stand bats! He describes it thus: "Incredible! The stars were coming out. Everything was silent in the warm evening air of the desert, except for these bats milling about. Hundreds of them!" More...

Swimming in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time (Cote d’Azur, France)

This really stood out for Kerry, as the sea around South Africa has always been too rough to swim peacefully in. She describes it thus: "Deliciously warm and incredibly buoyant!" Doug enjoyed teaching Kerry how to ‘do a floater’ and it was a delight for both of us to enjoy the sea so much. More...

Swimming in Chiaw Lan Lake (Khao Sok National Park, Thailand)

Doug will never forget swimming among the stalactites in the crystal clear, emerald green water of this supremely beautiful lake. Jungle-clad mountains rose up vertically out of the water like cliffs, to heights of over 950 metres. More...

Buchanwald concentration camp (near Weimar, Germany)

This place vividly evokes so many grim memories as to be unforgettable. It was a really black day for us. More...

Lou and Rowley’s delicious home-cooking (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)

We cannot emphasise enough how much we have enjoyed the home cooked food at Lou and Rowley’s. It is so good, that we cannot go out to a restaurant now without one of us saying, "Hmm, it was nice but not as good as Rowley’s"! More...

Our taxi journeys in Bangkok

It was a veritable white-knuckle ride. Until you have seen how the Thais drive in Bangkok, you cannot believe it. So many times we thought we were going to hit something with fatal consequences, either a moped or a tuk-tuk or a bus or another car, that our hearts remained in our mouths for the entire journey. More...

Spending a night in a ghost town (Johannesburg, California)

You know the image of a dusty, derelict old town forsaken in the desert, with a whistling wind rolling tumbleweeds down the main street? We were there! At night! More...

The Escape from Italy! (From Tuscany to the Cote d’Azur in a day)

We were so desperate to get out of Italy that we took the radical decision to abandon our plans, and just get the hell out of there! We can’t remember exactly what pushed us over the edge – probably yet another sleepless night in a noisy and overcrowded campsite – but we do remember the thrill of leaving it all behind, and driving towards the shining hope of France! More...

Seeing six bears and a moose in one day (British Columbia, Canada)

We saw these beautiful animals along the main highway from Jasper to Prince George, 100% wild, and 100% free. Not a nature reserve in sight, just pure untamed wilderness. More...

Being charged by a bull elephant (Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa)

This was a genuinely terrifying moment for both of us. There was a very real risk of getting violently torn limb from limb, especially when the car in front blocked our escape. Our tiny VW Golf mark I was no match for this King of Beasts. More...

Songkhla ‘wet’ market (Songkhla, Thailand)

This produce market was our Culture Shock in Thailand. The raw sights sounds and smells assaulted us from every angle. The jostling flow of people along the narrow pathway between the stalls carried us along inexorably, the low, claustrophobic umbrellas that contained it all forcing us to stoop as we were swept along. More...

Getting lost while driving in Florence

Kerry was literally crying her eyes out in road rage and frustration. "Just get me out of this expletive deleted place!" she screamed. More...

Quad biking in the Namib Desert (Swakopmund, Namibia)

Lost in the sea of dunes, we followed our guide up and down, up and down. More...

The boat journey from Thailand to Malaysia

Cramped, hot, and blind in a rickety long-tail boat at sea. Need we say more? More...

Exploring the quiet backstreets and canals of Venice

Once we had escaped the crowds at St. Mark’s Square and found our own quiet backstreets and canals, Venice took on a charm of its own. It’s easy to understand why tourists flock here. More...

The Worst Pizza in the World, Ever! (Siena, Italy)

From the best Italy has to offer, to the worst. A rude waiter, deliberately slow service, plastic cutlery and pizza so terrible that Kerry gagged! More...

"You look like David Beckham" (Thailand)

We lost count how many times Doug was told, "You look like David Beckham"! More...

Snowfall in Jasper

Having grown up in South Africa, Kerry had never seen snow falling from the sky before. She was mesmerised by the soft flakes slowly tumbling down. More...

Coming face-to-face with a black mamba (Mkhuze Game Reserve, South Africa)

Doug finds this difficult to forget, for obvious reasons! What we didn’t mention in our bulletin at the time because we didn’t want to dilute the black mamba story, was that Doug also came face to face with a green mamba earlier that same day. Mkhuze Game Reserve is in Zululand, a region of South Africa well known for its abundance of snakes, so if you hate snakes don’t even go there! More...

Pattaya beach (Ko Lipe, Thailand)

Picture a long crescent of soft white sand, fringed with palm trees and casuarina trees, gently sloping down to water so clear and so turquoise it could be pure aquamarine. More...

Rustic accommodation (Ko Lipe, Thailand)

Our bungalow on Ko Lipe was somewhat, erm, basic shall we say? Our parents recoil in horror at the photos of the squat toilet. Being right at the edge of wild jungle, we heard a lot of scary bumps and rustles during the night, and we even had bats fly in through our window! This all enhanced the charm of our desert island experience, of course! More...

Running down the giant sand dunes together at Sossusvlei (Namib Desert, Namibia)

The giant sand dunes at Sossusvlei were spectacular enough, viewed in the clear desert air and early morning sunshine. We are talking seriously big here, some of them over 300 metres high. But when we climbed up one and ran down it, it just added icing to the cake. It was exhilarating to run down the 45-degree slope, though it took months to remove all the sand from our boots! More...

Standing on the Skybridge of the incredible Petronas Towers (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Kerry very bravely joined Doug on the free ride up to the Skybridge that connects the twin towers. Given her fear of heights, it was a great achievement for her to do that, especially when a year ago she would have said, "There’s no ways you’re getting me up there!" More...

Eating Tickleberry’s ice cream, after a bum-crunching bicycle ride (Penticton, Canada)

What better way to recharge your batteries after a long morning in the saddle, than to tuck into "the best ice cream you ever slung a lip over"! More...

Driving at 160km/h on the Autobahn (Germany)

Ever wanted to drive your car as fast as it can go? On the Autobahn you can! More...

Learning to fish with Chris, and Doug landing his first shad (Cape Vidal, South Africa)

Chris had only taught Doug how to fish a few hours earlier. It was a stereotypical male bonding moment: Chris the mentor helped Doug the pupil to land successfully his first fish, a 35cm shad. Doug remembers the triumphant thrill he felt. He wasn’t so thrilled about killing it though, so we released it back into the sea! More...

The food in Malaysia and Singapore

Delicious and cheap! More...

Driving the Icefield Parkway (Banff to Jasper, Canada)

Canada claims the Icefield Parkway to be the most beautiful road in the world. With ancient blue glaciers and the snow-clad Rockies providing the scenery, maybe they have a good point? More...

Alcatraz Island (San Francisco, California)

It was the tourist thing to do, but we admit without shame that we thoroughly enjoyed exploring this prison, so familiar to us already from Hollywood movies. More...

Whale-watching in the Cape (Hermanus, South Africa)

It was amazing to see an ocean positively frothing with such enormous and intelligent creatures. More...

15 Euros for two ice creams (Florence, Italy)

Doug felt so much outrage at the Italian scumbags who had ripped us off, that for months afterwards he kept the receipt in his wallet as a reminder. More...

The Grand Canyon (North Rim, Arizona)

With the far rim a distant haze ten miles away from where we stood, the Grand Canyon gave true meaning to the word awesome. More...

The penguins at Boulders Beach (Cape Town, South Africa)

It was incredible to see these little tuxedoed characters co-existing so closely with man. More...

Flying into San Francisco and thinking we were going to land in the sea

Kerry doesn’t like flying at the best of times, so this didn’t exactly boost her confidence! More...

Doug shaving off all his hair

Doug felt that he had mutilated himself and Kerry remembers the hilarious look of horror on his face as the awful realisation sunk in. More...

Being robbed and terrorised by monkeys (Cape Vidal, South Africa)

Kerry left Doug and Chris fishing at the beach, and returned alone to our log cabin to discover that monkeys had raided us and stolen our food. Imagine Kerry’s fright when one of the culprits kept returning for more, thoroughly self-assured and not intimidated by her in the least! More...

The friendliness of the people in Penticton (British Columbia, Canada)

The people in this small town on Lake Okanagan are the friendliest we have met anywhere. When was the last time a supermarket manager greeted you as if you were genuinely his best friend? More...

Camping in the rain and trying to cook (Bavarian Alps, Germany)

Kerry describes it as one of the most frustrating experiences of her life. We’d erected the tent and Kerry had just started cooking dinner on our little camp stove when the heavens opened. She burnt her fingers, she was getting wet and the food wouldn’t cook quickly enough. Thinking back, she says it is a wonder she didn’t scream! And then, just when things could get no worse, our tent started to leak… More...

Seeing Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain

The cable car trip to the top of Table Mountain petrified Kerry, but she agrees that the magnificent view of Cape Town was worth it. More...

Our first hostel experience (Vancouver HI Downtown)

Kerry felt so shy and overwhelmed by it all, that she was almost too scared to leave our room to use the toilet. Then we met Rod and Ann, a lovely couple from South Africa, and suddenly everything was all right. More...

Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco, California)

The Golden Gate Bridge loomed gracefully out of the fog. There was something indefinably epic about just being there to see it. More...

Camping in the South of France

A peaceful campsite, friendly neighbours Pierre and Monique, fresh salad from the local market every day, beautiful countryside with historic fortified towns on hilltops, beaches on the Cote d’Azur nearby, and only an hour away from Cannes, Nice and Monaco. No wonder we stayed for nearly three weeks! More...

Watching Doug learn how to ride a moped (Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand)

It was Doug’s first time riding a moped. Kerry will always remember the hilarious look of terror on his face when he crashed it into a fence, with both the moped’s owner and the fence’s owner looking on! More...

The flamingoes in Walvis Bay (Namibia)

Picture hundreds of honking pink flamingoes, their crooked beaks like badly applied lipstick, all tiptoeing around the shallow water of the salt flats on their spindly legs. More...

The Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

This has to be the most impressive collection of paintings we have seen. The Sheepshearers, The Irises, and Landscape at Twilight were all there, and now postcard facsimiles grace our photo album! More...

Game drives in South Africa

We thoroughly enjoyed watching the wildlife. With only non-verbal communication between us, we would sit in absolute silence and watch the drama unfold before us. More...

Watching a traditional Tirolean wedding (Matrei, Austria)

It felt slightly voyeuristic, but we had the good fortune to observe a traditional wedding during our stay in Tirol, complete with costumes, 21-gun salute, brass band, and firemen. And the bride waved to us! More...

Spending lots of time in South Africa

As sad as we both were to leave Bournemouth, South Africa still remains Kerry’s home in her heart. It was special for her to recapture that love and kindle it in Doug as well. Despite spending over four months here, we still haven’t seen everything this beautiful country has to offer. More...

Riding an elephant (Khao Sok National Park, Thailand)

Physically, riding an elephant involved lurching from side-to-side very high off the ground on an uncomfortable bench not really wide enough for the both of us. However, it was also a chance to touch hundreds of years of tradition in Thailand. It was amazing to see how this giant did so little damage to the jungle we walked through, placing its enormous feet with such gentle care. More...

Stroking a cheetah (Oudtshoorn, South Africa)

Just like a kitty cat really, only much bigger and with a very loud purr! More...

Snorkelling together off Ko Pha-Ngan and seeing our first coral reef (Thailand)

Kerry was apprehensive, so we held hands as we swam out to the reef and into a silent, brightly-coloured world inhabited by strangely shaped coral, stripy fish, Christmas tree worms, bristly sea urchins, undulating anemone, and garrulous clams. More...

Feeling fresh air and warm sunshine on us every day

If you work in an office or live in England, you’ll identify with us when we say that to breathe fresh air and feel warm sunshine on our skin every day was absolutely priceless. More...

The kindness and support of our Mums and Dads

The way our parents shared in our dream and helped us make it possible is unforgettable. We will be forever grateful for all their kindness and support. Especially when our tent started to leak! More...

Working as a team, giving each other support and encouragement during the bad times, and sharing all that was new and exciting

Over this year, we formed an incredible bond. Having spent so much time together, it was very difficult for us when we resumed work and had to spend eight whole hours apart! More...

World Trip >> Highlights

Last updated: Sunday August 27, 2006