On the subject of coming back to reality.

This is Haley, sitting on the floor outside of Jetblue's baggage claim area. Because of the nature of our flight, we had to wait outside the terminal on the floor for six hours before we could get our bags checked. Were we to have more money, we might have upgraded our flight or something. But alas, we are too poor.

It took nearly two full days of travel, but we made it back in one piece. The flight from Cartagena to JFK was only 5 hours long, but then we had a 12 hour layover before we could get on our next flight, one that went to Las Vegas. From Las Vegas it was on to Long Beach California, before finally arriving home at about 6 last night.

We had an awesome trip. We thought you might enjoy a quick look at the good, the bad, and the downright bizarre from our three weeks in Colombia. I've let Haley write this little section, since she had more of an outsider's view than I did.

THE GOOD

First to mention are the people. I have never met people living in such humble circumstances but yet were so kind and loving at the same time. Every person that we met and visited offered us some type of gift, whether that was a drink or meal, a place to stay, a ride to wherever we needed to go, clothes, gifts, etc. It was absolutely amazing. When someone comes to visit me, my first reaction is not to offer them something from my home. I want to be a better person because of their examples.

Next, I absolutely loved the sights. Colombia is such a beautiful country. We went from thick, green jungles to long, perfect beaches, then to rolling mountains and sprawling cities. It was quite amazing. Many of the people we talked to said that we'd seen more of Colombia than they had, and they'd lived there their whole lives! Americans don't think of going to Colombia when they think of top vacation spots. I would recommend this as a destination vacation to anyone. I definitely want to go back!

THE BAD

As we've mentioned before, the worst part of our trip was having my phone stolen. I never once felt like we were in danger when we were in Colombia. I did, however, sense that people were always watching us. We were so careful with our phones, which is why it was so frustrating that we were hustled in the way that we were.

Another bad thing was being sick from the food. Konner really played it down in his early posts, but I actually was pretty sick on our hike. I don't know if it was the food, water, intense hiking, or a perfect combination of all three, but either way, it was not so fun.

THE DOWNRIGHT BIZARRE

The most shocking part of Colombia for me were definitely the roads. The drivers are crazy! They don't stay in their lanes, they drive like maniacs, they have a constant hand on their horns, and they're just overall terrifying. As we were driving down the main highways, we saw things I never thought I'd ever see on a highway! I was absolutely stunned to see small children walking down the roads, inches away from the speeding cars, trucks, and motorcycles. I couldn't believe it when there were cows, horses, and chickens wandering freely without cages, fences, or ropes. Totally insane!

My personal favorite bizarre thing came from our first city, Santa Marta. As we were driving down the main highway again, I saw a man riding a bike, and strapped to his chest was a small bird cage with a little yellow bird inside! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! Sadly, Konner missed it.



Thank you all for following us on our vacation. Colombia is a special place for both of us, and it's absolutely awesome. It is a bit of an adventure, but if you've ever considered a more rugged vacation we highly recommend it. It's still untouched, still fresh, still new.

We want to thank our families for their help, as well as our friends and neighbors for doing the little things like collecting our mail. And a huge thank you goes out to the individual families in Colombia who made time for us and (literally) offered us their homes. We love you!

As for the blog, we hope to update it periodically with the latest adventures from the Glick clan. We hope that you'll come back, and we hope that you're all able to enjoy your own awesome adventures.

-Konner & Haley