While we’ve been home for a while now, we never did our final 100 days report. So here we are—read on for some of the highs, lows, and everything in between from our final months on the road!

Most Breathtaking Moment

Vikram’s pick: Hiking through the rice terraces in Sapa, Vietnam.

Mary’s pick: Swimming in the crystal blue Adriatic sea with a huge medieval fortress looming over me was pretty epic.

Most Memorable Mode of Transportation

Vikram’s pick: Taking a seven-hour, standing-room only train with no air conditioning through terraced hillside tea plantations from Ella to Kandy in Sri Lanka.

Mary’s pick: Definitely our train ride from Colombo to Galle in Sri Lanka. I have never seen a more packed train, and initially I thought we wouldn’t be able to get on. But we followed the local people’s lead and just squeezed on wherever we found a smidge of space. Standing room only, of course!

Best Food

Vikram’s pick: Bun cha in Vietnam. A close second: nearly everything else we ate in Vietnam.

Mary’s pick: Vikram got bored of these immediately, but I loved burek in the Balkans—savory puff pastry stuffed with cheese, spinach, or meat. Yes, please! (Though overall, Vietnamese food was my favorite.)

Best Place We Slept the Night

Vikram’s pick: Hostel Majdas in Mostar, Bosnia. (Great recommendation, Sam!) Warm and friendly staff, delicious breakfasts, comfy beds, and an absurd, intense, 10-hour rollercoaster of a tour that taught me more than the 20 or so credits of foreign policy classes that I took at UVA.

Mary’s pick: Sac Lo Homestay in Hoi An, Vietnam. We had a comfortable room and pancake breakfasts (with Vietnamese coffee … yummmm). And our host, Lyna, made us feel at home immediately and created a welcoming atmosphere that made it easy to get to know the other guests.

Most Underrated Place

Vikram’s pick: Zagreb, Croatia is not on the coast, and as a result doesn’t get the tourist attention it deserves, despite it being Croatia’s largest city and capital. But we were charmed by its Austro-Hungarian architecture, quirky museums, and vibrant food scene.

Mary’s pick: Galle, Sri Lanka—it was a beautiful coastal town, with well-preserved colonial buildings, charming shops, and a magnificent fort walls (I love a good fort town). A very chill, relaxed vibe through the town. And there were beautiful beaches nearby, too!

Favorite Addition to Our Wardrobe

Vikram’s pick: The boots I bought in Berlin, which were warm, waterproof, supportive, and an immediate improvement on my run-down boat shoes.

Mary’s pick: My squeaky clean white sneakers! Unfortunately, after wearing them almost every day for two months, they look extremely worn out now.

Most Interesting Person We Met

Vikram’s pick: We coincidentally stayed in two Bosnian hostels with Jamie, a Scot who is two years into a bicycle trip around the world. It was really interesting to hear about his experiences biking across Europe, and the challenges he faces that we don’t even think about (for example, hills, only traveling during daylight hours, and camping in places with leftover landmines). Good luck, Jamie!

Mary’s pick: Mao in Sapa, Vietnam. She runs a trekking and homestay service through the rice terraces around Sapa, and she runs her entire business from her flip-phone. She taught herself English through speaking with tourists, and she is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met. We loved staying with her and her family for two nights and having delicious, home-cooked dinners with them!

Best Splurge

Vikram’s pick: Springing to rent a car and drive from Brussels to Alsace, and on to Paris. Driving through the rolling hills and adorable small towns of the French countryside was unforgettable.

Mary’s pick: We treated ourselves to seeing Wicked on the West End in London!

What We Wished We Had Done

Vikram’s pick: Spent more time in Berlin, which was as “cool” as it was hyped up to be, with a fascinating history and a still-evolving identity.

Mary’s pick: I wish we had had more time in Hungary and the Czech Republic. We only visited Budapest and Prague in those countries, respectively, and while those were both amazing cities, I feel like we only scratched the surface of those countries and cultures.

What We Would Do Again:

Vikram’s pick:  We got to meet up with a lot of friends in the last 100 days of our trip. Sharing these experiences with some of our best friends was something we really enjoyed, and we’d like to travel more with friends in the future.

Mary’s pick: All of it!