Getting Started

Hi Mom.

Just to let you know, all is going well. So here it is, our first blog post, and with it the answers to a lot of questions people want to know about our planned around-the-world trip:

When are you leaving?

We’re both finished with work, and will be leaving the last week of September.

Do you still have a lot to do?

A ton. We still need to pack the apartment, find a storage unit, get everything moved, get visas and vaccinations, see all our doctors before we leave, and a bunch of other little loose ends to tie-up…the list goes on.

Speaking of moving, what are you doing with all your stuff?!

We’re putting everything in storage for the year, and will move it to wherever we relocate to when we get back.

Where are you starting your trip?

We’re starting our trip with a month in Japan. Flying into Tokyo and definitely visiting Kyoto and Hokkaido, as well.

Do you know where you’re going after that?

Roughly, but we’re going to be flexible. After Japan, we’ll work our way through the rest of the Far East and SouthEast Asia in November/December/Early January (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore), likely spending the holidays in SouthEast Asia. Then on to Australia/New Zealand in Jan/Feb. Hoping to be in India by mid-March for the Holi festival (with stops in Nepal and Bhutan). Africa in April (hiking Kilimanjaro and visiting Ghana). South America in May/June (including Brazil for the World Cup). Then finishing up next summer/early fall in Europe. A tentative schedule, of course, but it gives you a rough idea of our journey.

Most importantly: why? What made you decide to do this?

That’s a great question. Ultimately, it was a matter of will, and timing. We’re only recently married, and we’ve been asking ourselves a lot of questions about the future – where we want to live, how we want to live, and where life would take us. And we both love to travel. We’ve been all over together, and we’ve both wanted to travel the world for an extended period. But what’s tough is actually making the leap and doing it. What we realized is that we were ready for a change, and that if we were ever going to make that big leap, now was the time to do it – the right time in our careers, the right time financially, and the right time in our marriage. We’re old enough to have the capability, and young enough to have the flexibility. So we’re re-inventing our lives, and starting by following that dream of traveling around the globe. And that’s led us here.

Are you scared or nervous about this trip, and the big change in your lives?

Change is always going to be somewhat difficult, and there will always be moments of fear and anxiety. But we’re both impassioned, excited, and ultimately thankful that we’re getting this opportunity. We’re fine, Mom.