Well, here we are, seated in the JAL lounge, ten minutes before boarding our flight to Japan. The old apartment is empty, our things are in storage, and we’re packed and ready. A few final thoughts:

Did we overpack? Probably. But maybe not. My pack is 40 lbs. I seem to have clothing options from trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas to dining at a Michelin starred restaurant in Tokyo. And I packed a tie. A necktie! Why did I pack a necktie?! If I really NEED a necktie, I’m sure I can buy one, and very cheaply. But I have a necktie. We’ll see how all this goes, and what gets sent home, and what seems to be missing.

Here’s another story of God laughing at me – last night, our final night before leaving for a year, we stayed at Amy’s sister’s place. I was about to brush my teeth before going to bed, and I knocked my toiletry bag (and all contents minus the toothbrush) into the toilet. Apropos of the name “toiletry bag.” That’s a few months supply of toiletries down the drain – literally. In all honesty, most of the contents dried off easily, including the bag. However, about 30 Q-tips got soaked. There were no survivors.

Lastly, I’m thrilled to say I finally severed my relationship with Time Warner Cable of NYC. Like an old girlfriend, we had some wonderful times together. Quiet nights alone, a lot of laughs. But Time Warner Cable, you were often mean to me. Unreliable. You didn’t even show up sometimes. You lied about your credentials. But I just couldn’t be without you. Not anymore. It was a rocky twenty years, Time Warner Cable of NYC, but I’m over you. Goodbye.

Alright, they just announced boarding… Next stop, Tokyo!

Hi Mom!  Have I told you lately that I love you?  Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for coming up today and helping us pack.  You are a master packer!  The apartment is a shambles, but our nerves are much calmer after making such great headway today.  Domo arigato! (Practicing my Japanese…)

Well, we’re into single digits until D-Day…we depart on Wednesday and fly direct into Tokyo (thank you Amex points!).  The last 2 weeks since our last WFM blog post have been spent getting visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, confirming the movers, last minute errands and shopping.  (I still need the perfect, wrinkle-free LBD!)  We’ve also been doing the NY Farewell Tour…we had a great get-together last week with a bunch of our pals here in the city.  It was a crappy, rainy night, yet, still, so many people came out to wish us well.  It was such a fun night.  We also went upstate and spent a lovely few days with John’s family.  We wished them all a Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Easter, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, et cetera.  Got it covered for the next year!

John did a great Q&A on the last post, but we got a few more follow up questions from folks, so I thought I’d answer them now:

Do you have an exact itinerary for the year or are you flying by the seat of your pants?

Somewhere in the middle.  We know the general order of countries/continents we want to visit and generally how long we want to stay, but we want to have the flexibility to stay longer if we’re really enjoying a country (or leave sooner if not!).  We’ll end up planning our flights/hotels one or two countries in advance, if that makes sense.  We did book our first 4 flights already because of entry requirements/visa restrictions.  So we know we’ll start in Japan for 4 weeks (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, et al), then South Korea for 2 weeks (flying into and out of Seoul).  Then it’s off to Beijing to see the Great Wall.  (I’m so excited to go back…when I was there 5 years ago it was really cloudy/foggy.  Still amazing, but I’m hoping for a sunny day for John’s first visit.)  We’re in mainland China for 5 days then fly out to Taiwan.  We arrive in Taipei on November 11th.  And that’s what we know so far.  After that, it’s Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.  I think we’ll be in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving and SE Asia for Christmas & New Year’s.  It’s gonna be awesome!

How do you pack for a year?

Well, the travel blogs say to pack for a week and do a lot of laundry.  We’re probably packing for 2 weeks.  (Well, maybe I’m packing a little bit more…)  The good news is: Whatever we don’t have, we can buy.  The hard part for me is shoes.  I know I’ll bring too many pairs.  But we can always send stuff home with the folks that visit us along the way.  And toiletries…they say don’t pack full size shampoos and stuff.  Just buy cheap stuff when you arrive in country.  Otherwise, it can throw your luggage over-weight.  We’ll definitely post pictures of our luggage on Monday night (the movers come on Tuesday).

What is Amy going to do about her gray roots?

I have gotten this question more than you would think!  I’m getting my hair done for the last time in the States tomorrow.  My colorist is going to write down the “recipe” so I can bring it to any salon around the world and they can duplicate it.  If I can’t get salon recommendations from locals, I’ll just find the nearest mall or, worst case scenario, 5 star hotel.  Hopefully, you will not see pictures of my gray roots for the next year!

Let me know if there are any other burning questions…happy to answer them!

Don’t forget to Skype me tomorrow so you can practice before we leave.  We love you!  And, we’ll be fine, Mom!

John’s gear for one year. Insanely small!

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.