Category Archives: Planning
Budgeting for Your Round-the-World Trip: Coming Home
On December 15, 2009, just a little over two months after landing back in the United States after our year-long trip, Jeff and I closed on a house, putting a solid 20% down. No, we aren’t rich. We didn’t discover that we were the long lost relative of a member of the royal family. We didn’t win the lottery, embezzle funds, or steal and pawn a gold Buddha. No, the money we used to purchase our house didn’t come to …
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Relearning to Travel
I know this sounds spoiled. Indulge me. Forgive me. But re-learning to travel like an American (aka on limited time) is hard. Yes, I hear you all crying for me from here. It’s a real sob story. Our trip to Colombia is quickly approaching, and we’re trying to prepare for it. We’re going to be gone for 16 days. In American terms, that’s forever. After a one year trip, that’s not much time at all. There’s a little voice inside …
Travel Plans 2010
Topping 2009 travel-wise is, well, pretty much impossible. At least at the moment, with our mortgage payments and book contracts and post-doc positions. It just ain’t going to happen. Sadly. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to at least try to have a little adventure. There’s no way we’re going to pass the year without going somewhere we’ve never been before. That’s just plain unthinkable. I mean, seriously, the travel bug does not just disappear. Oh no, my friends. …
The Decisions We Make and How We Make Them
Sitting in Johannesburg after returning from our “Round the Cape” road trip, we were left with six weeks and a blank slate. Well, not quite, we did plan to be in Uganda by June, so really, four weeks. And a whole lot of options for getting there. Since Ethiopia has always fascinated us, and got nothing but the highest reviews from the people we have met, we considered flying to Addis Ababa and spending all of our time there before …
And We’re Off
Tomorrow morning we leave. We begin what will be a one year adventure around the world. We’ve thought about, talked about, and dreamed about this moment for years. Now that it’s here, how do we feel? Um, well, right now, we feel just about the same as we do every day. Even though we leave in less than 12 hours, it hasn’t hit us yet. I feel a little bit stressed about making sure we get everything in the bags …
The Final Week
So forgive us for not posting at our regularly scheduled time, but things have gotten a little crazy here this past week, our final in the States. In the past week, we have: Spent countless hours on the phone with Continental getting our flights arranged. We now have an itinerary that we think looks good, and we’re simply waiting for them to charge us for the taxes and fees (which they better do soon, since we leave on Monday!) Booked …
The final decisions
We were going through our things tonight. We have a large maybe pile of things we may want to take with us (in addition to a much larger pile of things we are definitely not taking with us). This pile is the culmination of all of our planning and packing and putting aside anything we think might be useful on the trip. Now the job is to make those final decision about what is going with us and what is …
Down is Up and Up is Down
So there’s been plenty of thinking and talking and hand-wringing these last couple of weeks over finalizing our route, since we need to up and book our major airline tickets relatively soon (what with us leaving in now less than a month!). I wrote earlier about our first realization that all of our ducks were not in a row. Since then, we’ve called Continental and talked about our flight options. We’ve looked over weather patterns and high seasons and low …
It’s the End of the World as I Know It
Today was my last day of work. I distributed all my project files to co-workers. I forwarded emails that someone may one day need to whomever I thought might need it. I moved my electronic files from my own personal drive to a shared department drive. I verified my last time & attendance sheet. I had lunch with my favorite co-worker (and friend). I turned in my keycard and ID card. I said my goodbyes and my thank yous. And …
My iPod is in Need of Your Help
I’m in the mood for soliciting help. Perhaps it’s because Jeff’s already gone to Sweden, leaving me to tie up all the loose ends alone that I’m feeling a little needy. It’s a bit overwhelming, I have to say, and when and where I can get help, I’m taking it. Did I mention that he left me with a car with a dead battery and a AAA membership that expired a few days ago? Thank God for friends! And also …
20 responses to “My iPod is in Need of Your Help”
