Today, I received a postcard in the mail from my friend Joyce, who along with her husband Jack, is currently on a Round the World trip. As the postcard shows, they were recently in Peru, visiting the famed Machu Picchu, a destination firmly anchored on our must-see list. Joyce and Jack have had a pretty crazy year. Joyce graduated with her master’s degree in June, they were married in September, and they left on their trip in October. It doesn’t get a lot more exciting than that.
Earlier this year, I got a phone call from Joyce. She was contemplating what she wanted to do post-graduation and said that Jack had suggested that they spend some time traveling. She wasn’t sure what she thought about this but knew I was the one person who wouldn’t think they were absolutely nuts for even considering it. Of course, I was all for it and spent the entire conversation cheerleading for travel. After all, I’d been planning a similar trip since at least 2005 when Jeff and I got married, but actually for much longer than that. I think we first discussed it as we were graduating college, and I was heading off to Greece and Jeff off to grad school in DC. This is a trip a long, long time in the making.
Anyhow, in the end, Joyce didn’t need a lot of convincing, and they’re now out seeing the world (with much, much less planning time than we’ve had!). If you want to read about their travels, you can visit Joyce’s blog or Jack’s blog. They haven’t posted a lot so far, but I’m hopeful that things will pick up at some point. I know I’m anxious to hear about their adventures.
For now, I’ll take the postcards. Though our itinerary will differ greatly from their’s, we are visiting some of the same places, so it’s fun to hear their impressions of places we will be soon. And while I know I’m too much of a planner to have done the trip with the relatively little amount of planning they were able to squeeze in between finishing up school and planning a wedding, it just goes to show that there’s no right or wrong way to do a RTW trip. It’s all about your style, your goals, and your dreams.
Have you started planning your trip yet?
T,
I’m spending my Saturday evening responding to your blogs. Amanda and I hiked in Otter Creek today(8ish miles), so I’ve had my excitement for the day.
Hiking got me thinking about “planning my trip.” I don’t think I will do RTW(I hate airports, paperwork, and the such), but I’m considering a major hike or a major bike ride. Dan wants to do the AT at some point, but I don’t know if I have it in me. I’d seriously consider some major cycling trip, though.
In one sense, the AT seems cool. I mean what an accomplishment. But on the other hand, um, boring and lonely. The scenery doesn’t change that much and you sure do spend a lot of time with yourself.
I’d go for the cycling trip. I think you can see a lot more that way and interact with a lot of people. Jeff’s frequently mentioning how cool he thinks it would be to bike across the U.S. I know there are also a lot of people who bike around SE Asia. I’m looking into a week long option in Vietnam that seems like a good way to really see the country. I’m not good enough on a bike to do much more, but on the Lonely Planet message boards I see a lot of posts from people do trips of about 3 months.
I think that the AT is only half about seeing the country. The other half is about seeing yourself. I think traveling is just that way.
The same thing was true about my bike trip across the US. Yeah, some of it is about seeing really freaking amazing things in your very own country. But there’s another part where you get to learn about yourself (about pain) and about the people you’re traveling with. And really, it’s all cool as hell.
T and J, I have to say that i’m enamored with the blog, the trip, and the idea of the trip. I wish you all enjoyment in the world.
I don’t know if I could do a whole round the world trip at once. I love traveling, but I get so exhausted by it I think a whole year at once would kill me! I think I’m going to try to break it up into 1-2 month trips. First I want to do SE Asia, I’d love to visit Africa, I really want to do Australia and New Zealand, and I’ve never been to S. America. I just have to figure out when this is actually going to happen…
Speaking of round the world trips, you should watch this miniseries “Long Way Round” It’s a documentary of Ewan McGregor (always worth watching) and his friend driving around the world on motorcycles.
I’m planning.
Please send money and degree and then I’m on my way.