now approaching

We’re back in San Francisco! How does it feel? Very, very weird. Here are answers to some other popular questions…

Q: Why did you take this trip?
A: Do we really have to answer this? Because we live on a pretty great
planet and it would have taken 12 normal working years (assuming an
average 2 weeks vacation per year) to see everything that we did in 6
months.

Q: How did you decide where to go?
A: We whittled down a huge wish list to fit the constraint of a
six-month itinerary. We dropped places that wouldn’t be easy to get to
with the type of plane tickets we had (e.g., Iceland and Bhutan). We
dropped India, China, and all of South America because we hope to take
dedicated trips there in the future. And we tried
to drop places that would have miserable weather (e.g., we dropped Fiji
because it would have been rainy season, but somehow ended up going to
Southeast Asia in the hot season… ouch!). And last, but not least, we
tried to fit in a few places where we have family/friends as well as
favorites from past trips. You may also have noticed that we spent most
of our time in cities, and that’s because both of us are “city people”
who are content not to hack our way to remote, “untouched” places. That
being said, our favorite cities are ones where locals outnumber
tourists such that you feel like you are walking the streets with
normal people going about their normal lives (working, going to school,
shopping, etc.).

Q: Was it expensive?
A: Yes, but not as pricey as you might think. Our level of
travel was mid-range with some splurges. This means that we stayed
mostly in budget hotels or hostels (always with a private sleeping room
but sometimes with shared bathroom), often had cheap meals from food
stands or the supermarket, and walked or took public transportation
when possible. But, we did also indulge in some high-budget experiences
(e.g., Lizard Island, Ayer’s Rock, Tanzania safari). So, it would
definitely be possible to do this type of trip for less (camping or
staying in hostel dorm rooms, flying less, eating out less, going to
cheaper countries). By the same token, it would also be possible to do
this type of trip for much, much more. Honestly, the biggest “expense”
was not earning a salary for 6 months while continuing to drain our
savings accounts

Q: How do you pack for a trip like this?
A: The short answer is “The same way you pack for a one-week trip.” For the much longer answer, see “Packing.”

Q: Did you plan everything out in advance?
A: Yes and no. We had to submit the entire itinerary for our
around-the-world plane tickets up front (they validate it and price it
out with airport taxes included). But, we did have the flexibility to
make date or routing changes later if we wanted. (See “Air Tickets”
for the nitty gritty details.) As for everything else, we generally
booked hotels, excursions, etc. anywhere from a few days in advance to
same day via internet or phone. The major exception was the safari,
which we booked months in advance.

Q: Did you buy lots of cool stuff along the way?
A: We didn’t really buy much (except for Adrian’s tech gear spree in Taiwan). Yes, we know we could have shipped stuff home, but
having just gone through the experience of packing up our whole
apartment and putting it in storage (aka Jomay’s parents’ garage), we
weren’t eager to add more boxes to the pile.

Q: Was it difficult to get around without speaking the local languages?
A: English was spoken pretty widely everywhere we went—with the
surprising exception of Spain. We also ran into non-English-speakers
when going outside of the main tourist areas in Asia. But, you can say
a lot with pantomiming, pointing, and smiling.

Q: Did you encounter any anti-American backlash?
A: Not really, although many people—from all kinds of cultures
and backgrounds—asked us what we thought of our president.
Interestingly, we were also asked about Hillary Clinton and Barack
Obama, which is pretty amazing considering most Americans can’t name
world leaders, let alone election candidates. P.S. Despite our
country’s pariah status, you will never catch us with Canadian flags sewn on our packs.

Q: Did you ever get tired of each other?
A: Not as much as we thought we would!

Q: Did you ever get homesick?
A: Welllll… no.

Q: Did you get the travel bug out of your system or what?
A: Unfortunately (or fortunately?), this trip has only made the world
seem bigger and we now have an even longer list of places we want to go!