Around the World

Happy Anniversary to us!

It seems like only a few months ago that we were saying our vows on the secluded beaches of Kalaloch; how quickly a year goes by . . . We spent nearly two years planning for our wedding, and by the end I felt I could write a book on the ins and outs of such planning. I feel much the same with RTW travel.

We are now self-proclaimed experts in RTW insurance coverage, visa coordination, and airline ticketing. This may sound to the uninitiated as no big deal, but trust me - I think we will be logistics masters by the end of this trip. Our biggest challenge in this arena is coordinating visas for Vietnam, China, and Russia, respectively. Traveling to each of these countries in succession is the trifecta of all visa coordination. If we pull it off, I feel it will be one of our greatest successes on the road. Michael Phelps has his gold medals; we have our visas (if only there were a stage to show them off!). This process is complicated by the fact that none of these countries “officially” allow one to apply for a visa outside his home country, and one cannot apply 90 days before travel in that country. As we will be traveling in Asia during the 90 day application window, I have one word—Tricky . . .

If we managed to pull off a beautiful wedding in a bare bones location, I am optimistic we can pull off our RTW travel coordination with just as much vigor. Here’s to one year under our belt and many more to come!

Reminder to all: We could not do this trip without your encouragement and support. If you would like to help us stay on the road, please click a few google ads (on the right). We earn $0.30-$1.00 per click. Thanks!

Our Yard Sale

Since we are leaving for a year, we really needed to whittle down our possessions. This a necessity for storage reasons, but it also just makes me feel good ridding ourselves of excess baggage. Overall our yard sale worked out pretty well; we advertised online using craigslist, and we put up signs the day of to entice some of the neighbors and random people who were driving nearby. We could not host the sale at our house since it is on the market, and we figured people would be coming through in droves to preview it. Fortunately we have some friends with a nice front yard and it just happens that they were out of town, so they generously offered up their yard for our sale. It took three good car loads but we managed to get everything over there for our 10am start. While I was out getting our final load, Jodi was busy setting everything up. I do not think she was totally ready for people to show up at 9:30am for our 10am start but people do like a good deal. There was tons of haggling going on throughout the day and some “holding my ground” stands, mostly from me. Everything was going just fine until 3pm when it started to rain, and we decided to pack it in. We ended up taking most of the remaining items to Goodwill. Overall, we sold three-fourths of our stuff and came out with nearly $200 in sales. So, I would say it was a pretty good day. In WTER (world-travel exchange rate) that amounts to two Bolivian visas, 10 nights in an Ecuadorian hostel, or two RT bus tickets from Mendoza to Patagonia!!

Trans-Mongolian Railway

I am projecting about nine months ahead and planning our adventure on the Trans-Mongolian Railway. We are really looking forward to seeing the vastness of Mongolia and Siberia by rail and are expecting some interesting experiences sharing a cabin with some fellow travelers. We plan to be in Beijing, China, mid to late April 2009 to catch the train from there all the way to St. Petersburg, Russia. This should be a pretty good time to go; it is right before the peak season, and we should miss the rainy season. We plan to spend about a month traveling and exploring between Beijing and Moscow. This will comprise about 27 days traveling on the train, staying in towns and villages along the line. We will spend about ten days between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Since we will be spending some time in Beijing before we leave, one possibility is to buy the tickets there in China; another option is to buy the tickets in the US from a tour agent in Russia or China. Buying our tickets in advance will cost more but it guarantees our passage.

Our current day by day plan is as follows:
DAY 1 Depart Beijing Trans-Mongolian train #23
DAY 2 Arrive Ulaanbaatar
DAY 9 Depart Ulaanbaatar train #363
DAY 12 Arrive Irkutsk
DAY 17 Depart Irkutsk train #9
DAY 20 Arrive Moscow
DAY 23 Depart Moscow and Arrive St. Petersburg
DAY 27 Depart St. Petersburg and Arrive Moscow

Stops that we are planning on:

Day 2 - Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia, and there will be plenty of things for us to do and see in the two days that we are there.

Day 12 - Irkutsk
Irkutsk is the largest city in Siberia. It is also located next to the beautiful Lake Baikal where we will spend two days. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world and the deepest lake in the world.

Day 20 - Moscow
In Moscow I am really looking forward to actually visiting the Kremlin, walking around Red Square, seeing the Saint Basil’s Cathedral (with its elegant onion domes) and walking past Lenin at the Lenin Mausoleum. I am a bit worried about the cost of Moscow, it has been named the worlds most expensive city in the world, so we will see how long we actually spend there.

Day 23 - St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is steeped in Russian history, and we are really looking forward to exploring it.

Funding flows

Each day we grow more concerned about our funding flows. It seems we are hemorrhaging money like water through a fire hose. We are not spending our money on one thing alone, but spattering it everywhere. Budgeting for a trip around the world is not an easy task. When we set our plan in motion, we thought we covered our bases. However, unexpected costs add up and we have blown our budget by getting the Subaru ready for sale (maintenance service, interior detailing, bodywork), ensuring our house is in prime showing condition (staging, professional photography, remodeling updates), and maintaining a connection upon our return (storage, pet care, 401k plan/life insurance).

That being said, we are still forging ahead but may need to adjust our plans in the future. We could very well be returning from Asia by February 2009 rather than Africa in August 2009 (Chris would like everyone to know he does not share this concern). I am, however, looking at our projected funding flows every day and the picture is less bright.

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Courage or foolishness—two sides of the same coin

Twice in my life others called me courageous. Both times I believe courage and foolishness were a flip of a coin. I was in high school the first time someone called me courageous. My senior year was ending and a teacher pulled me aside and complimented me on the courage and integrity I displayed a few years earlier for admitting my participation in an unsanctioned party at the superintendent’s house (his son was in my class). I was the only one among many on the athletic code to admit my wrong. The athletic director dragged in student after student for questioning; it was a virtual witch-hunt until I gave myself up. My status as the principal’s daughter seemed to satisfy “the executioner” (i.e., the superintendent) and all questioning ceased. After that, my parents saw to it that I had the social life of a rock. Many times during those years I debated whether I showed courage or foolishness taking the fall for everyone.

 I was giving my notice to leave PATH the second time someone called me courageous. I spent the last 7 years working at PATH building my experience in public health. I carved out a niche role within my teams and made life-long friends. Chris and I enjoy our comfortable life with a terrific dog, great friends and family, paid-off cars, a low mortgage, and no real debt. Thus, giving it all up to travel around the world could be considered foolish. We debate every night whether we are showing courage or foolishness.

 Like the last time someone called me courageous, I hope years later I will look back on this time and recognize we were courageous, but only time will tell . . .