The Basics

Ben and I are are traveling to a whole bunch of international locations from mid-August 2018 to sometimes in spring of 2019. We are starting in Europe, doing a quick hop to Morocco, making our way down through the Middle East, and then moving to Asia via India, Thailand and Japan before (hopefully) ending in South America. 

Trip Purpose

Ben and I met some new friends in Prague at Rosh Hashanah services, Abby and Lauren. Over drinks at a very cool cocktail bar, they asked what I hoped to get out of this trip. I think I mumbled something like “to see the world”….which is true, but also not the full story. I was a bit embarassed that after spending so much time on planning the most minute of details, I had neglected to put a deep amount of thought into what I hoped to gain from this journey. Well. I fixed that. Here is what I hope to get out my modern circumnavigation of the planet:

1. To feel awe. 
2. To recognize my own smallness. 
3. To exist in new places physically and mentally. 
4. To work on my life, not spend my life on my work. 
5. To wander with the person I love. 
   

Obviously, those are the lofty goals. I have smaller, more practical ones too. I want to write in my paper journal every day and add bits of trip paraphernalia to create a record of our trip. I want to exercise (this may take the form of GoNoodle videos, but I also like running short distances with generous breaks in between). I want to read a book about countries we are visiting. I want to eat many, many snacks and drink the local spirits. I want to stick to our budget, and I want to pretend to be an extrovert and make new friends. 

Why do it? 

I like air conditioning, early bedtimes, spending time with my close circle of friends, going back to my favorite restaurants over and over again, and my job. So why push a monster trip around the world that involves quitting our jobs, putting all our stuff in storage, leaving our dog behind, and finding myself in hot, confusing, locations again and again?

I’m not sure. It just came to me. On a plane, of course. And once I get an idea in my head, I hold onto it with the jaws of death. Sidenote: This can get really, really annoying for my loved ones. Sorry, y’all!

A plane is where I cooked up our last adventure, the two months of summer 2016 where we lived in our car and camped our way up the Pacific coast…or, when I was losing it, enjoyed the occasional Hampton Inn. That summer changed my life and made me feel like every cell was alive. It was beautiful. It was delicious. It was hot and miserable and full of error. It was expensive. It made me appreciate my life back home more than ever, and it made me want to take more adventures.

I adore being a teacher. I love being at home. I take great pleasure from routine. And that’s why I wanted to do this massive trip. To shake things up, to see things before my life becomes too set in stone, to take advantage of my (somewhat) young and (fairly) strong body. All of the best things in my life have come from an idea, the idea freaking me out, and then doing it anyway. 

I’m also sheltered, privileged, and I know it. I never studied abroad, and my international travel has been curated and organized by generous parents. I’ve never had to figure out a bus system in a foreign country, I’m used to being a native speaker, a boss, completely comfortable in my environment. I’m basically a shark in the ocean of humanity, and I need to be a minnow for a little bit. 

PLUS: I really, really like having a project. Something to look forward to and research and pour myself into. Planning is my addiction, and Google docs are my drug of choice. The idea of planning a year-long trip around the world? Irresistible.