Surreal Travel Moments
There are moments in travel that are so surreal, they lend a magical hue to one’s memories of a place. These moments may not be the “big” ones; the first-time-you-spot-the-Eiffel-Tower or the watching-a-lion-stalk-a-gazelle ones, but they are the ones you will carry with you long after you’ve returned home, even without a photograph to remind ...
Where Next?
My passport is getting dusty. It hasn’t been stamped in seven months. Something must be done. I went to the library recently to check out Lonely Planet’s guide to Mongolia. The fact that I borrowed a Lonely Planet from the library, rather than buying it like I usually do, should give you some indication of ...
Itinerary Planning 101
At our appearance at Meet Plan Go San Francisco 2012, I’ll be one of two panelists talking about itinerary planning. Two panelists, two perspectives. Since the other panelist writes a blog about traveling by the seat of her skirt, I guess that means I’ll be there to represent travelers with more of a Type A ...
How to Budget for a Round-the-World Trip
Since Robin and I are going to be speaking at Meet Plan Go‘s San Francisco event in mid-October, I thought I’d finally get my act together and and write this post. Robin’s specialty, as everyone who’s ever met her already knows, is planning. She’ll be speaking in breakout sessions that focus on proper planning for ...
Untied
The title of this post has a dual significance. First, it is the derogatory nickname that Pierre and I have always used for United Airlines (other favorites include “Doesn’t Even Leave The Airport” for Delta, “Southworst” for Southwest, and “US Scare” for US Airways, which purposely changed its name from US Air to thwart our ...
So, Did It Work?
I suppose it’s inevitable that taking a lengthy trip around the world may appear to some to be an attempt to run away. And to some extent, that perception is accurate. It doesn’t necessarily mean the traveler is running away from some crisis at home; it could simply be the overwhelming fatigue that comes with ...
The Ultimate To-Do List Before Leaving on a Round-the-World Trip
In keeping with the theme of my last post, in which I broke down exactly what you need to bring on your round-the-world trip, I now bring you our complete list of everything (okay, almost everything) you need to do in order to get ready to go. Lists like these do seem to abound on ...
The Ultimate Packing List for a Round-the-World Trip
When we were getting ready to take off on our Big Adventure, one of the things we agonized about the most was how on earth to pack for a yearlong trip. This task was especially daunting to me, as until that point, my bags had almost invariably gotten the “Heavy” tag added to them every ...
Bitter Beer Pictures
On Friday I snapped our last beer picture along the Oakland waterfront. Robin had the idea to use a couple of cans of Bitter American, a brew from the 21st Amendment restaurant/pub in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. We figured it would capture our feelings about being back and our trip being over. Yeah, we’re a ...