When I left on my first round the world trip, I asked veteran travelers a key question: How much does it cost to travel the world? It was the single biggest factor impacting which destinations I could visit in my one year around the world. Estimates vary wildly, and you need to know how long …
When you’re planning world travel—either a quick trip or long-term travel—you have a dizzying number of options to review when it comes to picking the best travel insurance. I first used World Nomads in 2008, and I continued using it for more than a decade—but since then, I don’t think it’s the best travel insurance …
Traveling around the world for a year (or even six months) is a different beast than a short-term vacation. While the packing lists share many similarities, long-term round the world travelers often need to pack a few different things that you wouldn’t for a regular trip. Unlike single-destination or single-climate packing, your entire wardrobe and …
When I first decided to travel abroad, I booked my flights on election day 2008 (whoops!). Given that Florida offers a week of early voting, I was luckily able to cast my vote at the polling place before I left. Voting early allowed me to avoid the hassle of voting from abroad. I proudly wore my “I voted” …
I have diligently planned out my trip over the past two weeks. After all of the focus on the two weddings I was in, this month has been all about getting things lined up and in order. I knew I needed to fine-tune the details of my RTW trip. But now I’m a little defeated …
In these early months of starting this blog, it’s been a struggle to decide how I want to share the process of planning for this round the world trip. Where is the line between sharing the journey and going too far into the personal? There are few others who have shared a trip like this …
Many things related to planning my round the world trip surprised me. More things completely overwhelmed me. And a few I even came to enjoy. One of those surprisingly enjoyable activities? Purging my belongings. I needed to get ride of everything I owned, and I kinda loved it. (What does this say about what it …
A single, repeated question has come to me from people on all sides of me these past months. My parents, my friends, the clerk at the outdoors store. Whenever the topic of my pending round-the-world trip is broached, I am asked: What made me decide to quit my life in Los Angeles? There’s an implied question …