Who knew that traveling around the world could be so time consuming.  11 months is hardly enough time to see anything, and a month is hardly enough time to prep.  I don’t even really know where we’re going, just a vague outline of points and a vague desire to climb some rocks and maybe kick a handstand on a temple in Machu Pichu.  I guess I’ll start as I start most of these things with a RTW:FAQ.

Q: So, you’re going to take off for a year?

A.  Hell yeah.

Q:  Are you coming back?

A:  Presumably

Q:  Where are you going?

A.  From now on, I’ll be referring people to the itinerary page.  As you may notice, it contains our itinerary.  As you may also notice, dates are vague, that’s because our RTW tickets are open dated.  Though we do have a few milestones, they’re pretty flexible.

Q:  Don’t you have to go east to west?  Why are you flying to London first?

A:  One question at a time hombre; you kind of have to go in one direction, but not really.  It depends on the ticket, clearly, we don’t really have to go east to west, or we would be, since we’re not nouveau riche or anything.  We’re flying to London to see Jo’s family. We are also flying to London because RTW tix are significantly cheaper from the UK, even with our horrid exchange rate.  Unofficially we’re trying to increase our base of social capital so that we might finance future endeavors by getting married and trading all of our white ware for airline miles.  Don’t tell Jo I said that.

Q:  Speaking of nouveau riche, how are you financing this whole thing?

A:  Long story. I work harder than you.

Q: Liar!

A: Pbbbst.

Q:  This FAQ is going completely down hill, let’s bring it back on track; what are you most excited about?

A.  Climbing a lot of sweet rock, swimming, yoga, seeing the world, and relaxing from it all in Mallorca, where I will attempt to open a hostel, and/or buy a boat.  Indonesia seems fun, lots of islands with erratic transportation.  Cambodia is a complete waste of land and I have no desire to return, but Jo’s pretty cute and she wants to go, so I might. Jo has made it clear that even if she has to be dragged across the Andes behind a donkey in torrential downpours, she can’t leave South America until she goes to Machu Picchu so we will be making a stop there as well.

Q:  Vaccinations?

A:  Tons.  I’m way more resistant to yellow fever and typhoid than you. And I have the internationally recognized yellow card to prove it.

Q:  Aren’t you scared of “x”?

A:  No.  I doubt you’ve fully considered this, but most people living in the world, statistically speaking, are not being murdered.

Q:  How are you going to survive with only that backpack?

A.  As I’m sure you’ve heard, many other countries manufacture such things as clothing and toothpaste.  Pack mass has also been significantly reduced by our intention to wear little more than flip flops and bathing suits for the next year.

Q: Which explains..

A:  .. why we’ve been training for harsh beach environments.