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Okay folks. It is finally here. The blog.
Isn't it fun!? Ha ha ha.
After much harassment we have finally set this up... there is loads to cover, and we've never done anything computer savvy like this before, so for the sakes of breaking us all in gently, we're going to try and keep this one short and simple... photos, maps and pretty accoutrements like that will no doubt follow in the entries of the future, but for now, light a candle and enjoy the rustic feel of entry number 1...
If you're here, you most likely are a friends, and already have a pretty good idea of what we're up to. If you're here by random chance then WELCOME... and please read on. If we get a million visitors or something ridiculous, maybe we can sell something useless online for a million bucks or something...
But... regardless, everyone seems to have a lot of questions... the general clamour and outcry for info is pretty impossible to ignore! So... we've decided to dedicate this first blog to you guys... the forgotten ones.
While it is true that we are going 'without you', we could never actually do this 'without you'. It is our friends and family that have made us feel so comfortable, and that have supported us through everything. We have made some of the closest friends we could ever hope for here in St Louis, and it's only in knowing that they will always be there for us, no matter what, that allows us to feel ecure enough in ourselves to leave them... So, it is WITH you that we embark on this journey, and it is TO you... about 10 months and many more miles later... that we return (nasty way-layings in remote reaches aside).
So... what are your questions...? There are many, but some seem to repeat more than others so we'll try to answer the main points first and work our way down (quite literally a lot of the time) to the more zany, crazy inquisitions that more adequately illustrate the members of our social circles... (beware.... we will name names... even yours Teresa!).
I should also go the extra length to warn you that while the ensuing blogs created on this site will attempt to be diary-esque accounts of our travels and the thoughts that they inspire, they will quite likely often distort and mutate themselves into weird ramblings of 'philosophical' preacherdom... or at least there is a high chance of that with Lachlan's entries in particular. He and Brigid will both try to keep such ramblings in check but we'll likely both fail in the face of ... THWACK! Back on track... Question number 1...
1. "ITINERARY! WE NEED AN INTINERARY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"
(words to this effect have been uttered, and frantically blurted, with varying degrees of desperation, by many folks)
We are going many places. There isn't a short answer that adequately satisfies anyone that asks this. Philosophical point here... why is it that people offhandedly ask questions like 'Where are you going?' and 'How was your trip?', without ever really thinking about what the answer might be. Most of the time people really aren't that interested in knowing such details; they just want a glossed over answer for the sake of having asked maybe... but it strikes hard to plan a trip like this one, and make this realisation quite unexpectedly... but... I digress...
Our 'rough' itinerary is;
June 6th: fly Chicago to London
We'll spend 3 months in the UK, visiting family, and attending 3 weddings. We'll be flitting all around the UK, even making a brief appearance in Northern Ireland, and we'll use it as a 'base' to explore parts of Eastern Europe.
June 20th or so: fly Edinburgh to Istanbul
We'll spend about 1 month traveling through Western Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. We really want to see Transylvania, Budapest and Prague. We return to London from Prague on July 18th, and spend the whole of August in Scotland before...
September 19th: Fly to Mumbai
We're spending 9 weeks in India, traveling vaguely inland, and then north towards Agra and Delhi, and then East to the Darjeeling/Assam regions, which are up near Nepal and China. Then we'll head down to Kolkotta before moving on to SE Asia...
November 21st: fly Kolkotta to Bangkok
We're spending 8-9 weeks in and around the SE Asia region. We have no real plan/route here yet... We intend to visit Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. We may even get down to Malaysia.
January 8th: fly Bangkok to Los Angeles
Brigid has family in California, so we're hoping to spend a recovery week or so with them before taking on South America... our last leg... 😞
Mid-late January: South America
Fly to Lima, Peru, and travel overland, possibly through Bolivia, into Chile, to Santiago. Hopefully we'll have time to hop into Argentina and enjoy a bit of wine in Mendoza. We're planning on about 8-9 weeks for this section, but we haven't booked any flights etc yet... who knows... we may be be so sick of traveling that we want to come back and chain ourselves to the mundane reality of life and work in corporate America already blah blah blah... or maybe not... ;P Our 8-9 week plan shoud put us back in the 'lou around the end of March...
Our trip in a nutshell. Quite simple really... !
2. "WHY DO YOU WANT TO DO THIS? I MEAN WHO INSPIRED YOU? OR WHAT? AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE ON YOUR DESTINATIONS"
(everyone has asked this on some level, and generally, no serious attempt has been made by us to answer it properly, with the exception of perhaps 2 rather inebriated slurfests with friends. It is a tricky question for sure...)
Why?
Okay... the idea of a Round the World Trip (RTW) first came up in drunken discussion; our respective rants on the world and it's people, and why it's so messed up etc etc, kind of led us to the conclusion that we should experience more of the world and it's people rather than trusting 'what we hear'. I'm sure that there is also a 'fight the system' element to it to too... we have a bit of a fear/phobia against becoming 'clonal'. Breaking the mould in this way kind of reassures us that we are our own people on some level. Also, in the end, there really is no reason (at least in our situation) NOT to do this.
Who/What Inspired Us?
Us I guess. Not to sound sickeningly 'sweet' or anything, but we each inspired one another. There is no way either of us could do this alone - we're just not that brave! It's a risk to take on a venture like this where you so wholly commit to another person, but we've always been like that with one another and we are very lucky for it. Very lucky too that we both like to step on the wild side from time to time. If everyone had that then I think that a whole lot more people would be doing this sort of thing... I think that we each built on the other's excitement and drive on this, and that is what propelled the whole project forward.
We aren't doing this as a result of any resoundingly significant happening, or event, or personal experience, and we're not doing it because of anyone else. Of course all manner of things, however small, have shaped us into people that would do such a thing... that being the case you could say that 'everyone', and 'everything' inspired us, so if you know us at all, you can claim partial insirational credit! We certainly are not trying to 'find ourselves'... we're a bit old for that, and we're quite happy and comfortable with 'who we are'. This isn't a big party; feasting on booze and mind-bending substances in remote parts of the world is fine for those young whipper snappers coming straight from high school or taking a Gap Year from university or something, but we're getting on from that...
Let's not size us for a coffin yet, but you know... maybe we can say that we're trying to find 'everyone else', rather than 'ourselves'...? I guess we're doing this to just flat out enjoy ourselves. Not that we're pampering ourselves, but the thought of meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, and getting a first hand perspective on a lot of things, really sounds enjoyable to us. Small things that jump to our mind as playing a role are;
FOOD: we love food. All kinds. We'll try anything, and will likely have the opportunity to do so on this trip! (Interesting Fun Fact: it wasn't always like this. Brigid used to be a 'from the box' eater. Lachlan fixed this though! Ha ha ha ha!)
DO IT NOW!: there's no time like the present. Many people we've spoken to say they wish they could do something like this... well... they can! YOU can. Anyone can... everyone always seems to put things off, and then things get left undone. We've both seen people in our lives plan things out for another day or chapter in their life, or hold them off for the time being because things are so easy and comfortable for them where they are. Then life of course changes things up on them, and the opportunity is no more. When we retire (100 years or so from today or something ridiculous), what will the world be like? Will it even be remotely accessible? Will we be around that long? Will be be ABLE to (physically and financially) travel? Now is the time for us. The opportunity is now. We have very little preventing is from doing this. Let's not leave this one to chance...!
PEOPLE: We have always wanted to meet different people. We have always been interested in different cultures and what/how/why different people think differently and have such different view points. There's no better way to scratch this itch than to get out to different places and experience it all firsthand.
How Did You Pick Your Destinations?
Errrrr... the entity of Brigid and Lachlan is a democracy...? (We are in America afterall... Political statement? Relationship statement? Bit of both? Decide for yourselves!). Anyway, we each wrote down our top places to visit, double secretly and independently. Then we compared our lists and immediately picked out ones in common. We each chose places that interest us for varying reasons... mainly stuff/cultures we most want to see/experience. Luckily we are very in line with one another. This 1st step was not difficult to do. More difficult was removing about 70%!o(MISSING)f what was on our lists for the sakes of accessibility (physically and financially). Then we planned routes/general ideas for traveling through those places that were left. Online resources were awesome in making us aware of what is and isn't practical for this sort of thing... Finally, having decided all this, we basically sat around fighting US Greencard/VISA issues until we were finally able to execute (this was hard hard hard; stupid INS... we wanted to take this trip about 3 years ago!!!!). So... the last step was just taking the plunge and buying the flights. Now we're committed (and maybe committable..?; we have 10 months to find that out I for sure!)
So... that is blog entry #1... long. And it was s'posed to be short. But, I had to include some homour... no-one would read it otherwise...!
Okay... Next post coming soon(er than you might think/hope/want)...
Comments and suggestions, and I guess more questions, are all welcome...!
L and B
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Brendan
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Well admittedly you guys are comittable. I am jealous and very excited for you both. But at the same time I am upset, as I am sure most are of your leaving ( even if they don't admit to it). You both will be greatly miss while you are away!!