Advertisement
Published: October 5th 2009
Meet the Cast and Crew - The Blonde, the Curly, and the Furry
Amy Rogers, 27
Hometown: Hobe Sound, Florida
Real-World Job: Bartender and Licensed Massage Therapist
Favorite Travel Spots (thus far): Venice, Italy, and Istanbul, Turkey
As they say on the Travel Channel,
"I...have the travel bug." It is a terrible affliction that began in my childhood with long summer trips out west to visit my brother...gradually got worse as I began visiting cool places like Panama, Canada, and New England...and officially hit me full-on the first time I went to Europe (Spain to be exact) the summer I graduated from high school. Over the next few years, sometimes solo, sometimes with a friend, and more often that not with my father (my original travel companion), I'd find myself on yet another trans-Atlantic flight to explore more of the European continent I'd fallen head-over-heels for...Italy, the UK, France, Eastern Europe...with a spattering of cruises in Hawaii and the Caribbean thrown in for good measure. By the time I was 23, I'd decided that one of my goals would be to live abroad someday, even if only temporarily.
I was trying to arrange my affairs to do
just that when a certain individual named Jeremy entered the picture. As fate would have it, he too had the roving spirit and desire to get the heck outta here, so early into our marriage we began throwing around ideas of where to go. Although living in Europe was my ultimate dream, the realities of cost of living and obtaining visas slapped us in the face and said, "Sorry, no Europe for you guys." So Australia and New Zealand became our next options, and though we could have chosen either one, New Zealand jumped out at us and took hold. Three days after applying for 12-month working holiday visas, we were approved. Now came the next part...deciding where to go on our way there.
Okay, so China and southeast Asia aren't
technically "on the way" there. But hey, why not? Asia has always been Jeremy's dream destination to explore, and though I admit I've never personally had an overwhelming desire to go there, after months of research I am looking forward to it with unprecedented enthusiasm!! The time has come to explore other parts of the world...
Jeremy Rogers, 22
Hometown: Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Real-World Job: Salesman/Supervisor
at Fastenal Company
Favorite Travel Spots (thus far): Grand Canyon, Arizona, and London, England
Hmm...What to say? I go from mild mannered zombie-salesman during the wee hours of the morning to adoring husband and friend by evening. It wasn't always that way though. I used to be fun and outgoing! That's why my wonderful Amy married me. I've always wanted to travel and when I finally reached a point in my life that I was able, along came Amy. My travel hunger only grew to more epic proportions as I talked to her every day of her two-month solo spree across Europe. Is it okay to say I'm jealous?
Some people might think that going to the complete opposite side of the world is "outlandish," but it was either this or the British Isles. While I regard London to be a breathtaking city reminiscent of Disney World, with its streets so clean you could probably eat off of, it was simply too expensive for us. At least for now. I hope to wander the Picadilly streets someday as a resident and hobnob with Jack the Ripper. Amy and I lament that we missed the generation of hard-core backpackers
who hitchhiked across Europe and lived in their Volkswagen vans...sadly, those days have passed. But at least we'll have a small taste of "life on the road," if only for a moment.
Our Mascot, Hungry
Every trip needs a mascot. Since taking a 100-pound dog (see below) backpacking across the world isn't the most logical course of action, we needed something "travel-sized" that could provide us with comic relief during those inevitable,
"Why in the world did we decide to do this again?" moments. After much debate and perhaps a few too many alcoholic beverages, we nominated Hungry to be our official mascot.
Who is Hungry, you may ask? Why does he look vaguely familiar? Hungry has already had a long and successful acting career as the adorable fuzzy creature on the "Weight Watchers" commercials. Yes, that is him, swinging bread rolls at you during dinner, raising his cute little eyebrows at you while trying to stuff a greasy cheeseburger in your hands, sailing around the office with a big box of doughnuts. Know the commercials now? I know you've seen them before. Jeremy was kind enough to order me my very own Hungry monster, and I can't
look at him without bursting into laughter. This is how we arrived at the decision to take him with us...
#1) There are many "hungry" moments on any backpacking trip anyway, something akin to being stuck on a long-distance bus ride, scrambling for that granola bar you SWORE you stuffed in your bag somewhere.
#2) It seemed funny and ironic to take Hungry along for these
not-so-comedic moments when your blood sugar is crashing and you want to murder the person on the train sitting next to you enjoying a sandwich while your stomach angrily digests itself.
#3) Well, he's just so darn cute!! Hopefully he will prove to be a moment of levity and laughter when things can and do and will go wrong. Ah, it's all part of the traveling experience!
Our Baby Girl, Denali
One of our most FAQ's about this trip is, "Who is taking care of your dog?" (For those of you who hadn't heard, earlier in the year a lovely girl named Kristen adopted my Arabian horse Jon, and she is taking fabulous care of him up in North Carolina!!) Parting with Jon was a painful but necessary step to take, but rest
assured, parting with our beloved husky won't be necessary. My gracious parents are "adopting" her for the year that we'll be away, and I'm confident she'll be spoiled rotten while we're gone (and REALLY mad at us when we return). Truth be told, we will miss Denali more than anything or anyone else back home. I think she already knows that something is afoot...
Bon Voyage...
Most of you already know us well, but for those who don't, we hope this was a brief introduction to "us" and why we've decided to go abroad for a year. For the most part, I (Amy) will be doing the bulk of the writing and photography for this blog, as those are just about my two favorite things in the world to do. Jeremy is our designated camera-man and will be uploading any spectacular or interesting videos we record along the way (eating fried tarantulas, shearing sheep, glacier trekking, that kind of thing!). And, I'm sure, he'll be adding his two cents' worth as well (we have a constant debate about who is the better writer - we'll let you guys decide that one!!). Hungry will be making guest appearances and serving
as our model, comic relief, and moral support...though not necessarily in that order!
😱
It's hard to believe that after almost a year of planning, working three jobs between us, saving every penny possible, researching 'til we're blue in the face, organizing and re-organizing our itinerary...it is finally here. There is of course the normal apprehension of any big trip, but this one comes with a little something extra. The thought of being thousands of miles from anything we know for over a year is a little daunting - but so thrilling at the same time. People have asked, "How do you plan to move abroad and leave your whole life behind?" Our answer is an honest, "We don't know. We're making it up as we go along!" We sincerely hope that you enjoy our ramblings, photos, adventures, and misadventures that are sure to follow!!
If at any point you wish to access our blog directly (without waiting for an email about new postings), the short link to our homepage is:
www.mytb.org/aerogers. You can click on any of the photographs to view a larger size and use the "slideshow" feature. Also, once we get going, I will probably have
several pages' worth of photos posted with each story, so make sure you scroll down and view all the goodies!! Please feel free to post messages here on our blog or email us at any time at throughfireandwater@hotmail.com (Amy) or jollyren@gmail.com (Jeremy). Until we meet again...
Amy, Jeremy, and Hungry 😊
"Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away..." - Frank Sinatra
Advertisement
Tot: 0.187s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 61; dbt: 0.09s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Robert n Zana
non-member comment
Have fun!
Good idea! It'll be like we're with you on the trip. I'm sure you will meet many new friends and experience the International Brotherhood... :)