- When do you leave?
- How long do you plan to be away?
1-2 Years - How much have you saved?
US$35,000 - How old are you?
40 - Nationality
USA - Where do you live now?
Ferndale, Washington, USA - Occupation
Surgical Assistant - Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
One more paycheck and I’m gone - Have you traveled around the world before?
No - What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
Start from the west coast of the U.S. and just head east. Developing the route at this time. Nothing set in stone. Just moving. Probably China first, then south through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and then wherever. - Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
I love to travel. I have always wanted to “drop out” and just go some place, or places. A couple of years back I went to South America and just bummed around. This time I want to use the experience to provide some fodder for a book. I don’t think I’m the next Bill Bryson, but maybe somebody will want to read it. - What is your biggest fear about this trip?
Not having enough money. And flying. I hate planes. - Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
Everyone, except one person, thinks I’m totally nuts. They are all agreement that I must be going through some “mid-life crisis”. My thought is that it’s MY life, so I can have a “crisis” whenever the mood strikes me. - How much planning and preparing have you done?
Winged it a lot - What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
I’m planning on going ultra-light. Just a satchel-type shoulder bag with an extra pair of lightweight pants, shirt, underwear and socks, toiletries, a journal, a dictionary and a few other “odds ‘n’ ends”. I’d say my most indispensable item would be my journal. Everything else can be replaced on the way if need be. - How do you think your round-the-world trip will change your life? How do you think it will affect and change you as a person?
I think that I’ll finally get to relax a bit. I work as a surgical assistant and hate my job. I’m looking to just go places, see things and be swept up in the moment wherever I’m at. I think that this will profoundly affect me and change me. I’m hoping it will make me be able to smile again. I’d like to smile again. - If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
Why did I wait so long to do this? - Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
To truly get away from the “rat race” and to find something in themselves that is there but that they don’t know exists. To obtain a sense of peace. - What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
I think that the biggest myth most people have is the impossibility of the whole venture. They can’t believe that you can just “go” and not have every little detail of every day planned out and cut in stone in your Daytimer. - Why do you like to travel?
By traveling it allows me to see new things, new places, new people. I tend to “find myself” when I am traveling. I get to reflect more on things that are a lot more important to me (self, relationships, the “big picture”)than when I’m punching the clock and working like a crazed fool. - What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
Go light, have an idea in what direction you want to go but no fixed itinerary; bring lots of money and find your smile.
September 2002