1. When do you leave?
   February 2007

2. How long do you plan to be away?
   1-2 Years

3. How much have you saved?
   $15,000

4. How old are you?
   26

5. Nationality
   USA

6. Where do you live now?
   South Carolina, USA

7. Occupation
   chemical engineer

8. Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
   It’s my career

9. Have you traveled around the world before?
   No

10. What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
    South Pacific, India, Nepal, China, South East Asia

11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    I have always liked to see new places and have been interested to see what lies at the end of a new street. I will be graduating from graduate school after over 2 yrs of working full time and going to school full time and need a break to decide my future.

12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    fear of the unknown. Worrying about my family worrying about be the whole time

13. Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
    They are scared that something will happen to me, but they want me to be happy.

14. How much planning and preparing have you done?
    Just Enough

15. What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
    water purifier, camera, travel notebook for those times when the Internet is not available

16. 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 don’t know that is one thing I want to find out.

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    The world is my oyster and I am going to eat it up.

18. 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?
    One to two weeks is not enough time to leave the pressures of home behind.

19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    I don’t know I will let you know when I get back.

20. Why do you like to travel?
    I hate getting stuck in ruts. Travel is like putting boards under your tires so that you can get unstuck from the mud.

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    The Internet is full of advice and tips on how to prepare for such a trip.