Allison Mackenzie

1. When do you leave?
   July 2006

2. How long do you plan to be away?
   6-12 Months

3. How much have you saved?
   $20000CDN

4. How old are you?
   37

5. Nationality
   Canada

6. Where do you live now?
   Quebec, Canada

7. Occupation
   Middle School Teacher

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?
    Bookends will be kayaking in Greenland and in British Columbia. Eastern Europe, hike Ben Nevis, Australia & New Zealand, Costa Rica...so much to see...no definite plan yet

11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    I was able to take advantage of the deferred salary plan where you work for four years at 80% salary and take the fifth year off at 80%...how could I NOT take advantage?

12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    Running out of funds...not wanting to come home because I fell in love with someone from the Southern Hemisphere...getting sick and being alone in a foreign medical system...missing home...(none of these are that scary)

13. Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
    Envious, full of advice and great tips and trying to meet me overseas...Mum, on the other hand, is nervous and wants to buy me a suitcase...hmmmm.

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)?
    Quick-dry fabric, pictures of home, small Canadiana items to trade or leave as gifts, camera (digital or manual is still being debated), a journal, duct tape (solution to the world`s problems)

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?
    It will make my History lessons much more interesting. Like all major challenges, it will boost my general level of confidence and perceived power.

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    In the End, the person with the best tales to tell, wins!

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?
    Better stories

19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    It won't be THAT hard. It is like taking a year off.

20. Why do you like to travel?
    I feed on change and now that I am settling into a job, house, community that I love, I need to create that change that used to just happen because I was young and kinetic.

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Start planning and saving WAY in advance. No need to plan in great detail, but budgeting should be well researched and planned. Take your pick: outta time or outta cash?