Gerry Fuller – Round the World Traveler

Gerry Fuller is a 45-year-old from the USA, working in home restoration, who took a nine-month trip through Mexico and Central America in 1997.

The Snapshot

• Departure: 1997
• Age at departure: 45
• Nationality: USA
• Duration: About 9 months (September 1997 – June 1998)
• Occupation: Home restoration
• Original budget: USD 6,500 (approximately USD 11,700 in 2026 dollars)
• Regions: North America, Central America

The Route

Not quite a round-the-world trip, but leaving the Midwest for nine months was an adventure. They drove to El Paso, left the car, and travelled by bus throughout Mexico into Guatemala — the only flight was Guatemala City to Tikal — staying a week or two in most places, except two months in Xela, Guatemala, to study Spanish.

In Their Words

Here's what Gerry Fuller shared about their RTW journey:

Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?

I wanted to be immersed in a different world. And to learn Spanish well.

Who is the most memorable person you met on your trip and why?

My Spanish teachers, especially in Guatemala, had been through so much. A lot of them were lawyers and drs. and had had such hard lives between poverty and living with war for so many years. Yet they were so hopeful.

How did your round-the-world trip change your life? How did it affect and change you as a person?

It made me realize you can live many different ways. And that the US government is not to be trusted. I had never really believed prior to this trip how much the US had intervened in other countries in a bad, bad way.

2026 Context

• Budget inflation: This traveler's original budget of USD 6,500 would equate to approximately USD 11,700 in 2026 purchasing power, reflecting roughly 80% inflation over the intervening years.