Finally. In less than a month it’s going to happen, we will start our world trip that we have been saving two years for. On the 27th of June 2015 we will start living our dream.

Very early on in our relationship going a world trip was a much discussed subject. So, as soon as David started working at AISR (American International School of Rotterdam) we started saving and dreaming. Over the last two years the planned route has changed many times, no doubt this trend will continue once we actually depart. But the outline of the trip has been the same almost the entire time. Visit countries that are not too dangerous but which are off the beaten track, visit as many new countries for both of us, stay for a longer period in Australia to spent quality time with David’s family and definitely do a trip through Suriname. With pain in our hearts also had to let go of dream destinations, for example Bhutan was ripped painfully off the list a few months back, as it would cost us €6000 for ten days and for that amount of money we can travel three months somewhere else. Also highlining in Yosemite is a no go, as we are there in the middle of winter and it will be to cold. But we are happy with the route we have now. The route will guide us to great and interesting destinations.

This is a map of our currently planned itinerary

Rotterdam – Germany – Poland – Belarus – Russia – Mongolia – China- Kyrgyzstan – Kazakhstan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – India – Nepal – Thailand – Philippines – Australia – USA (Hawaii, San Francisco) – Mexico – Cuba – Miami – Suriname – Brazil – Bolivia – Peru – Ecuador – USA (Boston, New York) – Rotterdam.

Ah, relaxing and letting the adventures dictate your travels, how relaxing a world trip must be… Not so far! A never ending stream of forms to fill out, visa applications to massage into shape, house to organise, insurance, car, visas, vaccinations, travel gear, start a blog, plane/train tickets, hotels, couchsurfing profiles, etc, etc, et-@#$%*&^-c. Currently still working full-time at our jobs, we both have busy social lives and we are still going on nice long weekends away within Europe. Time is precious commodity, which we seem to somehow spend more of than we have (yes it is all about the choices you make…). In the past few months, weeks and days we have organised the necessary visas and bookings, giving some companies many euros in the process. Sigh… Luckily our ‘to do’ list is becoming a ‘done’ list.

For the first 10 countries/22,000 km we are travelling on the ground, just trains, buses or cars. No planes. We are really looking forward to travelling this way, feeling the distances between places. We are hoping to travel back to Rotterdam from the USA with a freight ship. Sleeping will be done mostly at the apartments of couchsurfing hosts, but also at hotels, airbnb’s and a bit of camping.

We are also looking forward to staying with friends around the world, it has been years since we saw many of you! Please keep us updated about what is happening in your lives, but also getting tips about places to visit and people to meet are more than welcome. We hope that by sharing our adventures with you, you can experience a bit of what we see and feel.

Wanna learn about the Trans Mongolia Express, trekking in Kyrgyzstan, cuisine in Tasmania or scuba diving in Hawaii? Then subscribe to our blog and follow us as we embark on the trip of a life time.