What in the world are we doing?
In just two days we are embarking on a year of international travel.
Our travels will include traditional sightseeing as well as outdoor adventures like backpacking in Patagonia and trekking to Everest Base Camp. However, we also want to prioritize spiritual growth, connecting with local communities, and experiencing alternative ways of living. We intend to visit the Bruderhof communities in Paraguay, work on organic farms in New Zealand, do peacemaking work in Palestine, participate in a study tour of the early Christian Church in Türkiye, work with a community farm & school in South Sudan, and visit many friends in India.
Below is what our route will look like assuming we follow our current plans.
In the last few months since we decided to go on this journey, we have said a lot of hard goodbyes to our families (including our new nephew), our church family in Chicago, our friends in both Seattle and Chicago, and our wonderful work colleagues (and for Maria, her patients). We know that many of these people will still be in our lives after this year, but we also realize that after this year of transition we may not be in close proximity to many of these people in the future. We will also miss out on our nephews first birthday and maybe his first words, friends’ weddings, and other life events.
Along with these goodbyes, it has been scary to quit our jobs, sell many of our possessions, and embrace uncertainty. However, alongside those things, we have also felt affirmed, and gained increased confidence in this decision. Many people have shared how they want to do something like this or wish that they had when they were younger; friends of friends have offered to host us when we are in their part of the world; a favorite podcast of ours announced a tour in Türkiye on the exact dates we were planning to be in Türkiye. As we drove away from Chicago we talked about the potential difficulty of meeting new people in the places we travel since we are both introverts. A few days later as we were exploring Utah’s national parks we had a confidence boosting experience; despite us keeping to ourselves, we ended up making a great friend with whom we went on to hike in more national parks.
What we are doing isn’t a good career move or financially prudent. However, we have been blessed with many things and feel that rather than always striving to have more, we should focus on enjoying what we have and look for ways to use what we have to bless others. We are not sure what life holds for us after this year. As we travel we will try to stay open to new experiences and ideas that will shape our lives going forward.
We will miss all of our friends and family while we are traveling (we are really looking forward to when some of you come to meet up with us along the way 
We plan on using this blog to share stories from our travels and reflections about what we are learning. We love food and cooking, and also plan to use this blog to share recipes from our adventures and other food related content. If you’d like to see more frequent photos from our travels, follow us on Instagram.
Our planned itinerary
Below is our rough itinerary for the year. We are holding this itinerary loosely and are open to adjusting our plans as we go. Maybe we will stick to this itinerary, or maybe someone we meet, an opportunity that arises, or just our fancy will keep us somewhere longer than planned or take us somewhere we never expected to go. We do know that we want to try to keep our travel path somewhat linear, minimizing long flights and instead using overland transportation as much as possible.
If you have any recommendations for our planned destinations (or the trip overall), please let us know!
- October: South America
- Peru (Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca)
- Bolivia (La Paz, Bolivian Salt Flats)
- November: Continue in South America
- Paraguay (Bruderhof community)
- Argentina (Iguazu Falls, Buenos Aires, hiking in El Chalten)
- Chile (Hiking/backpacking in Torres del Paine, Santiago)
- Early December: Fiji, New Zealand (WWOOFing (working on farms), hiking)
- Mid-January: Go to Australia (Bruderhof community? roadtrip?)
- February: Go to Southeast Asia
- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia
- Mid-March: Nepal (Kathmandu, Everest Base Camp trek)
- April: India (planning to visit friends in different areas, possibly: Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chennai?)
- May: Middle East
- Jordan
- Palestine (Community Peacemaker Teams)
- Israel
- June: Continue in the Middle East
- Türkiye (BEMA tour)
- July: East/Central Africa
- South Sudan (SEA Partners)
- Kenya
- Uganda? DRC?
- August and September: Northern Africa / Western Europe
- Morocco
- Spain / Portugal
- France, Germany? Belgium? Switzerland? Italy? Greece? The Netherlands?
- UK (England, Scotland), Ireland
Book Recommendations
Here are some books that we have really enjoyed as we have been preparing for embarking on this adventure! If you have any book recommendations for us, let us know!
Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel by Rolf Potts
Support independent booksellers: buy new or used on Biblio
This book offers a great perspective on how approach long-term travel, and how this differs from a vacation or short-term tourism. Part philosophy of travel and part practical tips for how to do it!
“Vagabonding is about taking time off from your normal life–from six weeks to four months to two years–to discover and experience the world on your own terms.”
The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach by Sarah Stodola
Support independent booksellers: buy new or used on Biblio
“A captivating exploration of beach resort culture—from its roots in fashionable society to its undervalued role in today’s world economy—as the industry approaches a climate reckoning
With its promise of escape from the strains of everyday life, the beach has a hold on the popular imagination as the ultimate paradise. In The Last Resort, Sarah Stodola dives into the psyche of the beachgoer and gets to the heart of what drives humans to seek out the sand. At the same time, she grapples with the darker realities of resort culture: strangleholds on local economies, reckless construction, erosion of beaches, weighty carbon footprints, and the inevitable overdevelopment and decline that comes with a soaring demand for popular shorelines.”
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