| Brad and Jen's World Adventure Trip Planning |
| Frequently asked questions: |
| Are you going to be safe? This seems to be the most asked question. Apparantly the news headlines lead many to think the rest of the world is dangerous. We are obviously not traveling to the West Bank Middle East, or Afganistan, although many people do. If the Royal Nepalese family keeps killing off members, we might put that portion of the trip off for awhile. The most dangerous thing that happens to the typical traveler is minor theft, street scams, and vebal harassment. The USA has the highest violent crime rate and the most people in prison of all other countries. Are we used to our own headlines and assume it is the same throughout the world? We will use our instincts and travel with caution. We anticipate being safe because we will be smart about where we go, who we talk with, and will learn to be in touch with and trust our intuition. Are you rich? Definately not! Jenninfer is special education teacher and Brad works as a school consultant. Doing this trip is a testament to living simply and working towards a goal. Once we became committed to this, we worked two and three jobs and saved as much money as possible. We did not need a new car, Brad's '90 Accord worked just fine (this was the first car he ever owned that was built in same decade he was driving it in...just barely). We put our wedding money towards the trip and it just seemed to accumulate. How much is it going to cost? We have budgeted $15,000. We hope to spend about $1,000 per month for the both us, and have been told by other travelers that this should be plenty for the region we are going to. Other expenses include plane tickets, shots, insurance, gear, digital camera, prescriptions, storage locker at home. We have kind of lost track of how much we have spent on gear and equipment since we started making lists and purchases a year ago. Brad had most everything he needed however Jennifer needed to gear up bigtime. We will try our best to detail this out in the budget section. Also, we were able to save enough that we have a nice chunk set aside for our return. This will allow us to not feel rushed upon our return...or maybe we will extend the trip...I have heard Pakistan is awesome! How long did it take you to plan the trip? We worked solidly on this for about one year. Jennifer recalls Brad talking about his fantasy honeymoon being a trip around the world on one of their first dates (Jennifers secret thought: "Who does that!"). The internet has helped out emensly. We have been able to follow people who are currently travelling around the world and going to places on our itinery (check out: Joel and Lisa's Excellent Adventure). |