Our Multi-Month Trip
Why we’re doing this!
There are so many places we want to see in this big, beautiful world. Bret and I have always loved travel and we had lots of it planned for 2020, which of course, got cancelled. As I think it did for many, the pandemic really shook us and caused us to reevaluate our priorities. As we made the decision to relocate to a new state, and due to some flexibility with Bret’s job, we had a unique opportunity to take some time and travel. Inspired by some friends of ours who did a true Round The World Trip in 2019, we started talking about the possibility of long-term travel and making up for time lost during the pandemic. I mention this in the ‘About’ section, but I think we had this point of clarity that nothing is promised in life, and we have a natural window of time to see the world at this moment rather than waiting for retirement or the ‘right time’.
We’ve spent time reading, researching and talking to others about budgeting for this type of trip, how to travel sustainably and ethically, what to pack and how to plan. We hope to share all of that— and guides to spots we visit along the way!
Itinerary
Here’s our tentative itinerary, though it’s subject to change. I’ll be linking to our travel guide (and spending) for each city as we make our way!
Vienna
Slovenia (Ljubljana and Lake Bled)
Budapest
Bucharest
Turkey (Istanbul and Cappadocia)
Tblisi
Jordan (Petra and Wadi Rum)
Israel (Tel Aviv and Jerusalem)
Morocco (Marrakesh and Chefchaouen)
Portugal (Lisbon and Algarve region)
Skiing in Chamonix Mont Blanc
Packing
After discussing our vision for this trip and the logistics of our plan, we decided to travel with backpacks as opposed to rolling luggage.
We wanted backpacks that were fairly neutral, without lots of logos or bright colors to draw attention. We were also looking for options that were durable and had features like stowable straps, so you can tuck them into the pack during train/plane rides and avoid damage.
Bret went with a 45L Travel Backpack from Peak Design and Huckberry. It’s got stowable shoulder straps, and 360 degree carry handles for a variety of ways to travel. It’s waterproof and has a padded laptop sleeve.
I decided on the 44L Osprey Transporter Carry-on. I love that the front side fully zips up, similar to traditional roller luggage. It also has a detachable shoulder strap, stowable backpack straps and a laptop pocket.
We have our full packing lists here.
Budget
We have a full break-down of budgeting and planning for our extended trip here, and please don’t hesitate to ask questions! I also want to acknowledge up front the immense privilege Bret and I both have in terms of our race, socio-economic status, education and career opportunities.
That being said, we do want to follow in the footsteps of other travelers we know and admire and de-mystify the financial side of long-term travel. It turned out to be much more affordable than we would have imagined. Until we saw friends of ours taking their own year-long Round The World trip, I would probably have never even entertained taking off an extended period to travel. I would have assumed it was cost prohibitive. You can find all sorts of examples of this sort of trip at different price points. Between bloggers who are well-versed in long-term travel, to friends who’ve done RTW trips, we discovered that you can oftentimes reasonably travel for less than you would spend on day-to-day life in the U.S. Based on 2022 prices, experts suggest a solo-traveler could spend a year trekking around the world for between $20,000-$25,000, or between $1,700 and $2,000 a month. We’re planning to spend a few months traveling and have budgeted accordingly. You can certainly spend more than that, based on the type of traveling you’re doing. We will be staying mostly in Airbnbs and lower price point options, taking advantage of free walking tours and finding cost effective ways to experience places. We have built in some extra funds for certain excursions we’d like to do along the way. We will try to price out each location on our money page!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out!