Howdy!

Howdy!

I wanted to start this blog so that friends and family at home can keep track of me and Micah and share in some of the interesting experiences we encounter on our travels.

While most of you know us, for those who don’t, Micah and I graduated in December from Texas A&M where we played soccer together. As a way to transition between college and the “real world” we have planned a 4-month trip around the world. For some people out there 4 months might sound like an absurdly long time to be away from home, but for others it might sound far too short to truly make an "around the world" trip. Given our time constraint between graduating and starting new jobs and schools, we think 4 months is perfect! After 5 years of working and saving, finally the time has come and we couldn’t be more excited!

Below is a basic outline of our trip (if everything goes as planned…).

Jan 28-Feb 7 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Feb 7-March 2 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Iguazu Falls, Argentina

Cordoba, Argentina

Mendoza, Argentina

Santiago, Chile

Valparaiso, Chile

Mar 3-13 Sydney, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Mar 13-28 New Delhi, India

Jaisalmer, India

Jodhpur, India

Jaipur, India

Agra, India

Veranasi, India

Mar. 28-Apr. 7 Kathmandu, Nepal

Pokhara, Nepal

Apr. 8- Apr. 21 Shanghai, China

Beijing, China

Apr. 21-May 17 Trans-Mongolian Train

Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Irkutsk and Lake Baikal, Russia

Moscow, Russia

St. Petersburg, Russia

May 17-28 Germany

When we first began planning the trip, we laid out a map and each picked the places we wanted to see the most. Micah and I have both been to Europe before so we wanted to keep our time there to a minimum. Our parents had some restrictions as well, asking us to avoid the Middle East and Africa. With this in mind, and expecting to go back and narrow the list down a few times, we began putting pins on the map. When we finished, we looked at our map, looked at our time frame and decided, “Eh, why not make an adventure out of this adventure? Lets hit ‘em all!” And here we are.

We have been told it is quite an ambitious schedule, but the flights are booked, the visas are in hand and the backpacks are packed so wish us luck! And when I say backpacks, I am referring to the fact that Micah and I will only be bringing one backpack apiece! That’s it! Of all the challenges we will face on our trip, I fear this might be the hardest of them all. I am the girl who struggled to squeeze all my stuff in our giant rolling team duffle bags for 3-day long soccer trips. How I am ever going to fit everything I will need for a 4-month trip ranging from beaches in Brazil to mountains in Nepal remains a mystery to me. The experts say to pack light and buy along the way. Easier said than done…

While I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share our experiences with you I must give you a fair warning that I do not know how often I will be able to write or the quality of my entries. Seeing as most of our nights will be spent in mosquito infested tents in Brazil and Argentina, crowded and noisy youth hostels, and overnight trains across India and Russia, and our diets will consist of Brazilian coffee, Argentine steaks, Chilean wine, Australian seafood, Indian curry, Chinese scorpions on a stick, Russian caviar, and German Bratwursts, Micah and I have already accepted the fact that we will be sleep deprived, grumpy, and hopped up on Imodium the majority of the time. I will do my best J

Micah’s Words of Wisdom??

For about 30 seconds I considered having a section called “Micah’s Words of Wisdom” where I would follow Micah around and report on every ridiculous word she had the misfortune of muttering. Seeing as we will be with each other every second for the next 4 months I quickly concluded it would be best NOT to antagonize her. Plus, I like her far too much to be that mean J

Words of Wisdom, from someone who learned the hard way…

When planning a trip around the world, especially if you are making the plans mere months before you leave, do not choose an itinerary where 6 of the 10 countries you are going require visas. Not only are they expensive, but they take FOREVER! Russia for instance, besides asking for your entire life history, requires 20 business days to process your visa request. And did you know there is a difference between normal days and business days?? I did not. In college every day was a business day, as it should be. If I need something done, I want it done now. I don’t want to be constrained to 9-5 Monday through Friday. You don’t see Walmart constraining people to 9-5 Monday through Friday! With soccer, if I needed something done on a Saturday, I could call someone and get it done. If I urgently needed something at 2:30 in the morning there was always somewhere I could go or someone I could call. Well, it turns out embassies don’t run on my schedule. Can you believe it? I was just as upset when I found out as you are now! Twenty business days means 4 weeks and these places run a strict 9-5 schedule. And to top it off each embassy needs your passport for the visa request so you can only process one visa at a time! If you have to do it 4, 5, 6 times, add in holidays, we are talking months!! Before I left College Station I was complaining about this injustice to our assistant coach Phil. With little sympathy he replied, “The real world is tough isn’t it?” Yes, yes it is…

(I do not actually believe businesses should be open 24/7. I love my weekends as much as the next person, but seriously, if Walmart can do it…)

Gig ‘Em,

Emily

P.S. As for the title, "Taking on the World Single Handedly", awhile back I was asked to join a facebook group with the same name, and it was only for people with one hand. I was so entertained by the cleverness of the title and it fit so well with our trip I had to borrow it :-)