Here's the plan as it goes:
Fly to Dublin, Ireland. (Only flight booked thus far!). From there we tour Ireland and Scotland, then off to Switzerland, Turkey (if all goes well with Syria), Israel, Jordan, not Egypt (stupid violence), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, maybe Uganda or Zimbabwe, India, maybe Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, China, Japan, Micronesia, and New Zealand. We have friends along the way that we plan on visiting and friends and family that plan on visiting us! We invite all who are interested in meeting up with us to let us know and we will try to make it work.
How do we feel before we go on this adventure?
Aislinn
Well, I feel extremely excited and nervous. I think it's obvious why I'm excited, but why am I nervous? You see, as a teacher, I've always believed in predictable environments. Predictable environments are wonderful for children to make them feel safe and secure and repetition helps build brain connections. Not only is this environment good for kids, it has been good for me! This has been my life for the last 8 years...prior to that I was in school for 21 years, so, all told, school has been my life for almost 30 YEARS. So I'm a bit scared of losing my "scheduling" security blanket.
Despite living in a predictable environment, I've always been pretty easy-going and flexible and love the rush of flying by the seat of my pants. I guess that's why I've always wanted to go on a trip like this. But, true to form for the last 30 years, when my travel agent suggested that I only book the first flight and not do the RTW ticket, my first thought was, "That wasn't in the plan. That's for those hippy travellers who just let the wind take them where it will." I hadn't even considered NOT booking a RTW ticket because I needed to feel like I had a final destination, a place I was going to, an end to the means. But, as we say in school, it's not about the destination, it's the journey. Then I started to do some research on 'how' to travel on a trip like ours.
After reading several very helpful blogs, I learned that if you plan everything, you will not enjoy yourself as much because you're so focussed on your next stop that you don't enjoy what is right in front of you. It's best just to create a shell of the plan and be open to changes as they go. Hey wait! That's what I do as a teacher too... Hmmm, then what really is the big difference? I guess I'll find out...
Adam
I won't lie. It's hard for me write this entry. I have no one to blame but myself. Aislinn wrote the rest of this post 11 days ago. Since then we've finished our packing, said our goodbyes, and flown overseas to Ireland. It's already hard to remember how I felt just before I left.
In a nutshell, I was stressed and ready for a break, with just a hint of frantic. Just a hint of course. I am still clearly unflappable.
That being said, I may be foolish. Circling the globe for the better part of a year without booking ahead for so much as a place to stay more than a day or two ahead won't improve any of the above feelings. It will however be a wonderful way to find adventure. It might even be a good way to seek a new perspective. At the least, it's already been an excellent way to become acquainted with Irish Whiskey. For now, that's more than enough for me.
So, how do I feel? Proud of all we accomplished in getting to this point, overjoyed and relieved to have passed my final exam in Emergency Medicine -- I found out over drinks in the oldest pub in Dublin and subsequently bought us both a few more -- and just a wee bit apprehensive about the rest of our journey. Mostly though, I'm looking forward to a few days of quiet strolls over the moorlands in the Orkney Islands north of Scotland later this week.
