We have spent the last five days in Amsterdam, and I am writing this from the plane to Tanzania.

We’ve officially finished our first continent of seven: Europe. And it feels surreal. We have been talking about the idea of this trip for two years and settled on seven continents as our goal to keep us grounded this past spring. Yet, now we are here. Doing it.

I’ve felt this before, the anticipation and reminder to pinch yourself when the time comes. 12 years ago I traveled around South America with a friend and then my dad. We planned the trip on a spreadsheet, meticulously researching places and figuring out how to allocate our time. When we went to a place, it felt as if the idea, my expectations, and reality of the place is colliding. It was both rewarding and a bit disheartening simultaneously. I found that I preferred to not over-plan, as the expectation of a place you create in your head rarely matches reality. And I like to breathe a little on my trips in terms of planning, have wiggle room for down days and such.

We haven’t over-engineered our itinerary, which is great! However, we have been thinking about the idea of this trip for two years. And now, we are here. And that feels surreal in and of itself.

Europe was also a great start. We are tweaking our pacing, communication, the balance of responsibilities, and small things you learn when traveling internationally with someone. Europe also feels deeply familiar to me as I’ve visited some of these places before, mainly Venice and Amsterdam. Tim had visited Rome previously. It was new to explore together, and we both saw areas we hadn’t seen before in each place. So it was both new and familiar.

Europe also was familiar enough that we could take major days off, and do some logistics planning for the fall. We bought major flights and booked reservations for some “Great Walks” in New Zealand for November and December - their spring and summer. (These reservations go fast, we were advised to book earlier.) We now have all major flights from now to Christmas. So that was quite the project yesterday, and also a relief. Most of the rest of the logistics we can figure out when we return to the state for a month, or even in-country.

All this made the whole thing feel more real. We have flights to Cambodia, Seoul, and Auckland in our names. Paid with money (well, a credit card, but still money). It is concrete and real. And feels like pretending just the same, until we get on the flight and I have my “oh this is real” moment.

Of course, I have a feeling that each continent will be more unique than we realize. Unique in the places, food, and culture of course. But also unique in terms of how we approach traveling around it. Our mentality and agenda. What we look forward to and the highlights. We will always look forward to hiking and the outdoors, as well as cultural sites. And I’m excited to see what else this oyster of a world holds.

Africa, specifically Tanzania, will be quite different from how we approached traveling in Europe. First, it is a new area of the world for both of us. I’ve gone to Morocco, but that felt more like Turkey and the Middle East than Africa given it is a secular Muslim country. Tim hasn’t been to Africa before. Neither of us has attempted to do quite this hike nor go on anything like a safari before. Second, we are with guides for both Kilimanjaro and the safari, plus a cook as well. And it will just be us and the guides - no one else in the group. Once we hit Zanzibar, we will be tourists roaming around the beach island with a hotel, taking it day by day - we’ve been calling this week “our vacation from traveling.”

In the last several weeks, we adjusted our plan for Asia. We had been planning to visit Japan, both because of the culture and to visit a friend who lives there. However, Japan is only allowing tour groups - pre-planned itineraries in groups for a week or two with fully-supervised locations. That’s not quite our style, as you probably know. We like meandering, hiking in the woods, chatting with locals, and getting lost in the place. Given this, we are going to do a different set of countries: Cambodia (2 weeks), Vietnam (4-5 weeks), and South Korea (1-2 weeks). South Korea got added on because all flights between Vietnam and New Zealand have stopovers, so we figured “why not check out Seoul?”

Ironically, the original itinerary for this trip was to just drop into Southeast Asia for 6 months as a stomping ground for our trip, pre-COVID. Now we are going there, which is exciting.

I feel incredibly lucky that we are doing this. It also feels brave to quit our jobs and travel, especially while it feels like there’s a recession brewing. Frankly, given all the stress in the US, it feels good to take a break.

It also feels incredibly natural to travel with Tim. We are figuring out our little bumps but feels very natural and comfortable.

It is so lovely that we are doing this together, soaking up life for everything it has to offer: the diversity of people, cultures, animals, landscapes, and natural beauty this planet holds. It is quite an experience, even so far.