Can I Ashram You a Question?

Okay, so I was watching a show last night on BBC America with Gordon Ramsay, and he went to an Ashram in India.. and it made me think.. I love yoga, and veganism, and cooking... I need to go to an Ashram. Anyone know anything about these mysterious places? I need a guru... I've heard they are around $6/night for simple accommodations, food, and YOGA classes.. That is right up my alley. I guess I now have another thing to research! I'm learning so much about all these places we are going to far, that's the cool thing about travel. It's almost like a research project that you actually get to experience, rather than research, report, and turn in. Hence why travel is the best education. Take that, 4 year degree.

It's real, folks.

Two major things have happened lately.. Yesterday I turned in my official notice that I am resigning from my school district. Today my British passport application officially arrived in Washington, DC at the UK Embassy. I guess this means it is officially official. I (and my brave husband) am seriously quitting my job to travel for 9 months and live like a gypsy. The only upside is I do have a home to come back to, I am not perpetually on the road. I have also calculated how much vaccinations will be to visit the other places on itinerary where I may catch some crazy disease, and have decided to wait until I leave this country where medical care is ridiculously priced... And this advice is coming from a health professional at the state health department! I just want to thank Barbara at the UF Health Center in Jacksonville for the advice to wait to get to a country where they have universal healthcare. Gotta love it. I would much rather do that than spend around 1300 on vaccinations when all is said and done. Redic.

We have just had Spring Break here, which means we only have 9 weeks left of school after this week... After that I have 10 weeks of YMCA Summer Camp and then a month-ish to prepare before heading home and shipping off from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. ATL Here we come. I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I know with hard work and meticulous saving this will all work out. A UK passport may come in handy, too. So I hope those kind folks at the Embassy give me the a-o.k. and I get that maroon passport to match my blue one. All I can think in my mind is, "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" with anticipation and nervousness for this all to be officially real. That day is sure to come sooner than I know.

Another flight! Woohoo!

Another flight in the books... We have now booked a flight from Prague to Istanbul to India... We are thinking about getting train passes through Europe so that we can head down to Croatia and visit other parts of Europe after leaving Amsterdam.. Pretty cool though, we will be having a Czech Christmas, Turkish New Years, and spend a month in India.. I'm sure they have some cool festival or celebration going on while we are there, they love a party those Indians. I'm just so stoked to get this trip moving along. I'm still freaking out about money though.Anyone have good budgeting tips?

Well, just in case I need to work, especially in the UK, I am taking my right to UK Citizenship and applying for my British passport.... That's right, dual citizen right here. Thanks to my father who was born in Hucclecote, England, my awesome Nana and Grandpa who served in WW2 for England, and my adorable British husband I apparently have enough English in my life to apply for dual citizenship. Word.

More to come as I book! Currently I've been busy working my multiple jobs and living an existence of school and yoga. One more marathon under the belt, with a PR to boot... I guess I'm one busy lady? I don't know how I do it......

Amsterdam, here we come.

Another flight booked! We will be in England from September 17-November 5th... Upon when we will make a departure to Amsterdam. Another flight to put in our books. We are making progress!! I think deciding to book flights as we can has been a better choice, rather than waiting. This way I can check out all the cheap fares.. I definitely liked skyscanner.com, which gave a lot of flexibility and allowed me to look at different airlines and days. Thanks to Paul's friend Mitesh for the advice!

Aaaand we're off....

Well, not quite. Still in the saving/planning phase of our trip. It's been a while since I have ventured onto my blog, but to be honest, not a lot "trip wise" has been going on.. Until.. Friday! I managed to book the first leg of our trip.. Atlanta -> Reykjavik-> London. After much consideration, I've decided to take the tickets into my own hands, for now. I wanted to get this thing started, and otherwise I would have had to wait until July 2013 to book our official tickets.. So for now, we at least have a ticket. I'm thinking to get a EuroStar pass rather than book a bunch of internal flights in Europe. I'm not sure how long we will be in Europe, but I know I want to be there for Christmas and visit the Christmas Villages in Germany. Ahhh this means it's real, folks!!!! :) 

Dilemma

For everyone who has ever tried to save a large amount of money, you know how "little" things can come up to sabotage your plans. Enter Paul's 12 year old Jeep.... Well, it seems that we will be going to do a little car shopping this weekend so that we can ensure his safety while driving around and to his soccer fields 3 times a week (a 20 mile journey each way). I am hoping that this doesn't set us back too much as we are SO CLOSE to buying tickets. We could: A. revisit our route and see where we can cut some costs so that we can just go ahead and purchase or B. Keep waiting to buy and hope fuel prices subside while we accumulate more funds. All of this takes a lot of patience. It's like when you are looking at flights and then decide to wait a few days only to find out it has gone up $300.00 when you check the next time. For anyone who has ever purchased a ticket like this, we are welcome to your expert advice. In the mean time, we will keep putting money away and hope we find a car that is in our budget and not a junker!

Bon Iver - Holocene


After my last post, this is why Reykjavik is on our list. I want to go all the places this kid goes.

Save, save, save...

This blog may be past due, as we are already in the process of the hardest part of long-term travel: saving money. My husband and I have been meticulously (most of the time) putting money away into a savings account which has finally grown to almost ticket-purchase size. After looking into many RTW (Round-the-World for those of you non-backpackers) ticket sites, we have realized that we would need to save around $13,000 for two tickets for all the stops we would like to make.


Here is a projected itinerary:


ATL-Boston-Reykjavik (If you have not seen Bon Iver's video for "Holocene", you need to watch it. You WILL want to go to Iceland, too)
Reykjavik- London (Paul's family lives in England, as well as some of my relatives)
London-Brittany, France (by ferry)
Travel through Europe by train - Paul wants to visit multiple soccer grounds, all I can remember at this time is Ajax.... I think that is in Holland?
Eventually end up in Rome, where we will fly to Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul - Delhi, India
Delhi - Hanoi, Vietnam
Hanoi - Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei - Brisbane, Australia
Brisbane - Christchurch, NZ
Christchurch - Lima, Peru (I hold Peru dear to my heart after spending a month in this beautiful country.. I encourage everyone to go there!)
Lima overland to Sao Paolo, Brazil (Hello, World Cup 2014)
Sao Paolo - Atlanta (home!)


We may try to get to places like mainland China or Thailand, we just have to see how it all works out. At this point, we are still in "Saving" stage.. things may change when we get to the "Booking" stage.


A little background about us:
I am: a teacher, extended day teacher, yoga teacher (as of September 23, 2012).
Paul is: my husband, boys' soccer coach, and an awesome personal trainer.


Follow us on our journey to touch (almost) every continent in our RTW trip as we try and volunteer and teach as we go. Our goal is to come back with a widened view of the world and the satisfaction we were able to see and experience things we would have not had we "settled down" as most married couples do. Sure, some people may think we are crazy, especially "in this economy", but when else could we do this? We are still young, have no kids, and have been wanting to do this for years. Soon we will make our dream a reality.