Dear family and friends,

August 28th the time has come: on this day the two of us leave for an ambitious attempt to explore the globe. Maybe you noticed our lack of time and money to meet up, attend crazy parties and support local barkeepers. We were busy saving up, googeling, reading and pondering, you see. We drew up spreadsheets, brainstormed, worked up loads of ideas only to discard most of them afterwards. In the meantime the preparations and the saving up have nearly come to an end. This can mean one thing only: The ‘big leap’ approaches like lightning.

A big leap, nearer by than we initially intended. Spring 2012 we imagined departing autumn 2014 on an unforgettable journey to profoundly get to know ourselves and each other. To put down experiences that would form our picture of the future.

However, as a result of far-reaching events during the previous years, our plans gained momentum. They made us realize that the remaining time to try to achieve one’s goals and dreams can suddenly become limited. No postponement, if you truly want something NOW is the time to do it!

So it’s settled, we will go! Preferably we’d like to go to all over the place but sadly some “minor practical issues” like time and money got in our way. Nevertheless it had to be a proper round-the-world-trip. No limitation to one or two continents, rather the whole lot. However this implies making tough decisions. Subsequent to elaborate deliberation we are confident to have found an ambitious yet levelheaded plan to achieve the most favourable results using a bare minimum of resources.

The route we have designed takes us first up to Canada to scout the Montréal – Toronto area in September. Subsequently we cross the vast inland to make our way to Vancouver and Jasper/Banff National Park. Around October we plan to hitchhike ‘coastal highway 101’ southbound as far as San Francisco where Henk’s parents will join us to visit the well-known southwest US National Parks. In Las Vegas we say our goodbyes and during November and December we continue onward, back to the east coast, to Miami. We’ll be probably worn-out after this first leg, so we hope to put our feet up in the Bahamas and make short work of a Christmas turkey.

Just before New Year’s Eve, we make the crossing onto the southern hemisphere, to Santiago de Chile. Here we await Bene’s mom and aunt to join us on a roundtrip from Patagonia to the Bolivian border in the north. From Bolivia on we are on our own again, to discover Peru and Ecuador as well. Meanwhile it’s probably already March, time to urgently go to Southeast Asia. A relief for our wallets!

Once on the spot we’ll have to assess whether we have sufficient available means to include Australia on our trip. In Southeast Asia itself all is possible. In regard that one year from now we will be unable to predict where and when we will find ourselves, we go wherever the wind takes us. Though, we’d like to visit some islands in Malaysia and Indonesia. Furthermore the mainland with countries such as Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Everything is possible, nothing is mandatory.

Finally the dreaded day will dawn. The day our shoes are worn out and all remaining time and money has vanished. The day we ought to return to our beloved home country; Flanders, Belgium. To our little apartment we call ‘home’. Meanwhile, trough this blog, we’ll try to take you along on our adventures. But no worries, everything will be okay as long as we’re together: “Home is wherever I’m with you!”

Love,

Benedikte & Henk