We’ve been thinking of taking a trip around the world for some time now. It started off as a vague idea after we graduated from college in 2003. Monica said that she’d like to go travel. Having been deprived of a study-abroad experience and being interested in travel as a concept, I thought it was a good idea.
At first our plan was to go to Japan to teach English for a year through the JET program. After some research on the program, Japan, and Japanese culture, we decided that it might not be so great to spend a year in Japan with a high likelihood of having to live in separate cities. Instead, we decided to receive a certification to teach English, then finding a job somewhere in Europe, and then traveling for a while. The idea sounded good in theory, as we would be able to spend a month in Lisbon, then go somewhere else in Europe, try to find a job teaching English, and then travel. However, Monica, being the rational one among us, decided to put pen to paper and calculated the amount of money this idea would cost. It was too much. The uncertainty of finding a teaching job in Europe, in addition to paying for the certification was not really worth the amount of money that we’d make while we’re working. So, instead, we decided that we’d forgo our humanitarian ambitions for now, and just travel instead.
Where to, was the next question. The world is vast, with many interesting places. Money was really the only constraint, as it is with most people. Thus, we would have to limit the amount of time that we would spend in Europe. Some would say, why visit Europe at all, but Monica has relatives in Italy, and I’ve never been there either. Also, I hail from Estonia, so we wanted to visit it as well. Well, while we’re at it, why not visit Greece and marginally European Turkey.
Thus the trip came to fruition. We decided that we’d go to Italy, then venture south to Sicily, then from there take a ferry to the Greek islands, then take a ferry to Turkey, ending up on the south coast of Turkey. From there, we’d venture along the coast to Istanbul, then take a ferry to Odessa (Ukraine), where my maternal grandparents are from, and then to Kharkov (a.k.a. Kharkiv), where my father and the other set of grandparents are from. Then we would try to get to Estonia, either via Russia or by way of Poland. From there, we’d go to St. Petersburg, then Moscow, and then take the Transsiberian Railroad to Beijing via Irkustk (to see Lake Baikal) and then stopping in Ulan Bator in Mongolia, ending up in Beijing. After some smoke filled Beijing and visiting the sites, we’d fly to Japan, and spend a little time there, in order to not burn through our whole budget, and then back to China, probably to Shanghai. From there we’d somehow get to India, spend some time there, then to Southeast Asia, and finish out trip in Australia and New Zealand.
However, we were constantly hounded by the time constraint of the oncoming winter in Russia, Mongolia, and China, which would limit our time everywhere prior to these destinations. Thus, last week, we supposedly changed out plans, and decided to go to Turkey and then go to India from there. Then to Southeast Asia, then Australia, New Zealand, and back north to China and Japan, in time for spring. We are now planning on taking the Transsiberian Railroad in the opposite direction, from Beijing to Moscow.
For some reason we were fixated on an eastward direction in our travels. This is likely due to the fact that we initially were thinking of buying an around the world airplane ticket, that would take us around the world in one direction.
That is all. Next post will be about the preparation for the trip.
