The big trip

Background info on the trip:

I've been working for the past 3 years as a web developer at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick. It is/was an awesome job, I learned so much and got to work with some really great people. Without that job there's no way I'd be able to take off on this adventure. I worked for the Computer and Statistical Services contractor, Data Management Services, Inc., on a wide variety of web projects.

In the back of my mind, I've always wanted to take off on an extended trip to far away and interesting places, but it never seemed possible. I'd always come up with an excuse in my mind to stay put, and continue what I was doing. I had a great job, girlfriend, a cool little apartment, a car (Jeep), I thought that was it. I mean, I went to college, got a degree, got a job, that was it right? Time for the fun! Well, something wasn't right, I just didn't feel satisfied. It's not that I was unhappy, not at all, but I just felt like something was missing. I'd go on fun vacations every six months or so, skiing out west, scuba diving in the Caribbean, backpacking on the weekends, and those were really fun times. But the fun would always end so quickly, and next thing I knew I was back right where I left off. Whenever I was bored at work, I'd be surfing Travelocity or Orbitz, just to see where I could get to on the cheap, maybe just for the weekend. Iceland would be nice, oh, cheap flights into Belize this time of year, wow, they're just giving away flights to Europe right now, etc... But I never had enough time to really do it right.

To get around that lack of vacation time, which was always in short supply for me, the idea of not working crept into my mind. Over the past few years I've been reading mostly travel and adventure theme books, a couple of which were really inspiring. Just to read about other peoples experiences, both good and bad, really had big effect on me. It kind of dawned on me, that I really could do this. I could save enough to do it, I could quit my job, I felt like I could make it happen. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but at some point it just clicked, and I knew I was going to take off. If extended traveling is something you think you might be interested in doing sometime (which it should be!), then you should check out: Vagabonding by Rolf Potts; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Also, these books are great, and got me psyched to go after big goals: Lost in Mongolia by Colin Angus; Into Thin Air by John Krakhauer.

After studying abroad at the University of Queensland during the Spring of 2001, with my best friend Dave, I sort of learned how and got the confidence to travel internationally. It's actually pretty easy, all you really need is some money, your passport, and an easy going attitude. Experience and research always help too. I knew I could travel again, it was just a matter of when, where, and with whom. My good friend Matt Jackson, the quintessential Australian Renaissance man, whom I met at UQ, had done something like this before and was always super keen to do it again. He came through the States in February of 2003 and visited Dave and I in Frederick. After that, we talked on the phone and shot emails back and forth for a while about some of the things we'd like to do if it ever seemed possible to travel. This would be the time to really combine my two loves, the outdoors and international travel.

My old summer job (1996-2002), as a trip leader for TeamLink Inc., an outdoor adventure sport education and team building company, taught me how to really enjoy the outdoors and to challenge myself. Working at TeamLink with Andy Nichols and the gang was really an awesome and motivating experience. I assisted and led groups of kids on backpacking, mountain biking, canoeing, kayaking, and rock climbing trips all over the blue ridge mountains. But the best part was that it gave the experience to go into the unknown with only a pack on your back, a feeling I really love.

Some of the things Matt and I thought of were trekking to the base camp of Mt. Everest, the Annapurna circuit trek in Nepal; climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and going on a safari in Africa. To do all of that in one trip we'd have to cover some serious ground, and altitude. It would definitely take more time than I had vacation days at work.

We both pretty much decided that for this adventure to been done properly, we'd have to leave our jobs. Having no job to come back to really frees you up to do anything, as long as you can afford it. So to afford it, I've been saving for a while, selling stuff on eBay, moved back in my parents, packing my lunch to work (daily advice from my Dad), and basically just trying to live as efficiently as possible. While on the road we'll try to save where we can by staying in hostels, taking public transport, and following the already well worn backpacker trail. There'll be more to come about the trip soon.