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about the trip

People always want to know how this trip came to be.  Here is the abridged version:

Sometime in 2007:

Akila:  Honey, guess what?  This is amazing.  There's a woman on the radio who is doing what I've always wanted to do!

Patrick:  What's that?  Write a book?  Open a restaurant?  Start eating meat?  Cause that third one would be great. 

Akila:  No, don't be silly.  She's traveling around the world for a year.

Patrick:  Oh, wow.  That's really cool.

Akila:  Maybe we could do that someday?

Patrick:  Maybe.  But, we have the puppies and the house and our jobs.  So, we'll see.

A year or so later:

Akila:  Now that I'm planning on quitting my job, once I am done with this clerkship I have for a year, what do you think about traveling around the world for a year?

Patrick:  Hmmm . . . I don't know.  Maybe we could take three months off and go and see Japan, China, and Australia.

Akila:  Yeah, but we have also talked about spending more time in Europe and going to Africa, Antarctica, South America, and South East Asia.

Patrick:  Well, three months should be enough to do a lot of that, don't you think?

Akila:  Probably not.  Let me think about it and then we'll see.

A few months later:

Akila:  I've thought it all out and I don't see how we can go to our top places in just three months.  What do you think about four or maybe six months?

Patrick:  Four months is definitely doable.  Six months may be a little harder.  But, we can think about that.

Akila:  Let me tell you about how awesome Antarctica is.  And here are pictures of Peru and South Africa.  Don't you think we should take this opportunity now while we're still young?  I mean, can you imagine trying to hike Kilimanjaro when we're all hunched over with arthritis?

Patrick:  I can't imagine hiking Kilimanjaro now.  But, maybe you're right.  Six months is it, right?  You wouldn't want to go longer than six months, would you?

Akila:  We'll see.

Currently:

Patrick:  Okay, we're settled on a year.  A one year round the world trip.  That sounds amazing.

Akila:  It does.  But, ummm, we'll see how long we actually end up traveling.

Patrick:  [Sticks tongue out at Akila.]

Akila: [Smiles deviously.]

Comments (9)

Akila,
This is very cute!

-- Mom 06/17/2009 17:01:33

Good on you for deciding to travel for a year. I'm still trying to convince my husband. Oh yeah, plus we have a 2-year-old!

-- jen Laceda 06/24/2009 13:47:38

Thanks Mom! As you know, this is actually the way we decide things.

Jen, I hope that next year, y'all are trotting around the world with the rest of us.

-- Akila 08/08/2009 18:39:28

This is kind of similar to the way we arrived on our decision to travel. We say one year - but we're hoping it lasts a lot longer. Happy travels and maybe we'll run into each other on the road!

-- Mina 07/04/2009 15:04:06

This is adorable! I'm looking forward to seeing how long "one year" really turns out to be. :)

We had a similar experience too. Originally our trip was meant to be 3 months...and then 4 months...and then 6 months. And it was only a few weeks prior to our departure that we went from 6 months to 12 months...and then when we were on the road, we turned that into 18 months! :)

-- Jessica the hedgehog 07/27/2009 13:53:23

Aw, Jessica and Mina, thanks! Mina, I am excited to watch your trip and hope we can meet up. Jessica, same with you --- if you make it out to India in December, let me know, because I think we will be out there then.

-- Akila 07/28/2009 17:23:09

Loving the blog you guys — can't wait to see more of your worldwide experiences.

-- Eva and Jeremy Rees 10/09/2009 11:35:55
Eva and Jeremy Rees's recent blog post: Blue Cruising the Turquoise Seas

hahaha love the dialogue!!! will be following your travels, for sure! I went through the same, but now we?re set on the timing - 1yr, now we just have to figure out when exactly... ;)

-- Adriana 12/17/2009 12:35:17
Adriana's recent blog post: in Lebanon, reminiscing Israel my mental jigsaw puzzle

Adriana - Congrats on taking the first step and deciding that you are going to travel round the world! Now, the real planning begins, right?

-- Akila 12/21/2009 11:45:18
Akila's recent blog post: marlborough wines: why did we leave?

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