Carpe diem

Janet says: So, it’s happening. Joel and I are quitting our jobs and traveling until we are out of money. I think it all started when I started my Master’s Degree. We knew that when I finished my courses we wanted to take an extended trip, over 2 weeks. Three years later it’s time and things have evolved, 2 weeks turned into a month, a month turned into just a little bit longer, and now we’re thinking we’ll be gone for 6 months. Of course, optimistic Joel says why not 9 months…we’ll see how it all plays out. I'm definitely scared because the practical in me is screaming to pay student loans instead of this epic trip, but that's stupid, right? Plus, I'm taking a year off from work, whoa. Still, I know that we will never regret this trip, I'm nervous but I can't wait, especially to eat the food.

There is this stupid idea that Unitedstatians(Americans) have that traveling extensively is for the wealthy. And, I say Unitedstatians because whenever I go to a hostel there are people from all over the world, and Unitedstatians are in the minority. The reality that my wonderful husband has taught me is this: if you can afford a low-priced new car, you can afford to travel for at least 6 months. That’s right, for the low price of $15,000 you may travel the world for 6-9 months depending on how you choose to travel. And the cool part, I got a thousand dollars for FREE from credit card rewards.

Now, the question is: Wanna meet up somewhere? Let us know if you are interested in meeting up somewhere. We are leaving the US on August 16th and we’re heading to Iceland first. From Iceland we head to Copenhagen and everything after that isn’t set in stone, we’re just going to see what happens with one carry-on backpack a piece, which kinda freaks me out.

Here is the timeline in case you would like to meet up somewhere: Mid-August to November: Iceland, Denmark, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Southern Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary(Budapest), Slovenia, Croatia, Greece and Turkey

December to March-ish: Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia

This is just a list of the places we would like to visit but we have no set plans except Iceland so far. We just want to see how it goes and stay as long as we want/can if we like a place. We'll be posting pictures and updates here every now and then.Our blog stands for j=Joel, jj= Janet, rtw= round the world. We are not crazy about this name so suggestions are very welcome.