We’ve only booked the first 6 months of our trip, so this page will be updated as future plans are finalized. Feast your eyes upon our ITINERARY:
Costa Rica (September 22, 2009 – October 15, 2009)
First stop, Costa Rica! During our three weeks here we plan to check out the rainforests and beaches, do some zip-lining, volcano hiking, and spend some time brushing up on our Spanish skills before heading to South America.
Argentina/Uruguay/Chile (October 15, 2009 – December 16, 2009)
We can’t wait to experience Argentina and all of the red meat it has to offer! We’ll spend some time in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, make a visit to Iguazu Falls, the Mendoza wine region, and do some hiking in Patagonia. Plus there are gauchos in Uruguay! With ponchos! We’ll also spend a week or so in Santiago, Chile before catching our flight to New Zealand.
New Zealand (December 18, 2009 – January 13, 2010)
Kim lived in New Zealand for eight months after graduating college. She could not be happier to be going back to visit old friends and show her sister around this extraordinary country. We may also have some friends from home joining us at some point along the way. Do you think Kim can convince all of them to bungee jump? YES!
Australia (January 13, 2010 – February 3, 2010)
We’ll be drinking lots of Foster’s (although we’ve heard it’s the ‘Bud Light’ of OZ…ick!) while exploring Sydney. We want to take some surfing lessons and hopefully we’ll have the time and money to make a quick trip to the Great Barrier Reef to do some snorkeling!
Hong Kong (February 3, 2010 – February 13, 2010)
Ok, we’ve got to be honest about Hong Kong. We are going for the food. We want to put ourselves in a dim-sum food coma like we’ve never experienced. Oh, and I’m sure we’ll take some time to check out what we’ve heard is an awesome city!
Thailand/Laos (February 13, 2010 – March 30, 2010)
Gorgeous beaches? Yummy street food? Cheap EVERYTHING? Yes please! We’ll do the beach thing, visit the cultural city of Chiang Mai, take a cooking class, and meet some lady boys. We’ll also spend a couple weeks wandering around Laos.
Nepal (March 30, 2010 – April 30, 2010)
After spending some time in Kathmandu, our main purpose in Nepal is to do some trekking on the Annapurna Circuit. We’ll bop around the mountain villages, drink some yak tea, and make friends with some Sherpa’s!
What’s Next?
After Nepal, we aren’t certain of the exact dates or order of our other destinations. We plan to book the rest of our tickets as we go. Here are some of the places that we definitely plan to hit up:
We’ve heard Istanbul is incredible and would love to see the Blue Mosque and possibly check out Cappadocia.
Africa
We know we want to visit Africa, but exactly which country is still up in the air. With the pyramids in Egypt, Petra in Jordan, beaches in South Africa, and of course, safaris…the choices are endless!
Not only are our ancestors on both sides from Germany, Kelly’s close friend Lexi lives in Munich. We’re excited to have her show us how to get in touch with our German roots. This means eating lots of schnitzel and sauerkraut and drinking beer. Lots and lots of beer. Right?
Spain
Kelly will take over as tour-guide in Spain, as she’s lived in Barcelona on two separate occasions and can’t wait to show her sister this magnificent city. Her lovely friend Ana lives here as well and we hope to spend lots of time catching up and seeing the sights. Gaudi? Sangria? Paella? Kim loves Spain already!
Kim met her friend Harley during her stint in NZ back in 2002 and has been promising to come visit him at his home in London ever since. Hopefully our travel schedules will align and Kim can fulfill her promise. We also are looking forward to some proper tea and crumpets! Can you tell that we are food junkies?
Got any advice?
If you have advice on any of our destinations, we’d love to hear it! Also, if you have friends that live in any of these countries, we’d love to talk to them and get pointers from a local.
hey guys best of luck. really excited that you are doing this. so many americans dont do shit. would recommend that while in buenos aires to visit uruguay at montivideo. take the buchibus over from the port. its a kick ass place for a nite. cheap places to stay. going to rio? go to impanema. the falls are cool too. dont drink the water in buenos aires cause i got way fucking sick. take some cipro with you!! get a script from a doctor or you can buy it over the counter in mexico or central america. go see a real ‘football’ game in buenos aires. i love that place. wanna go back. most beautiful women in the world. kim they will love you with blonde hair!
resove conflicts early…
just got back from 3 weeks in europe. have a blast guys.
your ex landlord and worldtraveler
paul violand
Heck yeah! Thanks Paul! Glad you had fun on your travels! Let us know if you make a trip somewhere along the way! Have a beer in Laos?
Hey y’all,
Itinerary sounds awesome!!!
Also have a suggestion for your Australia Surf Trip, go with the company Surfari’s. There are lots of different companies offering scenic surf trips but this one is the best by far. When I went it include a ticket on a bus from byron bay to Sydney (or vice versa) which can be a pricey thing to buy seperately. Also provides food and camping gear for your week trip to some of the most beautiful and least visited beginner/ intermediate surf spots. They won’t even tell you where they are going so as not to ruin the hidden gems. While I am still very much a beginner surfer, I have tried my hand at this sport in both Costa Rica and Hawaii, but this surf trip takes the cake. It was also the only time I saw a kangaroo in the wild – very cool. It may sound pricey initially, but I have to say that this was quite possibly the cheapest week with the best beaches on my 5 week stint in the country and included a round trip bus ticket. I coudn’t say enough good things about the people I met on the trip, the quality of the instructors, and the beauty of the beaches.
Heck I might even meet you there 🙂
That sounds awesome! We’ll definitely look into that. And girl, you know we’d love to see you there! I’m very sad we won’t get to see each other before we go, but you’re right, hanging out in a foreign country vs. Austin would be fantastic. Love you lady and we’ll talk soon! Thanks for the tips:)
Just wanted to say we enjoyed your company.
The food was delicous! You made our evening special and wish you the best.
Awww! Ya’ll were such a pleasure as well! Keep in touch and i better see both of you back at Cover 3 before i leave! Thanks again my two new favorite gay burger boys:)
I’m so excited to see more Americans taking career breaks and traveling the world! What an amazing experience for you guys.
I’ve been to many of the places you plan to go. Don’t miss out on the Red Center in Australia (Ayers Rock, the Olgas). Most people skip this but having been there twice already, it is the one place in Australia I would still go back to.
Luang Prabang in Laos is a great place to really kick back and enjoy the culture. And if you want a unique experience in Thailand, think about doing a homestay. We did and it was a fantastic experience that really pushed us out of our comfort zone. Check out http://andamandiscoveries.com
And I am so jealous you will be doing the Annapurna Circuit. The Himalayas are truly the most magical place in the world.
I look forward to following along on your adventures and hopefully you’ll inspire more Americans to do the same!
Cheers,
Michaela
Thanks for the suggestion, Michaela! Any other advice or pointers you have are greatly appreciated!!
So ladies I am currently on my trip around the world and sadly we will not be anywhere the same time but funny enough we are hitting the following the same spots:
Costa Rica
Turkey (Was fantastic I want to go back for a month)
Thailand (where I will acutally meet up with Seth!)
Hong Kong
Australia
I have also already been to: London, Barcelona, Munich and Hamburg so let me know if you have any questions!
Check out my blog and email me if you would like to set up a skype date. I’m also doing this alone so if you have any questions I can help 🙂
Thanks Angela! I checked out your blog and am going to send you an email with some questions…we’d love some tips!
Hey! can’t wait to have you sleep on our couch! and have a good old catch up! Plus to meet your sister Kelly.
All of your trip sounds fantastic I am incredibly jealous, at least we kind of get to be part of it!
Give me a couple of days notice to when you get here and i’ll get some time off!
Toodles
Hi girls! You don’t know me – I’m a 33 yr old from Chicago who stumbled upon your site and I’m very intrigued by your trip around the world! (and very jealous)
I would throw in a couple recommendations:
1. if you are sports fans, try to get down to Melbourne for the Aussie Open (tennis) while you’re in Oz. It’s the last 2 weeks of January and great great fun! Melbourne is also a lovely city.
2. I spent 2 weeks in Egypt and loved it – definitely see Cairo and the pyramids but in my opinion some of the best stuff to see were the temples and tombs in Luxor and Aswan.
3. Don’t miss Budapest! Great historic city and not too overrun by tourists yet.
I look forward to reading about your journey!
Thanks so much for the recommendations Katie! So glad you found us! We´ll definitely try and hit up some of the spots you suggested.
Hi Kim and Kelly, I am so excited for both of you. I was in Barcelona last year and I loved it. Take care of each other and Kim, maybe a book about your trip and adventures. Take lots of pictures. I love hearing about the different food you are tasting. Be safe.
Hi Jackie! Good to hear from you. Hope you and Glen are doing well. We´ll keep the food descriptions comin´!
Hey! Jer and I need to start planning out Thailand trip and budgeting. Where should we be planning on flying in? We’ll probably want to fly out on the 11th and head back the 20th. Not as much time as we’d like, but it’s better than nothing!!! Can’t wait!!!
-L-
Hey Kim! I just finally took some time (while looking after my niece who got me up VERY early this morning) to look up some friends FB pages, and found your travel site-which is awesome! What an amazing adventure 🙂
& I see you’re coming back to NZ! Yay! Let me know what your plans are while you’re here -or if you guys don’t have any set ones yet, and would like a place to stay in Nelson (I could sort out some sailing/kayaking/ripping it up on the D-Floor :p) or Murchison (tiny, but under-rated!) -just FB me 🙂 I’ll be on school holidays, & it would be so cool to catch up! It’s been years since our Acorn Group Telemarketing fun (I was terrible at that job!).
Jules xo
jules! yes, i definitely want to get together with you. we will be making a stop in nelson for sure, either on our way to the south island from auckland or on our way back to the north island to fly to austraila. i’ll let you know what dates as it gets closer. i’m looking forward to catching up!
Hey chick, so exciting that your on your way!
Just wondered what dates youll be with us? will you be here for christmas, if you like you are more than welcome to spend it with us!
Sounds like your having an amazing time too!
Take care
Bex
hey bex! we are so excited to be in nz soon…i know we arrive in auckland on the 18th of december and will spend a night or two there to see ben and then plan to work our way south to christchurch. our goal is to be there before xmas…we may take you up on your offer for the holidays! i’ll have some more specific dates for you as it gets closer. can’t wait to see you!