The Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of our Shared Adventure

Who:  We are newly married and just setting off on this next phase of our life's journey together.  We share a passion for travel, outdoor adventure and service to others.  We both work as nurses in Portland, Oregon and enjoy all that the northwest has to offer.  We arrived here along separate but similar paths, and now seek to broaden our horizons even further as we take some time together to learn, grow, reflect and explore.

What:  We will travel west around the globe over a period of 99 days, visiting countries and regions that hold for us particular cultural and spiritual interest.

When:  We will leave Portland on March 1st, 2011 and return on June 6th, 2011.

Where:  We will begin our journey by driving south to San Diego to spend a few days with family.  We will then head west as our itinerary will take us to Vietnam, India, Nepal, Turkey, Israel, Jordan and Egypt.  We will then return home by way of Miami, where we will be celebrating the wedding of some very close friends :-)

Why:  "I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within."  ~Lillian Smith

We seek to learn more about ourselves and our world.  We believe strongly in the notion that joy lies in the journey and not the destination, and we hope to keep that ideal close as we navigate the diverse countries and cultures that we will visit.  As we deepen our understanding and appreciation for the external world, our hope is that our inner journeys will only continue to become richer as well. 

How:  Beginning about a year ago, we began budgeting and disciplining our financial lives more rigorously than either of us had ever before been accustomed.  We enjoy the benefit that, as experienced nurses, we both have stable incomes. We have essentially been living off of one paycheck, while using the other to pay off debt, cover a variety of wedding expenses, and to save for our trip.  We will rent our home while we are away.  If our calculations are correct, as a result of our savings as well as the generosity of many of our family and friends that have contributed to our "honeymoon travel fund", we should return in June to minimal or no debt from our adventures.  We are also very fortunate to have both been granted leaves of absence from our respective employers, so we also have the peace of mind of being able to return to guaranteed employment...certainly not something to take for granted in the current economy.

In summary, we feel like two of the luckiest people alive.  We are healthy, surrounded by loving and generous family and friends, crazy in love, and we are about to embark on the opportunity of a lifetime.  We hope that you will tune in periodically so we can share with you our experiences along the way.

In the spirit of Love, Loyalty and Laughter,

Johanna and Chris