Well we had both already traveled extensively to Europe, and also had spent a fair amount time in Japan, Australia, the Middle East, and Central America. So firstly, we knew we wanted to hit the highlights of places we'd never been, such as Africa, the Himalaya, and countries in Southeast Asia like the Philippines. We also wanted to spend a lot of time in Latin America and improve dramatically on our Spanish, and spend at least some time in almost each South American country. Lastly, Dale wanted to allocate significant time to Honduras, because he has been drooling over a trip into the heart of the Mosquito coast ever since reading Paul Theroux's book of the same name.

Then we spent countless hours at Borders and the library reading guide books, picking the ideal places we'd like to see and finding out which countries are a little too politically unstable. Also, once we started looking into airplane routes, fares, and overland travel possibilities (which are often limited), that helped us to solidify the itinerary (which went through about 5 iterations). See the Planning section for more details.

The main places we considered but had to eliminate were:

This is probably the #1 question we get asked. It's just a polite way of asking, "How much does it cost?" Actually, it doesn't cost that much -- and it's far cheaper than day-to-day living in the US. Figure about $30 a day per couple for meals and accommodation. Then you add transportation (you can get a good round-the-world fare for about $2,000), and other extras such as guided hikes, safaris, tours, etc. Some countries are far more expensive than others -- Europe, for instance, is very expensive (relatively), while most Southeast Asian and Central American countries are dirt cheap. Dirt cheap, for those who don't know, means $5 for a decent hotel room and $1 for a good meal.

The bottom line is, you can save all your money until you're dead, or you can spend it enjoying your life while you're able. Dale's grandfather, who lived until 95, always said that retirement should happen in reverse -- in other words, retire when you're young and you can enjoy it, and work when you're older. You won't be able to climb Kilimanjaro when you're 80.

So the question really isn't, how can we afford it. The question is, how can we not?

See the Budget section for more details.

As we've been planning our trip, we've heard reports of dangerous happenings in several of the countries we're planning on visiting. We've designed our trip to be flexible enough to allow us to eliminate countries that are unsafe. We will be keeping an eye on reports from the US State Department, and make our decisions based on the current state of affairs in each country. Countries we're keeping an eye on include Zimbabwe, Tanzania, The Philippines, Ecuador, and Colombia. We'll also count on reports from other travelers to keep us informed on current events.

Check out our planning section for details, but basically lots of research. We spent many weekends sitting on the floor at the bookstore with a stack of travel books to read through. We also read dozens of other peoples travelogues on the internet, particularly the travelogues of other couples.

It's true that this type of trip is far easier when you don't have kids or a mortgage to worry about. That said, you can find travelogues of entire families (with children of varying ages) and people who have sold their homes prior to traveling. There are plenty of excuses you could conjure up to convince yourself that it's not possible, but if you want to do this, it's really not so hard. Your career, family, and friends will be waiting for you when you get back -- exactly the same as when you left.

Good question. We've been wondering the same thing.