Frequently Asked Questions
As we prepared to leave on our family trip around the globe in 2005 and 2006, we got lots of questions from curious family and friends who did not quite understand why we would want to leave our lovely life and wondered how we would do such an unusual journey.
As we travel, we meet a lot of wonderful people in person and online who also ask a lot of questions. Many of these questions are the same ones, so we thought it would be good to create a FAQ page to have it as a quick page/link to refer to. Much of my time is taken up by communicating with others and helping others in preparing for their journeys and I really enjoy that, but as our readership increases, I need to find ways to do more in less time. Hopefully, these will be helpful to those following us or interested in planning their own trip.
Q. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?
This is a difficult question because there are so many wonderful places that it is hard to narrow it down to just one place. It is like asking what is your favorite book when I love so many that I can not limit it to just one. I will say that Morocco made the biggest impression, then Turkey and then Croatia. Morocco is just so exotic and not like anywhere else on the planet. Turkey is beautiful as well and definitely wins for best hospitality. Croatia has pristine nature that is unique as does its close neighbor Montenegro. Of course we love all of the wonders of Europe, but perhaps the more unusual stands out a little more.Hallstatt,Austria, Andalusia, Spain, Rhodes, Santorini,and Delphi Greece, Umbria, Florence, Tuscany and Venice, Italy, Provence and Burgundy, France, Prague,Czech Republic, Brugge,Belgium and Edam, Netherlands all stand out in our memories too.There is so much diversity, that `I think I will have to write a post or two on "bests" for various categories to really do this question justice, but this will have to do for now.
Q. HOW CAN YOU DO THIS?
It really seems so difficult before you do something like this, but it is really quite easy, especially in today's world where there are books like "The Four Hour Work Week" , and "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel" to give great direction.The internet has made all the difference in the world. I see that clearly because I was an expat who spent a year in Italy when I was young. We are just an ordinary family and not wealthy. We were as overwhelmed by this choice as anyone before we tackled it. The hardest part is making up your mind to do it and the preparation can also be intense, but actually doing it is very easy. We chose to sell almost everything we owned and retire early in order to do this. it is a certain amount of a gamble like our decision to marry each other late in life and after only knowing each other for three months. Life is a gamble and we just felt this one was worth the risk. We live very frugally and find that we can live much cheaper while traveling the world than if we stayed at home.
Q. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
This is a more personal subject than what we would normally discuss, but it seems to be a burning question for many, primarily so they might gauge for themselves if they might be able to afford their own version of such a trip. Most people guess our expenses as much higher than they are, so for that reason, we felt it was important to discuss this. We are frugal by nature, but we live large in many ways and have stayed at some of the nicest hotels and eaten in some of the best restaurants in Europe. Yet, our total living expenses for a family of three for our first year was just twenty five thousand dollars.
Obviously, how much it costs depends greatly on how you plan your trip. I have been astounded by the budgets that some around the world family's have spent. Of course, enjoying slow travel as we do and cooking most of our own healthy meals helps keep our expenses down.A family from our area wrote a recent book called Armageddon Pills and said they spent $121,275.89 for 52 weeks around the world.
This question and page is in process....please stay tuned for more as soon as time permits.
