Where to start when planning a round-the-world trip with family? And what does the path to it look like? Well, that depends on whether you’re preparing for a round-the-world trip under normal circumstances or during a global pandemic. In our case, it’s the latter.
I can say that these past few months have been very challenging. In fact, it was just three months of stress. First, because in October, it became clear that the thing we were hoping for (and secretly assuming), namely the reopening of countries in Asia and Oceania, would not happen. Then because in November, a new variant emerged. And finally, because in December, with this new Covid variant, we constantly feared that one of us would test positive. Which eventually happened. Twice!
A true obstacle course.
In the spring of 2021, a year after the start of the Corona crisis, we are convinced that our round-the-world trip is feasible. We decide to take the plunge and quickly realize that two basic conditions are necessary to make this journey possible: school and work. These two conditions must be lifted before we can realize our plans.
“What a fantastic idea! And excellent for the children’s development,” says the school principal when we first share our plans in mid-June. And immediately after: “The school fully supports your project.” That’s one hurdle down!
Unfortunately, the municipal education officer in Rotterdam is not as accommodating, but we are convinced that with the program we developed with the teachers, the children will manage just fine in the coming months. Thanks, Joyce, Jozette, and Tristan!
Our employers also respond positively, although this of course requires solid arguments. But in the end, this obstacle is also overcome fairly easily. That’s two down!
Next up, in no particular order: finances with a detailed travel budget for each country, plane tickets, new passports for the children, visas for almost every country, other travel documents (such as health certificates, ESTA declarations, etc.), getting vaccinated for travel and Covid, subletting the house, taking out travel insurance and cancellation insurance, planning destinations including accommodations, camper vans, and rental cars, buying a stack of Lonely Planets, canceling subscriptions and insurances, buying a bunch of outdoor gear (three trips to the outdoor store Zwerfkei, which fortunately has an adventure corner for the kids who can spend the whole afternoon there while we try on and pile items into our carts (“Look Arthur, you can really play well here!”). Then, a farewell party with friends, family, and neighbors (canceled due to the curfew), farewell parties for the children (reduced to a card and small mementos due to Covid), including a gift for classmates (hastily organized as schools close earlier due to Covid). And lots and lots of PCR tests. Pffff!
We don’t have a moment’s rest between the “baggage trials,” where we quickly discover that we will indeed be living out of our backpacks for the next six months, and that we can only take the bare minimum; and finally, fixing up our house, cleaning it, and preparing it to be rented out.
Now, all that is almost behind us, and we can, two days before departure, breathe and enjoy the moment. We are eager to enjoy many more moments in the months to come.
While cleaning up our house, somewhere in a box in the basement, I found our first draft travel itinerary, a color-coded calendar on a nearly yellowed A4 sheet with travel plans for India, Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. The sheet must date back to somewhere in 2017. Travel dates from July 17, 2018, to March 19, 2019! As we say in Dutch, the most persistent will win!
Globetrotterdammers 