2009 Around the World Adventure
Although many people will label 2009 as a year of economic disaster and frustration, we will always remember it as one of the best years of our lives.
For us, it was a time of transition. The future of our jobs looked grim as both of our company’s cutback and downsized. Rather than wait to join the unemployment line, we decided it was time to finally fulfil our dream of world exploration.
No more dreaming about, “one of these days we’ll travel the world”. The time had come, so we seized the day. We quit our jobs, rented out our condo, stored our car and purchased an open-ended around-the-world ticket. Although our itinerary constantly evolved and adjusted, we had 20 segments that were set and did not change.
Below is the outcome of our 12 month journey.
JANUARY
Toronto, Ontario
Miami, Florida
Grand Cayman Island
FEBRUARY
Quito & Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Guayaquil & Banos, Ecuador
Buenos Aires, Argentina
MARCH
Montevideo, Uruguay
La Paloma & Punta del Este, Uruguay
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Lima, Peru
Puerto Maldonado & the Amazon Rainforest, Peru
Cusco & the Sacred Valley, Peru
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru
Lake Titicaca & Copacabana, Bolivia
Arequipa & the Colca Canyon, Peru
Huacachina (Desert Oasis), Peru
APRIL
Santiago, Chile
Valparaiso & Vina del Mar & Los Andes, Chile
Mendoza, Argentina
Santiago, Chile
MAY
Hanga Roa, Easter Island
New Zealand (North & South Island)
17 days in a campervan driving from Auckland to Queenstown
JUNE
Australia
Campervan from Cairns to Sydney via Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Byron Bay and Newcastle
Manila, Philippines
Boracay, Philippines
Batad and Banaue, Philippines
Tokyo, Japan
JULY
Kyoto, Japan
Kobe & Osaka & Hiroshima, Japan
Yokohama & Narita, Japan
Bangkok, Thailand
Hanoi, Vietnam
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Siem Reap and Angkor Temples, Cambodia
AUGUST
Battambang, Cambodia
Trat, Thailand
Koh Chang, Thailand
Ayuthaya, Thailand
Hong Kong, China
Kathmandu, Nepal
Pokhara & Annapurna Trek, Nepal
Chitwan Park & Jungle Safari, Nepal
Varanasi & the Ganges River, India
Agra & the Taj Mahal, India
SEPTEMBER
Jaipur & the Amber Fort, India
Jodhpur & Udaipur, India
Mumbai, India
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cairo, Egypt
Athens, Greece
Mykonos & Santorini, Greek Islands
OCTOBER
Munich, Germany
Venice & Northern Italy
Slovenia & Croatian Coast
Split and Omis, Croatia
Vienna, Austria
Cairo, Egypt
Luxor, Egypt
Dahab & the Red Sea, Egypt
NOVEMBER
Sinai and Nuweiba, Egypt
Aqaba, Jordan
Wadi Rum, Jordan
Petra & Wadi Musa, Jordan
Amman & the Dead Sea, Jordan
Istanbul, Turkey
Varna & the Black Sea, Bulgaria
Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria
Bucharest, Romania
Brasov & Bran, Transylvania
Budapest, Hungary
DECEMBER
Prague, Czech Republic
Cologne, Germany
Brussels, Belgium
Antwerp, Belgium
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cologne and Bonn, Germany
Koblenz and Mosel Region, Germany
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Paris, France
Tignes & French Alps, France
Glasgow, Scotland
JANUARY
Edinburgh, Scotland
London, England
Seattle, Washington
We had planned to head back to Central America afterwards, but with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics fast approaching, we elected to head home to Vancouver instead. Hey, the Olympics only visit your backyard once in a lifetime.
It was an epic adventure that went by way too fast!
Here are the numbers for our RTW adventure:
- 38 countries visited
- 6 continents walked on
- 12 months living out of a backpack
- 37 Flights
- 40+ Trains (6 overnight)
- 20+ Boats and Ferries
- 115,000+ km’s travelled
- 4,800 meters was our highest point reached on foot (Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador)
- 400 meters below sea level was our lowest point (Dead Sea, Jordan)
- 30 GB of photos snapped
- 58 Life goals completed
Thinking about doing a RTW adventure?
Here are a few posts that may help in your planning:
- Planning a Round-the-World Trip: 15 Things NOT to Forget
- Planning a Round-the-World Trip: Booking Flights
- What is the 8th Wonder of the World?
- How to Budget for a Trip Around the World
If I manage to see half of these places in my lifetime, I would die a happy man. Out of all those months of traveling, which one was your favorite?
Hey Jetpacker! That’s a tough one… check out our blog on fav countries visited. Here is the link – https://travelingcanucks.com/2010/05/our-favourite-countries/
My Top 3 (as of May 2009) is Jordan, Peru and the Philippines (with New Zealand right in there).
Loved the idea and extremely jealous, but the post cut off and I didn’t see your “essential budget travel guides”. Are you able to post them or send the names my way? Thanks!
Hi Josh – not sure what happened to the links – they should be up now. Thanks for letting me know!
Looks like you guys had a great adventure! 😉
I know I shouldn’t probably say it but I’m a bit jealous too since we didn’t manage to visit all our dreaming country on our year long rtw trip. how did you manage to be in all those places? did you find it you were rushing a bit or did you manage to have enough time to explore each place at your own peace?
Hi Marta – its never too late to visit the places you’ve missed! 😉
At times we felt a little rushed. The goal for our RTW was to see as much of the world in 12 months, so that meant being very disciplined. I wish we spent a little more time in certain places, but also felt like we overstayed in others. We missed a few big ones, like an African safari, diving in the Maldives, Tibet, Micronesia, Tahiti, etc. So we’ll be planning many more future adventures – just not consectutive like the last RTW.
I’m extremely inspired by this. It has been with me ever since i was kid to see the world =) I wonder how you manage your budget for this. The airfares are very expensive. What’s your general tip especially preparing budget for this kind of travel?
Hi Happy Feet!
Glad this post has given you some inspiration ~ RTW trips can get expensive, but there are ways to make it happen on a shoestring budget. Anyone can do it – you just need to committ to it and make some small sacrifices each day.
As for booking flights, check out this post we did a while back – https://travelingcanucks.com/2010/06/planning-round-the-world-trip-booking-flights/
We’ll be doing some future posts on how to budget for a world trip, stay tuned! 😉
Read it =) Thank you. This is something to look forward to in the future.
Hey guys!
must have a been an amazing trip!
I just had one question: Why not Africa? i’ve been working in Namibia and Kenya as a tourguide and those countries deserve at least a quick glance… maybe you just ddn’t have time…
Living in Squamish right now with the family (been here about 2 weeks), loving BC! Can’t wait to discover that beautiful province!
Hey from Frenchy Squamish
Matt
We actually REALLY wanted to go to Kenya and Tanzania. It was on our original itinerary but we had terrible tenants in our condo that skipped out 4 months early, which hurt our budget big time. This forced us to make some tough decisions and unfortunately the Maldives and African safaris didn’t make the cut. But we plan to travel to Africa in the future!
ok, this explains that!
can’t wait to read more of your adventures!
Weeee!!!! I can’t wait for my RTW adventure! I really like how you two put a whole list of places together before leaving, I think that is a great idea. My fiancé Andy and I are planning our trip for next year, we are thinking of either starting off in South America or going all out and starting Auckland, New Zealand.
I also liking seeing what you two have accomplished, it gives us hope 🙂
Becki & Andy
HiGuys,
Just wondering if you could let me know a rough figure of how much your trip cost all up and for 1 year?
I’m hoping to back for at least 1 year.
Thank you 🙂