Packing

How do you pack for a ten-month trip around the world?  Are you supposed to stuff 287 pairs of socks into one suitcase?  What about clothes for cities, mountains, beaches, and deserts?  We've added a new tab up top describing how we did it.

Our nice clean bags before leaving for the airport to begin our journey

How to Plan a Trip Around the World!

We've been asked quite a few times how we planned our around the world travels and if we have any words of wisdom for others planning similar endeavors.  Now that we have over six months under our belts, we have quite a bit of experience and perhaps some helpful advice to share.  To that end, we have added a separate "How-To" page covering some of the major considerations for planning such an adventure.  Feel free to let us know if you have any specific questions that we haven't covered!

Thank you

Thank you for a wonderful send off! 

The Reeds Around the World cookie cake at our going away party

Merry Christmas!!

David and I were both able to come up with fun gifts for each other that we can bring on the trip!  'Reeds Around the World' t-shirts and luggage tags.  What a perfect holiday with both of our families.  We feel very blessed!

Reeds Around the World t-shirts

The backs of our Reeds Around the World t-shirts

Sara holding up the luggage tags that were a gift from David

David with his father and sister in Sylvania

With Sara's parents and her sister and husband in Hilton Head

~Sara

Before and After

Boy, what a change a few weeks can make...

Before:

The dining room

The sitting area

The family room

The bedroom

The kitchen

The guestroom

After:

Empty dining room and sitting area

Empty family room

Empty bedroom

Empty guestroom

Empty family room

Closing the door on our empty house

We've got the Whole World in our Hands!

Taking the map off the wall in our family room -- it was one of the inspirations for the trip!

What a Pain!

Moving boxes piled high in our family room

I guess the key to moving is that you must do it so rarely that you forget how bad it really is (and that you have a dad who is always willing to help)!  After a week of nights with little sleep, David and I woke up early on Friday to finish packing up our house.  After an hour or two some wonderful little elves arrived, my parents and Katie (in town from Italy).  They packed up our entire kitchen and dining room and were such a huge help!

Saturday was the big day.  We left our house early to get the keys for our new 10' x 20' home at Extra Space Storage, and then we drove to pick up a UHAUL.  It was a bit unnerving when the woman at the desk was asleep for almost a full minute before we could get her attention.  Then she explained to us that she was tired because there had been a shooting next to her office the night before during a music video shoot.  She wasn't kidding, we heard about it on the news later that day.

Once we were back with the UHAUL, David, our elves (including Andrea this time), and I sprung into quick action. It took us more than seven hours and two UHAUL trips to load our entire house into the storage unit, which is now packed floor to ceiling.  I was envisioning that I could easily get back in and grab anything I might have forgotten for the trip.  Ha!  I hope I didn't forget anything, because it would be next to impossible to get anything out of there!  I made David promise that we will hire movers next time.  We'll see!

Moving my clothes onto the truck.

David driving the UHAUL.

Andrea on a runaway dolly!

The UHAUL on trip #2.

The hallway outside our unit.  Good thing no one else was moving in that day!

The storage unit packed floor to ceiling.

Home sweet home for our stuff for the next 8+ months!

Our amazing helpers!  It would have taken us 3 days to move without their help!!

~Sara

December 15th!

Celebrating the beginning of a new adventure with Katie and Andrea

On our last day of work, Katie and Andrea brought some champagne to help us celebrate in the courtyard outside of our building.  So thoughtful of them!

Then, we brought them inside to show them where it all began and reenact our very first conversation.

December 15th was a big day...after working at the same firm for more than five years, David and I turned off the lights in our offices for the last time.  It was a late night for both of us as we made sure everything was left in good order, but just after midnight we were kicked off of the work network.  That was our cue...time to head out and start our new adventure!

The cake at Sara's good-bye party at work

A picture of David in his office

~Sara

The moving begins...

The Craigslist buyers taking away our couch

Craigslist came through....we found buyers willing to pay $25 to come pick up my old blue couch!  That couch saw me through 3 years at UGA, 3 years in 1238 North Highland and 2.5 years as a sun porch couch at 1285 Lanier Place.  A pretty trusty couch, I'd say.  My Dad picked it up for free from a neighbor in Sibley Forest, and it appreciated $25 over the course of 8.5 years...nice investment Dad!

~Sara

Ouch!

Three hours and several hundred dollars later we are vaccinated against almost any disease we could come across next year...well, except for Japanese Encephalitis.  At $500 to vaccinate the two of us, and with a recommendation for only those camping out in Southeast Asia, we are still debating whether or not we really need it.  I mean how bad could Japanese Encephalitis really be??  Stay tuned!

UPDATE: We buckled and got a Japanese Encephalitis vaccine.  Turns out it is pretty terrible if you end up with JE!

~Sara

The evidence on David's arm

Notice

We did it!  Today David and I both gave notice of our resignation to each of our bosses.  We have six weeks to go until our official end dates of December 15th - a lot to do at work and at home.  But we will get there.  Tonight is for looking forward and celebrating this adventure that's right around the corner!

~Sara

We've Got a Name!

Apparently we aren't the only Reeds going around the world!  Today we secured our domain name -- I was set on 'Reeds Around the World' and was disappointed to see that Wordpress already had the domain name in use.  It looks like Blogger will become our new home away from home, literally I guess.  As I work on the blog, David is researching visa requirements -- and there seem to be quite a few!

~Sara