This post is about how we prepared for our 11-month journey to 20 countries, which began in September 2025. If you are also planning a long trip—or are simply curious about how we got to this point—I hope it helps. I’ll try not to spend too much time on practical guides, such as what to pack, which vaccines to get, or what visas you need. You can ask AI those questions; it will be faster and more comprehensive than I could ever be.
I’d like you to read this as a story.
What I really want to talk about are the realities of long-term travel—the things that are almost impossible to avoid, yet rarely mentioned beforehand: the excitement and anxiety before departure, the helplessness you feel when plans fall apart, the exhaustion and uncertainty that come with traveling for a long time, and all those moments you thought you were prepared for, only to realize once you experienced them, “Oh, so this is another hurdle.”
Why We Decided to Go
One day in early 2024, my husband and I had a spontaneous idea: sometime in 2025, we would press pause and travel around the world.
It sounded like the standard answer on a retirement questionnaire—so clichéd that you could almost fill in the rest automatically. Yet the idea appeared out of nowhere and stopped both of us in our tracks. It was as if Google Maps had suddenly popped up with a message: “Scenic route found. Adds 11 months.” We said, “No, thanks,” while our hands were already tapping “Start.”
The idea was partly inspired by getting our U.S. green cards. The constant tension of maintaining work visas was finally gone. But we had never imagined what life without work might look like, so when the idea first came up, both of us thought it sounded completely unrealistic. It felt as though we had been speeding along on a train following a fixed track when, all of a sudden, a hidden route appeared ahead, leading somewhere beyond what we could see. The thought left us a little overwhelmed—but it also made us wonder, “Why not?”
Our friends asked us “Is work stress the reason”?
Work stress was certainly part of the reason. But on a deeper level, the past few years had simply gone by too fast. I started working in 2019, and my husband started in 2016. Just a few months into my career, the pandemic began and ushered in the era of remote work. As fairly cautious people, we cut back significantly on travel and time with friends. Looking back now, those years feel compressed into one blurry shadow. If you asked me what happened, I could name a few milestones at work, but the rest of the days were like sheets coming out of a photocopier—each one identical to the last. Our careers were moving forward, but there were painfully few happy moments worth remembering.
After the pandemic began to ease in 2022 and 2023, we finally started going out again: Hawaii, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, China—and we made new friends, too. Suddenly, life had color again. Those fragments of travel and gatherings with friends became like nails pinning time firmly into our memories. When I looked back at night, I could clearly feel: I did not let this year pass me by. That realization inspired us. If we kept exposing ourselves to new things, could we actually make time feel slower? The idea made both of us too excited to sleep. It did not feel like an escape. It felt more like choosing to live deliberately. We wanted to leave our future selves more moments worth remembering, instead of another blurry shadow.
That is why we decided to go.
What do you need to prepare – Mentally
What We Wanted From This Trip
While planning the trip, I kept asking myself: What exactly do I hope to get out of traveling around the world? The question sounds rather transactional, but the answer would help us decide where to go. You do not want to walk into a buffet, pile five plates high with mac and cheese, and only then discover that the seafood section is around the corner—when your plates are already full. I love nature and food and wanted to experience both, while my husband is more interested in history and culture. There was another important consideration: we do not have children yet, but we plan to in the future. Quite a few things on our list would be difficult to do with young children, at least for a while—scuba diving, high-altitude hiking, or traveling to countries where transportation and travel conditions are more complicated. The difficulty would be roughly equivalent to solving a Rubik’s Cube while holding a baby. So when planning our route, we prioritized experiences that might be harder to recreate later.
The Routines We Did Not Expect to Miss
When you travel at a fast pace, it is easy to lose the routines that once felt boring but that you begin to miss after leaving home. When we were working, we usually ate a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, exercised three or four times a week, and cooked most of our meals, which allowed us to control how much sugar, salt, and oil we consumed. On the road, however, departure times are irregular, red-eye flights are common, we often need to eat at restaurants, and our accommodations do not always have gyms. These are variables we only truly understood after we started traveling. They are subtle, but they can completely change how you feel.
If diet, exercise, or sleep matter to you as much as they do to us, you may want to factor them into your plans. For example, leave a rest day after several consecutive travel days, occasionally stay somewhere with a kitchen, or bring lightweight workout gear you know you will actually use. These things may not seem as important as attractions and routes, but they directly affect your mood and energy on the road.
What Happens After the Trip?
And what happens after the trip? Go back to work? Keep wandering? Humans are social creatures. Even when working is not particularly enjoyable, you still belong to a circle and can tell yourself, “I’m a working professional.” But after spending a year traveling, how do you continue to find a sense of identity? This is an incredibly difficult question. It is essentially the same as asking: What is the meaning of life? What do I care about deeply enough to keep doing?
I think only a very, very lucky few know the answer. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. In the decades I have spent in this world, my enthusiasm for most things has tended to fade after a few minutes. Very little has ever captivated me so completely that I could not pull myself away. There are a handful of things I would like to pursue, but my brain works like an alarm system: before I can take any concrete action, it warns me how difficult the whole thing will be. A regular job still seems to offer the best return on effort.
I think I am slowly making progress on this question and gradually finding my way. That is also why I decided to start this blog. Writing will continue to help me think, and I hope to use this blog to connect with people who want to “exit” but have not yet made up their minds, do not know where to begin, or are wondering what challenges they may face.
Building Our Round-the-World Itinerary
Planning a trip around the world from scratch feels a little like walking into the office at 9 a.m. on a Monday and having your boss drop a blank PowerPoint deck on your desk titled “Global Expansion.” Do not panic. No one said the deadline had to be two weeks away. It took us about two or three months to decide which countries we wanted to visit, our route, when we would go, and how long we would stay. And even then, it was only a rough plan.
Choosing the Continents and Countries
The broad direction of our plan came from the first item on our list of mental expectations: What did we actually want to get out of this trip? We first chose the continents we wanted to visit—South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Together, they could offer us plenty of adventure, history, culture, food, and nature.
All right, that was not much simpler. Next, we came up with a few filters: 1) countries that were relatively safe and not listed in government travel advisories, 2) countries where visas were fairly easy to obtain, and 3) destinations where travel costs were within our budget. Okay, now the picture was starting to become clearer. We then researched what the remaining countries had to offer and which ones had something truly irreplaceable. If two places offered very similar experiences, we prioritized the one that fit our route better, was easier to visit, or felt more distinctive. For example, we spent a long time deciding between Seychelles and Mauritius in Africa. People often say Seychelles has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it is home to the world’s largest seed—the coco de mer. Mauritius also has beautiful beaches, and I often saw its famous underwater waterfall promoted on social media. But because we had limited time and budget, we could choose only one. We picked Mauritius because it offered more adventurous tours, such as climbing Le Morne, canyoning, and waterfall rappelling, as well as more convenient flights to and from mainland Africa.
Choosing the Best Season
One of the more complicated parts of planning a trip around the world is understanding the best season for each country. For example, many people travel to Africa hoping to see the Great Migration and wildebeest river crossings. It is an extraordinary sight, but it typically happens only from July to September. We wanted to see it, so we chose to visit Africa in September. The best season for South America in the Southern Hemisphere falls during our Northern Hemisphere winter, so we decided to go there in December, January, and February.
Adding Details—and Leaving Room for Change
Once the rough plan was in place, we could start adding details: when to apply for each country’s visa, which attractions needed to be booked in advance, and so on. For example, we needed to reserve our African safari six months ahead because accommodations fill up quickly. Many attractions in Europe now require reservations as well, so we had to work out when to book them to avoid being caught off guard at the last minute.
I know—it is complicated. Take a deep breath and relax… because I have good news. The greatest advantage we have as long-term travelers is flexibility. A typical vacation itinerary is often packed to the brim, so changing one thing disrupts everything else. Our situation was different. We usually left three to five flex days in a city or country. That way, if plans changed—or if we arrived, spoke with locals, and learned about a place we had not seen in any guide but wanted to visit—we could adjust our itinerary without stress.
Here is more good news: it is also fine if you do less preparation. Our most delightful travel surprises often happened in places we had barely researched. Our expectations were low, as though we were casually opening a mystery box, only to look inside and think, “Wait, this place is so much better than I expected.”
Planning the Finances
Travel can be as inexpensive or as lavish as you want it to be. You will find people traveling for seven days on $100, and you will also find luxury hotels that cost tens of thousands of dollars per night. But when preparing for our trip, three things mattered most to us: 1) our current financial situation, 2) how much money we would need, and 3) how we could continue earning some passive income while traveling.
We conducted two full financial reviews: one a year before departure and another three months before. The first was like an annual physical, and the second was the follow-up. We looked at how much money we had, how much we spent each month, our fixed expenses, which expenses we could eliminate while traveling, and how long we could realistically support ourselves without salaries.
I created a Financial Analysis Template that you can use directly. It covers household expenses, savings, investments, and income. All you need to do is enter your own numbers to calculate your financial safety threshold. It will not make you rich overnight, but at least it can tell you whether this is a “pack up and go” kind of trip—or a “pack up and go, then …, start crowdfunding halfway through” kind of trip.
Tracking Every Expense
One thing I think we did very well was record every expense during our travels, from flights all the way down to tips for using the restroom. This helped us understand the true cost of travel and gave us a much clearer comparison between traveling and our previous working life. For us, accommodations accounted for 33% of our total spending, activities for 24%, transportation—including flights, rental cars, taxis, and so on—for 18%, dining for 15%, and groceries for 5%. And you know what? Our travel expenses were less than the living cost in the States! If you’re interested in how much we spend during the trip, please stay tuned for another post that talks more in detail.
Estimating a Travel Budget
We also found a useful way to estimate a travel budget: look at prices from tour operators. From what I have observed, group tours and private customized trips will almost certainly cost more than arranging everything yourself. Even so, their prices provide a helpful benchmark. For example, suppose I planned to spend a month in South America, visiting Colombia—including Medellín, Bogotá, and Cartagena—and Chile—including Santiago and Patagonia. I could look up a tour operator offering the same destinations and a similar standard of accommodation, then use this formula for a rough estimate:
Your budget ≈ Tour operator’s price ÷ Number of days included × Number of days you plan to travel × 0.8 (to remove their premium)
We traveled fairly economically and booked hotels, vacation rentals, and tours through Hotels.com, credit card offers, and similar deals. In the end, we spent slightly less than the budget we had calculated with this formula.
Income While Traveling
Once we began traveling, our sources of income naturally looked different from before. For us, there were two main sources: relatively stable rental income from leasing out our home, and returns from putting part of our money into stocks and a high-yield savings account so it could continue generating income while we traveled. We also put together a list of other possibilities that might work for different people, such as freelance or consulting work, remote work, content creation, digital products, affiliate income, or other forms of passive income. We do not think everyone needs to find the “perfect passive income stream”—travel keeps you busy enough already 😂. But before leaving your job, it is worth thinking carefully about one question: “Once the paychecks stop, where will my money come from?” Having realistic expectations makes the entire plan feel much more secure.
Closing Down Our Existing Life
As our plans for traveling around the world moved full steam ahead, we gradually began dismantling our existing life. I know this sounds far less interesting than planning the trip itself, but it was just as complicated. Tasks that give you a headache just thinking about them are always easy to postpone: “There’s still time. We’ll do it next month.” That is how we ended up sleeping only four hours a night during the final two weeks before departure while frantically sorting and packing everything. We did finish at the last minute. So yes, it is possible—but I would not recommend it. It is brutal. I would like to share the Todo List Tracker we created at the time, in the hope that it might help you.
Mail, the House, and Everything We Owned
There was a surprising amount to handle, from something as small as mail to something as significant as our house. For mail, find a friend you trust and forward it to them. As for our house, we rented it out. That part was relatively straightforward: we just needed to get the home ready. Sorting through our belongings was the complicated part. We had never realized just how many things were in our house. According to the Los Angeles Times, the average American home is widely cited as containing around 300,000 items. While packing, we discovered so many duplicates. For example, I already owned a pair of scissors, but I forgot where I had put it and bought another one. It was only while sorting everything that I realized how many duplicate items we had. Other things had been used once after we bought them and then sentenced to life in a corner.
I sold around 60 or 70 items on Facebook Marketplace—and I do not think I will ever buy most of them again. Sorting through your belongings is also a process of getting to know yourself: discovering what you truly need and which “needs” were manufactured for you by capitalism and consumer culture. Take foldable sunglasses, for example. When I first saw them, I thought, “Wow, what a clever idea! They’ll save so much space in my luggage, haha.” I genuinely believed that at the time. After traveling, I realized they were just okay, and they did not take up much less room than a regular pair of sunglasses.
Once we had sorted everything, we put the remaining items—bedding, pots, pans, dishes, and so on—into a storage unit. One extremely important step was labeling everything properly. We are very grateful that our pre-trip selves did this. It made retrieving things from storage so much easier. We numbered every box and created an Excel sheet listing each box number and the items inside it.
The Hardest Decision: Our Cat
To be honest, what I am about to discuss nearly changed our decision to take this trip. We have a five-year-old cat who had never been away from us. On one side was the chance to travel for a year; on the other was giving our cat a stable life. I have to admit that we made the somewhat selfish choice to take the trip. When we adopted him, we never imagined that we would one day feel this urge to pause our lives. We were incredibly fortunate that a friend who had looked after him before offered to take him in for a year. We made the difficult decision and bought him pet insurance plus a wellness plan so that if an emergency arose, the cost of his care would not become a burden. When we picked him up after we returned, thankfully, he still remembered us. Our pace of life will not be as fast as it was during this year of travel; in the future, it will probably be more of a slow-travel lifestyle. So we will bring him with us.
What We Chose to Pack
Even toward the end of the trip, the two of us were still traveling with two carry-ons and one checked bag. Yes, you heard that correctly. We never managed to eliminate checked luggage, even when flying European budget airlines that charged extra for bags. Many bloggers will tell you how to reduce your luggage to the absolute minimum, but it really depends on your destinations and which items add joy to your travels. We do not regret carrying a huge camera lens through Africa for three months. We do not regret bringing a handheld coffee grinder that allowed us to explore specialty coffee in Colombia. And we certainly do not regret bringing plenty of coordinated outfits so we could take beautiful photos in front of Europe’s Baroque architecture. If something will bring you joy during your trip and you know you will use it many times, bring it. You will not regret it.
Why We Bought an Instant Camera
In Kibera, a low-income community in Kenya, we met many children who were fascinated by our camera and wanted us to take their pictures. When we showed them the photos on the camera screen, they were both excited and curious. As we walked through the narrow streets, an older man also asked us to take his picture. He said that the next time we met, we could bring the photo to him. At that moment, we wished we had an instant camera so we could give them their pictures right away. After that trip through Africa, we bought one, along with small gifts such as bookmarks, to carry with us. We hope that while people leave us with memories, they can also take away a small memory from us.
I will write a separate post about the items we used most throughout the journey.
Leaving the Familiar Behind
Traveling around the world sounds like a constant search for novelty, but the first thing you actually do before setting out is leave behind everything familiar. You leave your home, grocery store, restaurants, gym, and friends. You leave a life in which you always know what comes next without having to think about it. Familiarity is not necessarily exciting, but it is comfortable: you know which grocery store has the cheapest avocados, which roads get congested, where to eat on the weekend, and where your cat will probably be waiting when you get home. Leaving all of this means more than traveling to unfamiliar places. It also means temporarily becoming “a person without a fixed life.”
There is another, less visible kind of farewell: leaving behind the path you once assumed your life should follow. Work, promotion, buying a house, saving money, finding the next job—it all seems to come in a default order. Everyone around you keeps moving forward, so “continuing forward” can easily feel like the only option. But we suddenly decided to stop. We knew that a one-year gap might leave a blank space on our résumés and that we might need to search for jobs again when we returned. We also did not know whether we would go back to our original path after the trip or decide to do something completely different. So this journey was not just about leaving a place. It was also about temporarily stepping away from the people everyone else thought we were supposed to become. When someone used to ask, “What do you do?” the answer was simple. Now, all we could say was, “Well… we’re traveling.”
We spent months preparing: destinations, budget, house, belongings, cat, flights. But it was only on the day we actually left that we realized preparation is never truly finished. There will always be an unanswered email, an unsorted drawer, something you forgot to pack, or a switch you feel compelled to check one more time. And then you close the door and walk away, pulling your suitcase behind you. Only in that moment do you realize: Oh, we are really leaving.
We kept saying that we were “pressing pause,” but life does not have a pause button. It will not stop and wait for us simply because we leave for a year. So perhaps setting out is not about arranging everything perfectly and leaving with 100% certainty. Perhaps it is about accepting that many questions still have no answers, then closing the door and moving forward.
And with that, this pre-departure preparation series comes to an end.
Because from this moment on, the preparation is over.
The journey begins.
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