How did this all get started?
hi! hi we’re in love! hi we’re in love and we’re traveling the world.
Our friend Mary asked me yesterday how this whole world travel plan got started, and reflecting on why we decided to do this was actually comforting amidst all the anxieties and stresses around packing up our apartment and saying goodbye to our friends and family that we love (aka all of you <3). There’s so many unknowns ahead of us, and reflecting on the excitement, curiosity and original reasons for deciding to go on this trip felt very grounding and revitalizing.
Taking time off of work to travel has been a long held dream of mine. I fantasized about it for years, but I really started to plan it in 2019. My job at the time was sunsetting and we were going to be given a six month severance, which really felt like the universe telling me to take it and explore the world. I was planning to do it alone and as cheesy as I’m sure it sounds I was really on a sort of eat/pray/love plan. I would go to Italia to practice speaking Italian, spend time with family, and feel closer to my family’s culture. I was originally planning to live there for at least three months, and then use it as a jumping off point to travel across Europe and visit friends. I also wanted to go to Thailand and learn muay thai and thai massage. THEN everyone knows what happened in 2020 - sooo my plans had to take a backseat and I decided to join Recidiviz and move back to San Francisco.
Fast-forward to 2022, by this time I’ve had an AMAZING time in SF. So much dancing (yay mango), I’d met so many people that I love and care about now and felt so close to my community here, and then I MET ASH. And y’all, to say my whole world changed is an understatement. Suddenly everything and anything felt possible, including my dreams of travelling. Of course not too long after we started dating, we talked about our own dreams and passions, and I brought up this idea of leaving my job and travelling, hoping that she would be into it.
We definitely had a lot of talks about how to make it possible, and what it could look like, and I think by July of 2023, we decided that it is GONNA HAPPEN! WOWOWOWOW. So, we booked an airbnb near a lake for a weekend trip and spent the whole weekend brainstorming what our trip could look like. We mostly watched youtube videos of other people’s trips, and we watched a reallyyyy long video of this person’s experience in Patagonia. I’d always wanted to go to Patagonia, especially after hearing about it from my friend Meghan. It seemed to make sense to start at the most southern point of South America and then move northwards, so on that weekend trip we booked a tour for the W Trek in Patagonia with accommodations at the EcoDomes. TBH there’s a lot of excitement and emotion and jumping for joy I felt just typing that sentence, and I’m a little out of practice for journaling so I don’t think it quite came through, but I know that there’s LITERALLY sparks flying from my fingertips right now.
I really can’t believe this is finally happening and I can’t wait to bring you all along on the ride! I’m hoping this space can be somewhere our friends and family can follow along with what we’re doing, and also a place where we can look back to over time and remember what we did, what we experienced, and what we learned along the way. Ash is bringing her cameras on this trip and we’re definitely looking forward to adding a video / youtube channel component too. SO STAY TUNED because we love you.
~ yella ~