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October 19, 2005
Off Kelly Westhoff Goes
Kelly Westhoff, an InsideOut Travel contributor, will soon be on her way around the world. She and her husband, Quang, are leaving on Thursday October 20. In seven months, they'll travel to 12 countries.
They're first heading to Mexico, then to Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Next, they head to Asia where they will visit Vietnam, China, Thailand and Cambodia. They will also make their way through Europe, starting in Italy and working their way north to the Netherlands, before returning home.
Kelly and Quang have created a cool travel blog, Global Roam which means that we'll be able to follow them on their adventures but I wanted to ask Kelly a few questions before she got on her way.
When did you start planning this trip?
We thought about it for longer than it took to plan it and truthfully, even though we are leaving on Thursday, it's not all planned yet.
Quang talked about traveling a lot when we were dating. He'd never been to Europe and wanted to go. One of his sisters had been a foreign exchange student. Another had traveled in Mexico. While he'd been back to Vietnam, he wanted to see other places.
Of course he didn't have to talk very long about travel to me before I was like, "Yeah, let's go."
He jokes now that we are on the brink of leaving, that it's turned into a bigger trip than he ever had in mind and that this is all my fault.
Anyway, we started thinking about it back in 2003. I think it was in March of this year that we actually sat down and talked about where would we go and when. In June I started playing around with flights. By the end of July we'd started booking some flights.
On your website, you write about what you're most excited/nervous about. Now that the departure date is so close, are there other things you're excited/nervous about?
No. We are still nervous about Mexico City. I think this is because when we tell people we are going to Mexico City, they say things like, "Isn't it dangerous there?" or "You need to be careful there." or "Don't they abduct people for money there?" or "Don't take the taxis there." But we're going to have to face that fear pretty quick. It's our first stop.
Other things we're nervous about? Quang's worried about money.
We're both starting to realize that we're going to be spending a heck of a lot of time together. I've had nightmares about losing the charger or the converter plugs for the digital camera.
How was planning for this trip different than planning for trips you've been on before?
Well, I had to take into account another person. This time around, the plans had to consider what I wanted to do, plus what he wanted to do. And that means compromise. Some things each one of us wants to do will probably have to be skipped.
And this is definitely the longest backpacking trip either one of us has ever done. On a six-week trip, bringing only five pairs of underwear seems funny. But when I think about seven months and only five pairs of underwear ... well, that's suddenly this big thing. Only five pairs of underwear? For seven months? You've got to be kidding!
Also, I like to read about places before I get there. I like to have some idea of where I'm going. But that's been really hard to do. I can't read a guidebook for 12 countries before I go. I can't even bring 12 guidebooks with me. I've stressed a bit about that.
But Quang seems to think it's no big deal. We'll figure it out when we get there, he says. So-perhaps we have some conflicting travel styles. Hopefully we'll balance each other out, not freak each other out.
Good luck and have a great trip Kelly and Quang!
We'll be sure to check in with them to see what they're up to over the next seven months.
Posted by insideoutmag at October 19, 2005 11:06 AM