where are you going?
• 18 comments •
Before we went on our trips to Tokyo and Dubai, the question we’d get most often from people was “Why?”. We got the sense that a few of them seemed to be asking “Why (bother)?” Our responses generally included the fact that we had always wanted to visit these places and that we expected it to be a great experience. I understand that not everyone enjoys traveling, but it seemed like a strange reaction. The worst was a (non-Canadian) customs agent we spoke to on our way to Dubai. He wondered why we wanted to visit Dubai when "that's where the terrorists come from". I bit my tongue and chose not to tell him that his country is both a trading partner and military ally with the U.A.E.
Since announcing our upcoming trip the question we get most often is “where are you going?”. This is harder to answer. When we say “everywhere” it might sound naive, but our tentative plan is to visit all of the continents and as many countries as our patience and pocketbooks will allow.
We're interested in seeing both Burma and North Korea, but both countries come with ethical dilemmas. Traveling in these countries means providing financial support to the military regimes (in the form of visas or government owned hotels). I've heard that in Burma if you avoid the resorts you can support the locals directly by staying in guesthouses. North Korea, on the other hand, requires you to be accompanied by a handler at all times and your visit will only support the government.
18 comments
Hi, I found you through Rosalie. I am incredibly jealous.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to experience a multitudes of people. I can't wait to live vicariously through your travels.
One day I hope to do the same. I would love to buy a cheap land rover and drive all the way through Africa. May I suggest you spend some time island hopping in the south pacific - I had such an amazing time there.
Happy journey !
ReplyDeleteLove travelling, it opens your mind!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy.
Thank you for your comment on my blog. I look forward to following your journey. I appreciate your perspective on helping the locals and taking that into account when you choose where to visit. That is something that is very near and dear to my heart as well. It sounds like you are in for a GREAT year.
ReplyDeleteI have blogged about Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and will be starting posts about Greece today! Maybe they can help you... I hope they can anyway.
Stay safe!!
hi guys! I just wanted to say congrats you on your engagement and your lofty travel plans, so inspiring. Hope you don't mind, I did a post about you today?
ReplyDeletei'm so excited to follow along!! i'm addicted to traveling, and i'm happy you are too!! you two are awesome. i've wanted to go to dubai FOREVER. i say go as many places as you can, regardless of how unpopular they may be. some of my favorite experiences are on little islands, no one has ever heard of. good luck!!
ReplyDeleteFirst time visit to your intriguing blog... well worth it. I can't wait for the updates!
ReplyDeleteAll the best,
get your travel on! it's so romantic exploring places you've never been together.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant blog! I wish you both the best of luck and the most incredible journey! I'm currently reading Eat Pray Love, and mixed with reading about the recent travels of so many famous bloggers and watching movies like Vicki Cristina Barcelona, I'm coming down with the worst case of wanderlust!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you posted on our blog since I got to find yours. We get this question all the time, too, and for the longest time, it was really hard to answer. It was almost easier to just answer the question, "Where don't you want to go?" Looking forward to more posts from y'all and hope we run into you guys on the road.
ReplyDeleteyou look so good together!
ReplyDeletecheck out my blog
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I think it's awesome that you're going to places no usually known as tourist destinations. Where is people's sense of adventure?
ReplyDeleteHey, I am from Australia and I know that seems like ages away..but now I am living in America and miss it so much!
ReplyDeleteSo, i would suggest Australia and you can check out the awsome laid back culture and pretty sites :)
Very, very neat. As a fellow North American, I highly recommend Hong Kong as a stopover to where you visit in Asia :)
ReplyDelete(though I might be biased because I live here!)
Very excited to read about your travels. I luv luv this post. We get the same questions. Went to Peru last year and were faced with all sorts of "why's". I find that when I say we are going to travel around the world...most people are just wowed enough they say "that's awesome" and move on.
ReplyDeleteAnyways...good post. Totally agree with your sentiments on North Korea and Burma.
I have the same issue with Burma, I have read a lot about Burma and really want to go. i have seem 1st hand the positive affect tourism can have on people, however knowing that it also helps and supports tyrants and murders is a problems for me. The last book i read on Burma actually pointed that since the campaign to discourage tourism from Burma started living standards have gone down, and the government is becoming more and more accepted word wide (with trade ect). Its a hard one.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat and exciting year you guys are going to have! I'm an American living in Dubai and am delighted you liked it. It's a wonderful city and is home, despite missing Washington state and its rain, trees, and mountains. It's more the people and places that make this a good place to live. Enjoy the traveling!
ReplyDeleteWhat an exciting blog!!!! I have always dreamed of just going out in the world and traveling to new places. How wonderful :)
ReplyDelete