Around the world,  During the World Tour,  TDM,  Travel Journal

Review of our 9 months around the world tour

We still have two months left before the end of our world tour. Time to make an assessment

To date, almost all the “must see” have been visited except Rio de Janeiro and Cuba

A few must-see places are to be visited in the coming years

  • the Grand Canyon in the US
  • spring in Japan
  • jeju Island in South Korea
  • the Great Wall of China (for JB)
  • New Caledonia
  • angkor temples (for me)
  • the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (for JB)
  • Petra in Jordan
  • egypt
  • Jerusalem
  • victoria Falls
  • niagara Falls

Even though we love traveling, our travel rhythm is getting tired and we miss work (a little). We are both passionate about our jobs, and falling from time to time on the news of new features or discoveries related to our jobs gives us each time too much desire to test, implement, admire the result … but we can not necessarily do it when we change city every two days

Of course, finding exactly the same work rhythm as before isn’t conceivable either (the prospect of having to take the subway gives us buttons). Instead, we’re thinking of alternating work and travel and moving towards a career as nomadic freelancers, changing cities every month
These 9 months have allowed us to think about our professional future on a daily basis and we look forward to implementing our new action plan as soon as we return to France

The Zen attitude of South America has a good influence on us and makes us want to live in Zen places like this even more. It was a big surprise for me, who only liked big, stressful cities and was bored in small towns

These 3 months in South America have taught us to endure long hours on the bus. The last trip to date lasted more than 26 hours. From now on, we will be able to take advantage of the superb European bus system and it is a big advantage on the financial level. Before, even 4h30 by TGV exhausted me

South America, told to the novices as a land of all dangers, has taught us to trust life, to trust others, to trust our ability to adapt and to surpass ourselves

The day I hesitated to swim with sharks in Moorea, I found myself saying to myself: “I did everything I wanted in my life, if I get attacked by a shark, so be it, 0 regret”. And finally everything went well and it was one of the best experiences of my life! The fact that we have realized one of our biggest dreams brings an immense serenity: if life were to stop tomorrow, we would have enjoyed it a lot

At the end of this round-the-world tour, we will be without work, without a fixed abode, two CVs with a big hole of 11 months. We kept some money to live a few months after the world tour but the future seems brighter than ever because we know that no matter how much money we have left in our pockets, we will always be able to manage and stay happy

I really enjoyed learning Spanish during the trip. I forgot how passionate I was about foreign languages. My goal is to first reach a C1 level in Spanish. This will be followed by Portuguese or Esperanto if I have the opportunity to practice it. Several months in an English-speaking country will surely please JB who has to reach a C1 level in English, which will allow him to seize even more interesting professional opportunities

Jb also gave himself a new body thanks to the trip: he lost 15kg. Thanks to a different diet composed of more rice and 0 dessert. We hope to be able to continue this type of diet by devoting more time to cooking and avoiding junk food

What really saddens me in this plan is the impossibility to integrate Rosalie, my cat that I left in France with my sister. Fortunately, she is very happy with her new mistress

You who are reading this article. You may be planning your next trip around the world, or you may be traveling too and fear the return… know that the return is easier than you think (well, we hope….). Because the grass isn’t necessarily greener elsewhere. After all, it’s in France that we eat best (with Vietnam) 🙂

The funny thing is that our loved ones are more worried about the return than we are

So much for the 9-month review. See you in 2 months for the final assessment of this first round-the-world trip!

Note: Our 6-month balance sheet is available here

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