…and so it begins

This was our first post about the world trip on our Facebook page.

A project that came to mind a little over 10 years ago, and which finally we have the courage to take to the next level.

Over the last 2 years we’ve been doing a lot of research, reading books, and checking other blogs and websites for tips and places to visit.

It is a challenge for us as we have our 3-year old son (almost 4 by the time we write this post) coming with us on the trip. That changes everything as we have to make sure that the majority of the places and attractions are enjoyable for him or for us as a family, and that there is just a smaller proportion of places which he will not enjoy (Ruth and myself have to take turns to visit these, while the other is taking care of Noah).

The planning was not so easy, as we had to think about the trip, safety measures, contingency plan, budget, apartment, furniture, visa, equipment, etc. A lot of things to be done. So we thought of this project like a small enterprise, with finance, commercial, logistic, supply chain and several other departments, but … with just Ruth and myself as CEO, Directors, Managers, Analysts and Trainees. It is an interesting comparison, but in fact we had to think about all of that.

There was a point in time that we realized that it would be more effective with the support of other people that we love and trust (I know, how come we didn’t realise that before…?). Up to now we have had extremely important support from mine and Ruth’s parents, our dear friends the Sakos, our cousin Mireya, who has helped us a lot over the past few months (already missing you Mire!), friends from my former company, friends and families from our cities and several other friends and colleagues spread around the world who on some level gave us the support we needed.

Our friend Rinata seeing us off at the train station in Vienna (Noah, of course, trying to hide from the camera…)

Great moments with our friend Sergej, even when talking about Brasil vs. Germany

These guys already travelled so much that we believe they have done their own world trip … with Fran, Andrew, Ivan and Jess

Our friends the Sakos and one of our favorite cousins Mireya (although she knows I’m her best cousin)

Over the next few months we sincerely wish to mention the support given from each and all of them in detail, but in case we forget to mention anyone, we sincerely hope they forgive us but know that you are all in our hearts.

Also over the next few months we will go into detail about how we started our journey, what we considered during our planning, the budget we had in mind, what it is like to plan a trip with kids and our impressions during the journey.

Vienna during summer and spring is simply lovely

January and February were especially busy months for us. I was still working for my former company, helping them through the transition, while Ruth was organizing our apartment in Vienna, since we were handing it over to the owner again. It was also the perfect opportunity to get rid of personal belongings that we were not going to be of use anymore in the future. We either sold or donated them. It was a nice feeling to find so many things that were hidden in a box or a drawer, but also to get rid of things that were not useful anymore. In the end we had just a few boxes of small belongings  (excluding furniture) to store during this year off.

And that’s when the support from our friends was important, as the Gütlein family were kind enough to offer us storage for all our stuff in their cellar. They also helped us with much of the paperwork we had to deal with. Thanks guys! You gave us a huge shortcut and we’ll always have you in our hearts for that…

Leaving our beloved Vienna for a year was not an easy task, as we had a comfortable and safe life there, great friends, we were used to the culture and Noah was always happy there. But the excitement of a world trip was bigger, so we don’t regret a single minute.

Noah is still too little to understand the magnitude of this adventure, but he understands some bits and will certainly enjoy every moment… we’ll try to make sure of that.

The first stop was Barcelona, for one night only on the way to Tenerife, and the beautiful sunset we experienced there gave us a good feeling … we hope this ends up being not just a good feeling, but becomes a beautiful reality.

From the transfer van to the hotel in BCN it was possible to see the colors of the sunset on our arrival

Next stop, Tenerife!