Frequently Asked Questions

2. Where are we going? We are leaving Kennebunkport on February 6, 1999, and traveling to Boston, Massachusetts. From there we will fly to San Francisco and then fly to Auckland, New Zealand. From Auckland, we will go overland to Christchurch and then fly to Cairns in northeast Australia to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Then, we will drive across Australia to the outback and explore the Red Rock and try to find Crocodile Dundee. From Darwin, we will fly to Timor in Indonesia and make our way overland to Bali.
After Bali, we will fly to Singapore for a couple of days until we can fly to Katmandu. There, we will take a trek in the Himalayas and then take a jeep to Everest base camp. We will continue the journey to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Then, we will fly to Beijing to visit the Forbidden City and all of the charms of China's capital city.
After a train ride to Xi'an, we will travel by train along the Silk Road to the western most parts of China, known as the end of the earth. Then, its over the Torguat pass to Bishkek and continuing on the Silk Road through the Central Asia cities of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara. The next train will take us to Moscow and St. Petersburg. From there, it’s on to Finland and Lapland to experience the midnight sun.
Next, its down to Stockholm and then to Berlin. From there, back to Amsterdam and London for the flight home.

3. How long will the trip take? We hope it will take six months. We have had a hard time planning the trip and have had to cut out lots of places we wanted to go. We feel that now we have a plan we can attain without having to rush from one place to the next.

4. What do we hope to accomplish? Along the way, we hope to experience the cultures and lifestyles of the peoples who live in these exotic and far away places. We have no idea what we will learn but are sure that it will be something of interest. We want to document the trip with our diaries and photos and place them on the web site. We hope that lots of young people around the world will join us for a virtual tour. As we meet young people along the way, we hope to document our new friends with diaries and photos and real audio for you to enjoy.

5. Do we have sponsors? Sponsors are welcome. Please send us an email to express your interest. We are interested in talking with companies who have a connection with high adventure travel and/or education. We will be happy to link to your web site. We will also feature you in our "store front" page.

6. Do we have a press kit? We are working on a press kit and it will be available by emailing us. We will be available for press interviews either in person or by phone. We will be available in the u.s. or any city on our route.

7. How do you contact us? It’s best to send us an email. While on the road, we will do our best to answer every email. If for some reason we do not answer your email in a timely fashion feel free to send an email for official business purposes to out webmaster.

8.. What about health concerns? We have had expert medical advice on what vaccinations to have before we leave. We each have had about 15 shots for everything ranging from hepatitis B to rabies. We hope that this will be sufficient. If not you will be reading about it I'm sure.

9. Is the itinerary fully planned? No. We know in which direction we want to head and the ten destinations we want to reach but we are remaining flexible. We know travel plans are quickly changed and delays can be many. If you have any suggestions as to where you would like us to travel just send us an email.

10. What are we taking for clothing? Not very much. We made a list of essentials and then we cut it in half. One mandatory item was the Eagle Creek Continental Journey backpack. It met all of our requirements: qualifies as a carryon on all airlines and is convertible from a backpack to a suitcase or shoulder bag. Other than that its one pair of lightweight hiking boots and one pair of sandals. Two pair of convertible nylon quick drying pants (and one skirt for the women). Two long sleeve shirts, two tee-shirts. NO sleeping bags. Silk long underwear and three pairs of socks. That's about it. You get the picture. Lots of patience on a trip like this.

11. What equipment are we taking? A Sony laptop, two digital cameras, two digital video cameras and lots of accessories like connections, batteries etc. Maybe a satellite phone. Other than a first aid kit, that's about it.

12. What have we done to prepare for the trip? Two years of work, including reading numerous books and web sites for research and travel tips. We had to research visas, vaccinations, travel plans, lodging, clothing, equipment, weather, and just about every other thing you can imagine before eight people can quit their regular lives and head out to the unknown.

13. What if you have questions? Just email us your questions and we will try to answer all that we can. If we can’t answer them maybe our host schools can or one of you can answer it for us.