It's almost here!

Christmas has come and gone and the excitement of the holidays is starting to fizzle.... but the excitement for my trip is continuing to grow. I am just finishing up last minute planning details and starting to pack up my belongings. I have been so busy this month, that it is hard to believe that it is almost January.

The first week of December, my boyfriend Peter and I went on a cruse to Costa Maya and Cozumel Mexico. Our cruise left from New Orleans on the 2nd and we enjoyed our time on the boat by watching shows, comedians, magicians, swimming, mini golf, ping pong , enjoying the beautiful views from the boat, and eating. Man did we eat! The food was great... almost too good. Peter and I both gained a descent amount of weight while we were there.

Once we were in Mexico, we decided to get away from the touristy areas and go explore the countryside on our own. While in Costa Maya we explored a coastal town with beautiful beaches and everyday life of fishermen continuing and then found a taxi to take us to some Mayan Ruins.
In Cozumel we went snorkeling off of a glass bottom boat and saw a wide array of tropical fish... even an eel! After we were finish with that, we found a tranquil beach where we enjoyed a "Corona Commercial" like afternoon laying on beach chairs on a tropical beach, drinking foreign beer. It was great.


Since then, I've been pretty busy with Christmas. I had a wonderful Christmas visiting my family and Peter's . It is always great to be with loved ones on the holidays.




In talking to many of you over the holidays, there has been a request for my itinerary... so here it is:


Jan 13th -Leave Chicago OHare Airport
Jan 15th- Arrive Fiji with Tami Bolz, best friend from High School
Jan 19th- Leave Fiji and arrive New Zealand with Tami
Jan 20th- Pacific Challenge program begins http://www.pacificchallenge.org/itin_nzaus.aspx#
Feb 28th- Fly to Australia with Pacific Challenge program
March 20th- Pacific Challenge program finished. Meet Brian, my brother who is studying abroad in Australia
March 20th - Leave Sydney, Australia and fly to Johannesburg, South Africa
April 2nd - Begin GAP Kruger Lodge Safari http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/DAK
April 6th- Leave Johannesburg, South Africa and fly to Nairobi, Kenya
April 8th- Begin GAP Serengeti and Masai Mara Experience http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/DCA
April 22nd- End GAP tour and meet Peace Corps Volunteer Joe in Nairobi
April 25th- Leave Nairobi Kenya and fly to Athens Greece to meet my roommate Katy to explore Athens and the Greek islands
May 4th- Fly from Athens, Greece to Rome, Italy to meet my boyfriend Peter for a week exploring the Italian countryside
May 13th- Fly from Rome, Italy to Lima, Peru to meet my cousin Carrie and begin a GAP tour entitled Classic Peru in which we hike for 3 days to Machu Picchu http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/PPC
May 26th- Fly from Cuzco Peru to Quito Ecuador where I meet my friend Barb to begin our GAP tour entitled Voyage Galapagos. http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/EV07M
June 5th- Fly from Quito Ecuador home!
June 6th- Arrive at Chicago OHare Airport at 9:05 am.
That is the basic plan of travels. Keep checking the site for updates and exciting stories and photos.

After two and a half years of planning and saving, my dream of traveling the world is about to come true! The dream was sparked after returning from a backpacking trip around Europe and the fear that by getting a "real job" I would be too tied down to travel long distances. Although I love my "real job" as a nurse, my passion is traveling, exploring and learning about the world and myself. So, I am quitting my job, leaving my boyfriend, family and friends behind, and am off to explore the world before me... hoping to learn about myself in the process.

Planning for a trip this big is a lot of work! Picking destinations, flights, programs, hostels, transportation, immunizations, visa, etc. It's been about two years in the making... so hopefully everything will go smooth.

This trip, although possibly the greatest thing I will have done so far in my life, is also a little scary to think about. I will be traveling all over the world, meeting up with friends and family in exotic destinations, seeing beautiful sunsets, wild animals, a variety of cultures and experiencing wild and crazy adventures. But I will also be leaving a job that I love, a roommate that I have a lot of fun living with, a boyfriend that I have fallen in love with, and all of the rest of my family and friends. I will be out of my comfort zone and left to rely on my own devices. Am I ready? Can I handel it? I guess there is only one way to find out, right? Go big or go home!

Thanks for following me on my adventures by reading my stories and viewing my photos. I'm hoping that this blog site will allow me to communicate with those that I love and keep everyone up to date on "Where in the world is Julie?"