About Us
Ready to go? We certainly are! Two Go Round-The-World preserves the observations of Kathryn and Daniel as they plan, prepare and pack for a year-long RTW trip set to depart Toronto, Canada in July 2011. Join them as they uncover and record hidden gems to smooth the process of planning the ultimate journey. Take note, however—if you prefer the air-conditioned efficiency of all-inclusive resorts, the links herein may not interest you!
Who are we?
We grew up in a subdivision in the suburbs of Toronto, the postage stamp lawns crisscrossed with clotheslines: stockings, sheer nightgowns, t-shirts, billowing in the breeze and spelling out a message: “This is home.”
And it was home; it is home—home it will forever be. We love it for that and, whenever we’re home, our eyes run over its streets and stores and backyards like a well-read passage from our favourite book, the book that falls open to the same facing pages every time its thumbed through. And although we’ve been away to study, to work, to travel, our lives always seem to unfold into this place.
Want to get in touch? Drop us a line here.
Why bother?
No matter how beautiful or comfortable home may be, we’re quietly reminded of the adage attributed to St Augustine: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”.
And so it was with St Augustine’s maxim echoing in our minds that we decided in August 2008 that we would trade in our clotheslines for Tibetan prayer flags.
Where once we sought roots in the security of our workaday lives, we now seek branches in the promise of travel, which we expect will allow us to stretch, grow and reach new heights.
For many people (including ourselves), making a commitment to long-term travel is the most difficult part. And while there is a lot of work left to be done—it’s really just details.
Where are we going?
In short, we’re not sure! With so many options and ‘must-visit’ sights on the world map, we’re in need of some ideas of where to go and how to plan our experience. What would you suggest? Your recommendations will help us to plan! Let us know here.
At the same time, there are some places and things we’d really like to try. “We are all of us resigned to death: it’s life we aren’t resigned to,” novelist Graham Greene once wrote. However, a growing number of people are embracing that idea by renewing a resolve to live life to its fullest. It’s our firm belief that twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.
To that end we’ve put together (and frequently update) a ‘bucket list’—a list of things we would like to do before we ‘kick the bucket.’ Check it out here.
How can this site help you?
Two Go Round-The-World is not an online guidebook—it’s a website to inspire you before you go, a collection of resources to consider while you’re waiting for the ink to dry on your plane ticket.
Presently, it’s divided into four main sections, with plans for more:
Articles
We believe it makes sense to put our thoughts into column form on a semi-regular basis. Blog posts tend to be short and, sometimes, shallow. On the other hand, we believe that an article differentiates itself from a blog post in that it is especially informative and comprehensive and tries to cover a great deal of information on a travel-related subject. We also hope that continuing to write articles will help slow us down from the fast and furious pace of blogging. A little reflection now and again isn’t such a bad thing!
Reviews
Our capsule reviews are intended to provide a short succinct review (with book reviews tending to run longer). They don’t include travel gear and gadgets—for those, check out the Virtual Backpack. Reviews attempt to strike a balance between description and opinion. If we love something, we go ahead and say it. If something is okay, but more or less doesn’t interest us, we stick with merely describing it so people with different tastes can decide whether or not they might enjoy it.
Virtual Backpack: Travel Gear and Gadgets
We are firm believers that it’s never about the gear, it’s always the place itself and the people your are with. But, the majority of us can come up with a few key pieces of kit we’ve had over the years—select tents, packs, boots—pieces that ended up with names, stories and which, in their own way, helped shape the experiences we remember.
‘Looking Back’ will include an occasional entry from our journals that date back to 2001, when we first began writing about living and travelling abroad. We’ll present these paired with a photo in the form of a verbal postcard. Together, these postcards provide an (in)formal and often (in)coherent narrative of the trips we’ve taken!
Forthcoming: The Ultimate Journey
As the date of our departure draws nearer, we are planning a section that will outline our upcoming itinerary, while at the same time, helping you plan your round-the-world trip. With essential tips on budgeting, planning routes and advice on everything from visas and vaccinations that we pick up as we research our way across the web
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