Many people have asked how this idea of traveling the world all came about. Hopefully this post sheds some light. If you want to know more details or have questions, leave a comment!
I can't place exactly when I first had the idea to leave it all behind and travel the world. Its normally one of those things that people use as a default answer for "What would you do with a million dollars?" or "What do you want to do when you retire?". Most likely it started when I saw my friends traveling for months at a time after grad school. At the time, I was more preoccupied with my job and I could not fathom putting my career on the backburner ( But but...I have so many meetings, my promotion is right around the corner, random other excuse)
The idea began to crystallize further during the pandemic - a very obvious sign that life is too short to put off your dreams. I also came across an amazing podcast called All the Hacks where I heard first hand of others taking on extended travel without breaking the bank.
ATH is also where I heard about the ANA Round the World ticket redemption. Apparently you can fly around the world on business class for a little more than a sign up bonus on a few credit cards. We were running out of excuses.
I say we because of course I wanted to do this with Su. While she thought this was quite the flight of fancy (pun intended), the more we talked the more serious we got. We both love to travel and this seemed like a grand adventure for us to take on after we got married. How, where, when - all these questions could wait for future Aditya and Suhitha to handle.
The future has a habit of creeping up faster than you think. We got married in October 2022 and by January 2023 I was already knee deep into trip research. While we initially thought we should leave later (summer 2024) to spend some more time at our jobs, we realized work will always be there for us and there is no time like the present. We were excited for our adventure and we wanted to get moving ASAP. We took a look at the countries we wanted to visit and the dates and we found a great itinerary that had us leaving in Fall 2023 and coming back in Summer 2024. Through lots of internet sleuthing and long phone calls we booked our Round the World ticket on ANA at the beginning of April. We were really doing it.
Hats off to you both for seriously following your dream of world travel and making it happen !
I feel you’ve picked the perfect time for your world tour !
Wishing you both the most amazing, exciting and memorable travel adventures !