In November 1999 (shortly after our wedding), Lon and I were talking … "Wouldn’t it be great to take a year off and travel around the world?" When we really dug into it more, we found the only thing holding us back was US. We figured we should do this now while we're still young, healthy, and flexible enough to use every kind of toilet imaginable. We started looking into the finances and preparations that would be involved and at the end of January 2000 we decided to go for it!

It’s taken a year’s worth (and more) of saving to prepare for our journey. Lon struggled throughout the year with traumatic decisions such as … sell the Porsche, or don’t sell the Porsche? It was a delay tactic and it worked ... he kept it and didn't sell it until just before we left.

It was a bit scary leaving our comfortable home and jobs (Lon's a computer programmer and I'm a food scientist) to live out of a backpack for a year ...but we hoped the experience would outweigh the discomforts. We made this website to stay connected with our family and friends... we updated the website with photos and stories from the road, so everyone could check in every now and then. Click on a country (map or list) to tour our site.

- Lon Ficke