I’ve never really been away from home for months at a time. Now obviously while in college, I was away from my home in NJ for up to three months at a time. And I studied abroad for five months, but I had a home base there, and I wasn’t constantly traveling. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never been constantly traveling for more than about two and a half weeks at a time. So the fact that I’m about to go travel for three months straight is quite daunting. I mean, even the Amazing Race is only a month of travel! But although it seems daunting, I also look at it as a challenge that I am determined to conquer and grow from in many different ways.

Preparing to be away from a home base for three months has made me realize just how many responsibilities I have now as a “real person,” outside of college. I have an apartment that I need to pay rent for (unfortunately I have to pay all 3 months up front, but I’m praying to find a sub-letter that will help me cover the costs!). I have prescription medication that I need to get in advance for three months time. I have to order more contact lenses to make sure I have enough for the duration of the trip. I have health insurance and student loans to pay every month, so I have to make sure I have enough money in my account for three months worth of automatic withdrawal. And these are just things that I deal with everyday – not including the extra travel gear, clothing and other necessary preparations to get.

As stressful as this is, it’s also very insightful because it reveals not just how many bills I have to pay (ugh), but all the things that I have to think about and that I feel tie me down to one place. And I don’t even have a house, car or kids! It will be interesting to manage these responsibilities from afar, while simultaneously submitting to the minimalist lifestyle of the long-term traveler. Packing one backpack to last three months – now that’s a challenge. More to come on tackling this feat as I figure out travel gear in the near future.

As our departure date draws near with still so many details to deal with – visas, hotel rooms, schedules coordinated and some additional vaccinations – I’d have to say that both feelings of being “excited” and “scared” run through my mind.  Certainly excited when I think about the incredible adventure we’ll be on – and that’s the feeling I have most of my waking hours.  And then of course there’s the part of me that’s “scared” and this usually comes to me in the dark of night or just before dawn.  Fleeting thoughts of mild panic about all the things I still have to do or those “what if….” moments when I think about all the things that could go wrong in such an undertaking.

And then there are the moments when I ask myself if I’m crazy to embark on such a journey, putting my daughter and myself in vulnerable places – both literally and figuratively speaking.  I question my judgment and ask myself – am I too stupid to know better? The answer to that question is easy – no I’m not too stupid to know better – because I know full well what I’m getting into after a lifetime of travel and adventure. But I also have the experience and know enough to prepare as best as one can.

So when I wake up in the middle of the night and feel fear – I remember what my father used to ask me – “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”  And most of the time I really can’t come up with any answers that are too terrifying – other than death – but let’s face it, that can happen anywhere, anytime.  I actually think that when one confronts their fears and pushes them forward but with open eyes and preparation – the possibilities of things that can go wrong diminish.

Being prepared, but also flexible is the key.  No doubt things won’t go perfectly according to plan – some flights may be delayed or canceled and some nights will be spent in bad hotels or maybe even in an airport because of missed connections – but if that’s the worst that could happen – it won’t be so bad.

What I try to focus on is the purpose of this journey or purposes.  One of course is to tell the stories of people who are doing incredible things to make the world a better place.  People who are helping others through their selfless actions – people who are helping others who face far worse travails on a daily basis than any temporary discomfort that I may encounter.   That puts things into perspective.  It also centers me on what really matters.

In the scheme of things we all have one chance to go around in life – just one.  Every time I have ever confronted my fears and pushed myself into the unknown – great rewards have come my way.  Not always financial rewards but rewards that have fulfilled my life in countless ways.  Sometimes the reward is just that in my own small way, I too am making a difference by showing my friends life’s possibilities.

When planning for a trip, one usually thinks of booking the flights and hotels, and packing the suitcase. If you’re going to a particularly exotic or tropical destination, you might have to get an immunization shot for some mosquito-carrying disease. But when you’re traveling for long periods of time between a large number of countries, the number of vaccines and traveler’s visas that you need to get can really add up.

Last week I received shots for the yellow fever and hepatitis A vaccines (first dose), as well as typhoid pills. This morning I got shots for the polio vaccines and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis booster, as well as prescriptions for 100 malaria pills (which I’ll need to take for four months) and zithromacin (meds to help with traveler’s diarrhea – yikes!). I would have needed more shots if I hadn’t already received the meningitis vaccine and all three doses of the hepatitis B vaccine, and if I had decided to get the Japanese encephalitis vaccine (two doses of $400 each, no thanks). This doesn’t include all of the special insect repellent, sunblock and clothes we’ll have to get, as well as the second dose of hep A that I’ll need to get after we return.

All of this preparation has really opened my eyes to how different the levels of medical resources available are around the world. Sure, some of these diseases are dependent upon the climate and other environmental factors. But others, like polio, have been eradicated in many areas. Many countries are still fighting disease, but lacking the resources to do so. It just makes me appreciate what U.S. citizens often take for granted.

On another note, I’m very excited to announce the people we will be visiting in Peru and Australia. We recently have connected with Gina Low of APECA Peru, an organization that brings medical services and educational resources to remote villages along the Amazon river. In Sydney, we’ll be visiting two people: Ronni Kahn of OzHarvest, which delivers leftover food that would otherwise be wasted to hundreds of charities; and Captain Paul Moulds of Oasis, a shelter and community center that helps homeless youth among Sydney’s streets. We are so grateful that such inspiring people will be sharing their stories and organizations with us.

As I continue to blog and to talk to people about the documentary my daughter and I are creating, which involves us traveling around the world, I get asked a lot of questions. One question that is asked quite frequently is “who is funding your project?” The short answer is – we are self-funding our trip and our documentary. I have learned from past experience with other personal projects that getting funding for an idea is no easy task. But I have also found that with a lot of careful planning, saving and budgeting, I have been able to self-fund my projects and have been compensated on many levels later on – after the projects are completed.

I had managed to save up about 330,000 miles with Continental Airlines and another 329,000 points with American Express over the years. I was saving them for something, just didn’t know what until a few months ago when I decided to cash all my points and miles in to subsidize our journey around the world.

So far, I have exhausted all but 4,000 Continental miles in ticketing my Round The World plane ticket, as well as getting my daughter and I to, from, and around South America. My husband Tom donated his Continental miles to my daughter Erin for her Round The World fare. I will still need to pay for airplane tickets to Iquitos, Peru from Lima, as well as for flights to Nepal from Delhi, India. That still leaves picking up the costs of air or train tickets from Istanbul to Warsaw and Moscow. I will use about a third of my American Express points to pay for the flights from Lima to Iquitos, Peru because those tickets are costly.

I’ll use the rest of my American Express points to fund some of our accommodations, along with any hotel points that I have. We’ll be staying at guest houses, people’s homes and budget hotels whenever possible. We’ll use public transportation for getting us around once we get to our destinations because renting a car isn’t in our budget.

Of course, there’s food and miscellaneous expenses on the road like Internet and admission fees. The vaccinations for the two of us have cost more than $1500 and the visa costs may reach $1000. And we’ll both need backpacks and other personal needs for the trip.

My biggest expenses will be for photo/video gear but that is the purpose of the trip. I have pretty much figured out the gear that I’ll need: read my blog entry Putting Together a DSLR Video Kit. When all is said and done, including buying an additional laptop as a backup, I’ll have spent about $12,000 on equipment needs.

So, how will I pay for it? When my mother died about six years ago, she left me a little money. I never really wanted to spend it and was fortunate that I never had to – so I will use it for this project and this trip. Somehow, I think she would love the idea of what her daughter and granddaughter are doing. And if she were still here, she might very well have wanted to join us.

I’ll be reaching out to Canon, Apple and others as potential sponsors. I’m also reaching out to my friends and connections that I have made over the years for donations in kind. If you have any hotel points that you may not be using and would like to donate those points to our trip it would be greatly appreciated.  Or any other type of “in kind” donations you may provide.

Please email at gail@kellymooney.com or call at 973-543-6868.