Two Girls Around the World

THE GIRLS:

Jayme Wilson & Chelsea Usrey grew up near Morrison, Colorado. They met at age five on the first day of Kindergarten at Red Rocks Elementary.

Jayme has traveled to Australia, Western and Eastern Europe, Israel, South America and 48 of the 50 states in America. She was bitten by the ‘travel bug’ after taking part in a student exchange program in Australia during the girls’ junior year of high school. Jayme graduated with a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006. She lived in Vail for the past three years working as an Account Manager for a Destination Management Company. It has been one of Jayme’s lifelong goals to travel the world.

Chelsea has explored North and Central America and is very excited to extend her traveling across seas.  She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 2006 with a degree in Elementary Education. Chelsea has been a beloved third grade teacher in Westminster for the last three years.

After twenty years of being close friends these two Globalizers are ready to pack up, discover, wander, experience, trek across the world and take part in the journey of a lifetime. When in doubt follow your heart, follow your dreams, and follow Summer!

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A fellow traveler who we met in Egypt is planning an around the world trip starting in 2011 and asked us to answer a few questions to put on his travel blog. Hopefully reading our responses may answer other peoples questions, or even better- inspire them to travel as well!

1. Since you are traveling as a duo, who initiated the idea, and how did the other come on board [and when]?
- Jayme had been planning the trip for over a year and a half and was going to travel alone.  She was scheduled to leave after Chelsea’s wedding in June. However, when Chelsea’s wedding was canceled in October, she decided to travel along with Jayme.

2. How did you adjust your lifestyle to save more and how long did you save?
- Jayme had been putting small amounts of money aside for roughly a year, but it was hard to save much due to the high cost of living in Vail, Colorado.  As the trip got closer, Jayme decided to save more money by cutting back on eating out, shopping, and entertainment.  She also picked up an additional part time job working at country club.
- Chelsea already had some money in her savings account and was used to paying a high mortgage, so when she sold her house and moved back in with her parents, she was able to save the majority of her paycheck.

3. How did you figure out a route and how long have you been planning?
- After being introduced to “around the world tickets” many possible itineraries were reviewed and we decided on a general path to follow. About six months before we left, we sat down with a world map, piles of books, and a lot of pictures and decided on what major cities we would fly in and out of as we made our way around the world. We knew we would only travel with one bag, so visiting regions during their warm season was a must, which helped to narrow down the duration of time we would spend in each area.

4. How hard was it to leave everything behind?
- Not hard. We are both very attached to our family and friends at home and lucky for us, everyone was very supportive. Plus, we will most likely move back in with our parents when we get home, so we know there will be plenty of time to spend with them when we get back.

5. Where are you now?
- We are currently in Australia where we will be living and working for the next four months.

6. How long have you been gone and what is next?
- We have been on the road for a little over five months. We will stay in Australia until the middle of March, when we will make our way over to New Zealand. From there we will travel throughout South America and Guatemala, before returning to Colorado in June 2010.

7. What are your feelings of the RTW ticket package being on the road?
- We think we saved a lot of money and have been really happy with the airlines that were assigned to us. Our only complaint would be the paper tickets that were issued instead of e-tickets, but it hasn’t been an issue.

8. What have you been doing to stay in budget?
- We live very cheaply and always chose inxpensive meals and accomodations. We appreciate free activities and always keep an eye on our bank accounts. We set up an initial budget and planned out how long we would spend in each region depending on how expensive it was. We used the Rough Guide’s book, First Time Around the World, which gave an estimated daily budget for each place we were visiting. Most of our budgeting and planning was done before we left, and with the “we need to save money” attitude and mindset, we are doing a pretty good job of following it.

9. What is your best advice for those planning and budgeting based on your experiences on the road?
- You can’t do everything, but you don’t want to do nothing, so always pick and chose what to spend your money on. Know what kind of trip you want and be sure to save for that because it is always easy to spend more than you had originally planned.

10.Was there anything unexpected you encountered that caused you to change plans, was it good/bad, could it be avoided for others?
- We didn’t have a set plan for most areas we visited, other than major cities to fly in and out oft, so we were alawys very flexible. We would arrive and immediatly talk to other travelers and/or locals for recommendations and plan our trip from there. Solo travelers may want to plan more ahead of time, as we have noticed along the way, but we are happy with the flexibility we gave ourselves.

11. Have you ever wanted to quit and go home?
No. As we approach our half way point, we are getting terrifiied with the realization that we will eventually have to go home.

12. Any final comments?
- Deciding to do this trip was the best decision we have ever made. We have met so many incredible people, we have learned so much about history and the world, and we know that we will be changed forever. This trip has changed our views, but also our desires and it is exciting to think of all the possibilies we have for ourselves.