A great deal of the information we gathered to plan this trip came from websites similar in scope to this one. We owe alot to the people that went before us and have taken the time to document their packing lists, budgets and travel tips for public perusal. This section is our way of adding two cents to the wealth of information available to anyone interested in a trip like ours.

1. How much did it cost?

Ahhh. The question that everyone is dying to ask: how could you afford to travel for a year and exactly how much did this trip set you back? We are not rich. We did not win the lottery. But we are willing to stay in cheap hotels and ride rickety old buses. For the most part, we choose countries where travel costs less than maintaining a normal lifestyle in the US. Just take a look at the average gross national income per capita of these countries and you'll understand why America is so much more expensive - it has the fifth largest GNI per capita in the world. We're lucky to be from such a prosperous place. If you're curious (now that's a silly question) this is what we spent while traveling the world. Daily totals are for both of us and include all transportation, food and lodging expenses broken down by country. Pre-trip stuff like airfares and insurance is not included.

2. What health precautions did you take? I know this is MY favorite subject ...

3. What did you pack?

Take a look at our original detailed packing list, which we trimmed down as we traveled along. The important thing to remember before you leave home is that most essential items will be available wherever you go. They will be cheaper in second/third world countries than in first world countries. So try not to worry too much about forgetting something.

4. How do you maintain your website?

We travel with an IBM Thinkpad (~ 3 lbs, although the cords are surprisingly heavy) and a Canon G2 digital camera. We also have an external I-Omega Predator CD burner though it flakes out a lot, so we don't recommend this model. We subscribe to an international dial up service called IPass, which has connections in most major cities throughout the world for $4-15 per hour. However it's faster and cheaper to burn the website to a CD and upload at an internet shop. Most budget guesthouses don't have a phone line to connect to the Internet with anyway. The CD burner is also necessary for backing up digital photo files and mailing them home.

Some people have asked if it's really necessary to travel with a laptop. The answer for us is an enthusiastic YES! This is for a couple of reasons - digital images need to be backed up on a laptop or a CD (preferably both) and we spend a lot of time formatting images and writing.