Random Traveller #101 with Mark & Julie of The Time To Go Is Now

Welcome to round 101 of ‘Meet a Random Traveller’. The series dedicated to bringing attention to fantastic people all around the world doing their thing.

Random Traveller #101

Who are you?

We’re Mark & Julie and we’re from Indianapolis. We both love to travel and we were both burnt out at our current jobs. We decided that our biggest problem was finding time to travel to all the places we wanted to go. So we’re leaving our jobs and taking off on a 12 month (hopefully longer) trip around the world.

What’s the deal? 

We didn’t want to wait until we were on the road to start writing about the trip. We were hoping to capture some of the thoughts and anxieties that come with planning such a major life change. One major theme is if there is something you want to do or accomplish in your life whether it is travel related or not, you should be actively pursuing that goal. You only get so much time and the older you get the faster it goes. We’re still trying to find our voice but we’re sure that additional themes will develop over our first few months as we begin to write about our travels.

You’ve decided to leave you jobs and travel the world (well done!) but whats the reaction been like from the people close to you?

Everything from “That’s the coolest thing I’ve ever heard” to speechless, wide-eyed stares. All in all it has been overwhelmingly positive. We know our parents are a bit concerned but they do a good job of not showing it much. There are some who are concerned for our safety but we’re hoping we can show them that what they see on the news isn’t the whole story.

How have you gone about choosing the destinations for your trip?

Well, we both have lists of places we’d really like to go. We had planned to be in France in June to meet friends for the 24 Hours of Le Mans long before we decided on this adventure. After making the decision to go we still wanted to meet our friends so wanting to go somewhere that was warm January through May narrowed our list quickly. We’ve wanted to go to South America for a long time and it seemed like the best place to start. After Le Mans it is wide open. We expect to spend a few months in Europe and then we’ll be off to Asia more than likely.

Is there one place in particular that you’re very excited about visiting and why?

Of places officially on our itinerary at this point Julie is most excited about going to Portugal because she loves seafood and has wanted to go there for some time. I am excited about Peru because I’ve wanted to go there since reading about the Incas and seeing pictures of Machu Picchu in primary school. I’m excited about South America in general. We’ve wanted to go for a while but could never make it work.

What’s Next? Have you got any plans for after your trip or are you waiting to see where the wind takes you?

We get asked this a lot by friends, family, co-workers, etc. We have no plans for when it is over. We are going to focus on the blog and see what opportunities present themselves. It is impossible to know what our situation will be in 12-16 months so we’re trying not to worry about it too much.

A big thanks to Mark & Julie for taking part, great to have you.

Be sure to check them out here:
Blog:  The Time To Go Is Now
Twitter: @TimeToGoIsNow
Facebook: /TheTimeToGoIsNow

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