Seat of Our Pants

How we roll

3 Fun Facts about this RTW (Round the World) trip of ours:

We departed San Francisco on April 29, 2009. We have to be in New York on June 4, 2010. That makes our trip 13 months, though we may tack on an additional few months. Driving across the US (to get back to sweet home California) wouldn’t suck. You can check out our itinerary here.

We started our trip with $30,000 in the bank. We blew some of our budget early on some extravagances (Jaime’s colonic cleanse in Thailand, to name one big one). So we adjusted our budget to roughly $2,000 per month, which is working for us at the moment.

As of February 7, 2010 (when I’m updating this page), we will visit or have already visited the following countries on this trip: Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Nepal, Sweden, Finland, UK, Germany, Turkey and the USA (which is home for us, so that doesn’t really count).

You can also check out Our Story to read more about us.

14 random things about Jaime…

My father broke a low altitude speed record flying an F-104 Starfighter on October 24, 1977. I was born 9 months, almost to the day, later. I’m a Starfighter Love-child. It’s a great porn name, but that wasn’t my calling.

I was diagnosed with Melanoma at 19 – caused, no doubt, by too much sun and too little sunscreen. Which for me means no sun bathing – ever. No matter. I see a pale skin revolution in our future, people! Repeat after me: Pasty is sexy.

Of all the books I loved as a child, the one that stands out most was filled with images of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings. I spent hours studying his work, dreaming of creating beautiful things. The fact that I just spent two years of my life as an accountant makes me deeply sad.

One of my nicknames growing up was the Bean Queen, a result of not being able to burp until I was a teenager.

Around the age of 8 or 9, my best friend Lindsay and I were convinced that we were going to “make it big” in Hollywood with self composed numbers we would sing and dance to – hit songs such as I’m Gonna Toot my Way to Hollywood (see Bean Queen description above) and Baby Nose Golden Hair(not a typo, that was the word order)

I give terrible first impressions. Most people think I’m a bitch, but I guess I just scowl when I’m thinking – and there is a lot to think about when you first meet someone! Right?

My husband and I are the proud owners of a 1977 El Camino named Tobey. I’m wearing an El Camino belt buckle as I type this.

I am a pilot but haven’t flown recreationally in over 3 years.

I think the feeling of uncontrollable, bubbling-up laughter is the best feeling in the world.

I am deeply, deeply in love with my husband.

I had a stomach ulcer in the 4thgrade, prompting my doctor to tell my parents I needed to de-stress. De-stress in the 4^th grade, really?

At 24 I quit my job as an Art Consultant to become an au pair in Tuscany. I’ve also worked in “customer service” at Longs Drugs (their term for someone who rings up people’s groceries), answered an 800 line at the Red Cross, filed a whole bunch of paperwork as a temp, ran a small airplane construction company and was an accountant. Yeah, my CV is not what you would call cohesive.

My mom taught me to sew when I was 10. Now I can sew nearly anything without using a pattern – my wedding dress is my most proud achievement so far.

I will find incredible success in life. I’m just not too sure of the how, the when and the where.

9 random things about Martin…

I was born and raised in the far North of Sweden, just south of the arctic circle.

I am a nerd trapped in the body of a geek with the skill set of a tool.

I was a promising child actor, but by age 14 those hormones came along… obviously. I’ve been likened to a lot of movie stars though (cough, bread pig, cough) but I guess the Hollywood dream has been put on hold for the duration of this lifetime.

Between the ages of 10 and 20 I read about a book per day. Looking back, I think it probably wouldn’t have hurt me to spend a little bit more time doing sports (Jaime: see “I am a nerd…” comment above for reason).

Among all the books I read back then, the ones that I loved the most were travel adventures.

My mom has made me promise to never sail around the world in a 40 foot sailboat. I have yet to come to terms with this sad fact and so far I’ve managed to stay on shore.

Growing up, I thought it was perfectly normal for the sun to never set in the summer. I never did enjoy the midwinter night though – too much darkness makes Martin a dull boy.

I used to be a juice bar manager and festival caterer. I also count deckhand, church janitor, cinema projectionist, HR consultant, insurance broker, statistician, freelance writer and media analyst among my former work titles.

Right now I don’t have a work title – that doesn’t mean that I’m on a year-long vacation. The plan is to complete my book writing project by the end of this trip. Selling the book will be another project entirely, but if you happen to know a publisher that’s interested, fly us a line!