Who in their right minds would quit their jobs and leave their comfortable lives behind to risk traveling the world with nothing more than a back pack? Trust us, it is not the first time we have been asked the question. Allow us to attempt to explain.
We are a couple of married thirty year olds (well, 30 for Kat and 29 for Mike) with an insatiable desire for adventure, a love for travel that borders on obsession, a passion for other cultures, and a feeling in our gut that life is too short to not give back to others.
Our names are Mike and Kat and our story began when we met in college. Like typical coeds, we bonded over beers, dining hall food, and how we were going to pass our next exam. As we got to know each other better, we learned that we shared, among others, two very important traits: an absolute love of travel and the urge to do something with our lives to help others. These shared characteristics have helped to shape our relationship up to this point and have now been the stimulus for our decision to take the next 9 months of our lives and travel the globe doing a mix of personal travel and volunteer work.
But, let us start at the beginning…
Kat I grew up in a typical Midwestern town going to Catholic school. I was raised in a household that cherished family, hard work, and helping others. The down to earth personalities in the Midwest, slower pace, and strong family values suited me well. I loved my child hood and I have always followed the straight and narrow path in my life: I studied hard in school (although now I wish I would have known that your GPA in 4th grade doesn’t matter). I played every sport in the book; some well and some for the orange slices at half time. I loved my family and friends dearly, went to college, met the love of my life, got married, launched into a successful career, bought a house, etc. I had a fabulous life but something deep down told me that I was missing one little thing.
Growing up, I was fortunate to experience many family trips that ignited my adoration of travel. My parents planned excursions from Pittsburgh to Paris and everywhere in between. I couldn’t get enough so, during college, I spent a semester abroad in France. Living with a crazy French woman and subsisting on Special K cereal so that I could sip Burgundy and eat stinky cheeses into the night at a sidewalk café suited me just fine. After graduating from college and starting my professional life, Mike and I took every opportunity (and vacation day) to see the world. But it wasn’t enough. We liked our jobs and enjoyed the vacations but needed more. It wasn’t just the travel we craved. It was a glimpse into other cultures, a taste of exotic cuisines, and an understanding of human nature that we longed for.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my life and who I am. In addition to family and travel, I am passionate about drinking wine (two buck Chuck included), delicious food (especially cheap out of the box sheet cake…don’t judge), and exercising (mostly so I can consume the aforementioned wine and cake). I love theme parties, dining out with friends, and trying to make people laugh (key word is try). Yet with all this going for me, I decided to fully ignore the Type A, planner, career-oriented, risk-averse sides of me and take the plunge. I decided to plan a trip with Mike that would forever change our lives.
Mike I’m a pretty simple, uncomplicated guy. What you see is what you get. I’m most commonly referred to as ” Pisco”. Other names that I have acquired along the way include “Scotie”, “Fonzie”, “Ryan from The Office”, and “Ralph Macio”. But no matter what you call me or when you’ve met me, my priorities have always been the same: personal relationships, hard work and travel. Here’s a little bit more about me. . .
I grew up in a suburb of Boston and am still loyal to “all things Northeast” – my family, most of my best friends, the Bruins, the Patriots, fresh seafood (although I didn’t really have a taste for it until after college), and Duxbury Beach. My favorite foods are sausage, Marilynn Pisco’s meatballs, and just about anything Italian. I prefer a small pub over a trendy bar, beer over wine, and Flor de Cana over Captain Morgan. I am competitive by nature, having played numerous team sports growing up while recently transitioning to running and triathlon. My strong passion for sports is rivaled only by my extreme interest in global travel. In my early years I dreamed of playing in the NHL, but of course, dreams change and now I have an opportunity to expand my view of international cultures. A large map of the world sits above my desk at home and almost everyday I find myself thinking, “where to next?”
My love of travel truly materialized during the summer before my senior year in college when I spent 3 months teaching English and lacrosse in Nicaragua. The experience and the people meant so much to me that I visited again with my brother-in-law two years later. That summer catapulted into future trips throughout Europe and Central and South America, but now I want to see more. I’m extremely fortunate to have married someone that has a similar passion for travel and I feel even luckier that I’m able to undertake this experience with her.
I have only scratched the surface of what I want to see and I’m hungry to learn what the experience can teach me. I find that people and impromptu interactions are the best way to understand different places and cultures. I plan to take advantage of every unique situation presented to us, get uncomfortable as often as possible, and reserve judgement until we have fully immersed ourselves in every location.
We hope you follow us on our adventure as we attempt to Unearth The World.