See how we plan our expeditions and navigate through each journey’s logistics. This category also features our impressions and insights as we travel around the world. We also provide a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be on the road for an extended period of time.

Geography Awareness

Did you know that American knowledge of geography is one of the worst in the world? A National Geographic-Roper Study that surveyed young Americans showed that 88 percent of those questioned could not find Afghanistan on a map of Asia. Sixty-three percent could not find Iraq or Saudi Arabia…

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The Benefits of Traveling Overland

One of the basic principles of Trekking the Planet is a preference for travel that is “closer to the ground”. One benefit of ground travel is the reduced “carbon footprint” over airplanes.

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How Travel can Impact your Kids

In September 2003, my wife, Sandy and I, left our full-time IT jobs and took an around-the-world trip with our two daughters. At the time, Kristen (age 10) and Lauren (age 12) were in 5th and 7th grade, respectively.

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Trekking the Planet Q&A

We recently took a list of some of our most frequently asked questions and each took turns answering them. Learn why we are taking our trip, our packing strategy and our communication plans on the road.

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Gear Check: Backpack

As we get close to our departure, we took our loaded backpacks on a hike to determine how they performed. View the video to see our impressions.

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How We Planned Trekking the Planet

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive when we are out presenting to students is: “How did you plan such as long trip? “ Read further to learn about our planning.

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Staying Safe While Traveling

We are going to some of the most remote and unspoiled places in the world and have documented the steps that we have taken to improve our chances of having a safe trip.

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Our Two Month Scorecard: Gear Check

We can’t believe that it has already been two months since we left on our Trekking the Planet journey. We take a look at what gear has made the grade and what has failed, and in some cases, already needed to be replaced.

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The Quest for Internet on the Road

One of our biggest challenges on this trip is finding Internet. Through experimentation, we have been using local country SIM cards to help us stay connected. Read more to learn about how successful we have been to date.

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Life on the Road: Trekking the Planet Style

During the 4 1/2 months of our journey we have received questions such as, “What is it like to be traveling all of the time?”, “How do you keep up with everything at home?” and “Do you get enough rest?” In this story we share our answers to…

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Behind the Scenes: How We Bring Geography to Life

One of the challenges for Trekking the Planet is how to make the sometimes dry subject of geography come to life. Because people respond to different forms of media, we chronicle our trip both in written form (with photos) and video form.

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The Third Lane: Everest Base Camp (Tibet)

The Third Lane refers to an imaginary path in the center of a road between the two directions of opposing traffic. It is used by impatient drivers to pass cars even though they are overtaking vehicles on narrow mountain roads. Darren writes about some of our most memorable road experiences…

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Europe Itinerary – Part II

During the second part of our time in Europe we will be visiting nine countries. Our stops focus on Eastern Europe and vary between cities, cultural areas, and national parks. Read the story to see our detailed itinerary.

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Africa Preview: Samburu Region

We will be spending a little less than two months in the countries of Kenya and Ethiopia, beginning in October. During our time in Africa we will be taking part in a variety of cultural and natural activities. We plan to spend several days in the Samburu region of Kenya.

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Our Upcoming South America Itinerary

We will begin 2013 in South America as we leave our ship in Manaus, Brazil. The next 10 weeks will be spent traveling through this continent, with stops in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile.

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Roughing It – Trekking the Planet Style

During our expedition we have made it a priority to travel to some of the most remote places in the world. When staying in these remote places the conditions can be less than optimal. Sandy discusses the balance we have used in ‘roughing it’ on this journey.

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In Pictures: Our School Visits

One of the most rewarding experiences of our 424-day journey has been meeting with students and visiting schools as we have traveled around the world.

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In Pictures: Our Treks – Part 1

While on our around-the-world journey to promote geography awareness, we trekked in some of the most remote places on the planet. In Part 1 of this story we look back at our first six treks.

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Worn Out

Darren writes about the state of our clothing and gear now that we are nearing the end of our journey.

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“Isn’t It Boring to be Home?”

It is hard to believe that it has been six months this week since we have returned home from our 424-day global journey to raise geography awareness. Sandy writes how we inevitably receive questions about what it is like to be home after being away for so long and whether…

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How we converted our 4Runner into a Camper

Camping is a main component of our U.S. National Parks journey, as we travel to 27 parks over four-and-a-half months. In fact, we plan to camp over 100 nights while driving round the United States. We decided to simply convert our 4Runner into a camper van (of sorts), giving us…

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How We Took the Ultimate US National Park Road Trip

We recently completed an interview, summarizing our favorite parks, challenges we faced, what worked well and our final thoughts from our Trekking the Planet National Parks Roadtrip Adventure. If you missed any of our stories from the parks, you can click on any of the map icons below to read…

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Twelve Hiking Discoveries Made While Trekking Europe

This summer, we trekked over 500 miles on four different long distance hikes in seven European countries. Even though we have now trekked over 3,000 miles in the past six years, I am always learning new things while hiking. So I wanted to share the twelve things I discovered this…

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