Air, Landier, and Sea

One month away- holy moly!

It seems like just yesterday Bryce pulled an all-nighter to get our names on the list for the 2022 Bucket list Trip.

I remember thinking, Oh, this is so exciting and so far away! In the meantime, we planned a wedding, got married, lived at the beach for a bit, I worked towards earning my Pilates certification and started a business, and Bryce grew his business and got accepted to a Harvard Business School program.

Needless to say, with all that keeping us busy, time flew by! And now it’s almost here!

So one month out, we’re starting to really get our ducks in a row- vaccines, buying excursion clothes, and making sure we have all the proper visas.

This post is just a little rundown of what we’ve done to prepare and what we’re looking forward to in one month’s time.

Where Are We Going?

In order to better understand the prep work and attired required, it’s probably helpful to know where we’re going.

From mid-July through mid-August we will be traveling from the U.S. to Italy, Romania, Rwanda, Kenya, Turkey, Seychelles, Nepal, Bhutan, and Switzerland.

We are traveling with 22 other couples, whom we have never met before. We think of it like the Amazing Race, except no one gets eliminated (unless you get COVID, then you’re out. *knock on wood that everyone stays healthy*)

We’re really excited about the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and share this incredible experience with them.

While we anticipate lots of adventure, we also anticipate lots of hot days! So sunscreen, hats, and bug spray are high on our to-pack list.

What We’re Packing

Bryce and I somewhat pride ourselves on overpacking in small suitcases- a strange passion, I know.

While traveling for a month would typically require a lot of clothes (especially in the summer where it’s not as fun to re-wear sweaty shorts from the day before) we are fortunate to have laundry stops frequently throughout our trip.

Knowing us, we will likely still overpack and pride ourselves in not having to do as much laundry as the other couples (#couplegoals).

Here’s the list of items I’m bringing:

In preparing for our trip, I had to figure out what items were essential to go to all the different countries we were visiting. Luckily, our travel company gave us a suggested list of things to bring.

Items like shirts and yoga pants I already had, but when it came to knowing what the best shoes, dresses, or safari gear, I utilized multiple travel blogs. It was helpful when they had links to the items they liked, so I decided to include that as well, in case anyone is interested.

• Tank tops (5)
• T-shirts (6)– If it were considered high fashion to wear jeans and a t-shirt, then I would be the next Gigi Hadid. As an expert on t-shirts, I love, love, love THESE t-shirts from Jane.com
• Dresses (3)– I’m super excited to try out my Outdoor Voices dresses (they have built in shorts!)
• Yoga pants (5)– Vuori studio pocket leggings are my new fave!
• Zip up jacket (1)– Once again, can’t beat Vuori
• Walking shoes (1)– Right now I’m testing out my Allbirds around the neighborhood to see if I think they’re comfy enough, so I’ll update the walking shoes.
• Sandals (1)– Sanuks are my go-to for any kind of travel sandal because the sole is made from yoga mats.
• Sun hat (1)
• Safari hat (1)– I’ve never needed a safari hat before, but I’m trying Eddie Bauer’s
• Long sleeve shirts (6)– I found the softest long sleeve shirts from Beyond Yoga
• Safari shirts (2)– These shirts from Columbia are supposed to be lightweight and have sun protection
• Safari pants (2)– Once again, don’t know what I’ll think of them on Safari, but I’m trying Eddie Bauer’s hiking pants
• Sports bras (4)– TMI but I’ve been desperately trying to find a sports bra I can wear all day and the only one I’ve found that I love is Third Love
• Shorts (2)– Lululemon have some of my favorite shorts for walking/exercising
• Bathing suits (2)
• Bathing suit covers (2)

Here’s the list of items Bryce is bringing (or at least what he’s tentatively planning on bringing- per usual, his shopping will be done last minute):

• Tshirts (5)
• Basketball shorts (3)
• Zip up jacket (1)
• Nice shorts (2)
• Button down shirts (2)
• Long sleeve shirts (3)
• Baseball hat (2)
• Safari hat (1)
• Safari shirts (2)
• Safari pants (2)
• Walking shoes (1)
• Bathing suit (1)

Since this is our official Honeymoon, we opted to skip the underwear- just kidding! We just figured you didn’t need to know where we got it from and if we enjoy wearing it (you do you).

If you’re curious how we got all these items into a carry-on, check out this video HERE!

Other items

As mentioned, sunscreen and bug spray are must-haves.

We prepared our clothes with mosquito repellant, and also are bringing Deet to put on over our sunscreen.

Shots All Around!

Unfortunately, we’re not talking Jell-O shots, but vaccines.

In order to enter countries in Africa, we needed Yellow Fever vaccines, and for the Asian countries a two-dose vaccine for Japanese encephalitis was also given. We opted to get our Rabies vaccines too. We also took the opportunity to booster up on all of our other vaccines (meningitis, polio, hepatitis, COVID, etc).

Needles(s) to say, our arms were sore for quite a few days, but well worth it to be as protected as possible.

What Else?

When travelling to certain countries, Visas are required to enter.

Fortunately for us, our travel company took care of most of them, and we just had to get our own Visas for Turkey and an East Africa Visa for Rwanda and Kenya.

Before applying for the Visas, I thought this was going to be a time-consuming task, which also had a long waiting process, but it’s actually pretty quick, especially for Turkey. All I had to do for Turkey was apply online and it was emailed to me within ten minutes of finishing the application.

The East Africa Visas we used Visas International. They sent us the correct paperwork, we filled it out, and they filed it for us, which took about a week.

Also, many people have asked us what it’s like to travel to this many countries with COVID and honestly, we don’t know. As I’ll likely say many times during this trip, we’re very fortunate to be going with a group that knows all the required COVID testing for each country, and is providing us with the tests prior to entry.

What We’re Planning on Doing

The short answer: SO MANY THINGS!

The travel company has an itinerary set for us that looks nothing short of incredible!

We’re starting out in Rome on our own and are planning on seeing the major tourist attractions, including the Vatican.

With the group, we’re set to do all kinds of adventures:

• Hiking Mount Etna (a live volcano)
• Seeing the endangered Silverback Gorillas
• Hot air ballooning in the balloon festival in Cappadocia
• Running with a Kenyan marathoner (hopefully not a long distance)
• Hiking to the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan
• Yachting in Florence
• Safari in Kenya
• Snorkeling in Seychelles
• Meeting the living goddess in Nepal
• And many other surprise “excursions”

What We’re Most Looking Forward To

There’s so much we’re excited about that it’s hard to really narrow it down, but as of right now, we’re most anticipating the following:

Bryce: Experiencing new things. More specifically, Bryce is most looking forward to seeing the Silverback Gorillas in Rwanda.

Katie: Getting to visit two new continents. I am also really excited to get to be part of the planned excursions our tour company has for us because I think they will allow us to experience more of the local cultures and customs.