United Kingdom

While Nicole and I usually refrain from blogging when we’re not together, we’re making an exception for this spring break.
This wasn’t initially the case – we had planned for a week down Mexico way, but then duty called in the form of Nicole’s research assistantship. Thus, what was meant as low-key and relaxing Spring Break became two weeks for her on a research project in Ghana.
Left without plans, I jumped at the opportunity to participate in a Kennedy School-sponsored trek to Israel and the West Bank. I’d avoided similar trips in the past, mainly because of cost and focus, but this one seemed particularly interesting. The focus is on Israeli-Palestinian relations and reflecting Harvard’s incredible reach will include meetings with the Palestinian President, Prime Minister, and prominent business leaders.
Given that I consider myself a supporter of Israel, I’m not sure what my reactions will be, but I expect the trip will be incredibly interesting and eye opening at the least. I’ll certainly try to capture some of my thoughts here as the week progresses.

Until then, stay tuned…

With our flat packed up, we set out this afternoon and, after a two hour tube ride to Heathrow (thanks TFL), are finally on our way!
The past 2.5 years have gone by in a flash and leaving is certainly bittersweet. Who knows, the future might still bring us back down the line...
In the meantime, we've managed to get another set of recommendations for Cape Town thanks to a BA agent, so will have a busy next few days. Catch you all in South Africa!

It's hard to believe that in only three days, Jake and I will be starting our whirlwind, round-the-world adventure! For the next two months, we'll be wandering the globe - from Cape Town to Chile to China...and a lot more places in between - with only the shirts on our backs (well, honestly, with our extremely-well packed suitcases) and not a care in the world (at least that's what we hope!). It's going to be amazing!

This trip is special to us for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's our belated honeymoon! Most of you won't be surprised to hear that after Jake proposed to me, one of the first things we talked about was where to go on our honeymoon. It only took us a few minutes to realize: what better way for two globetrotters to celebrate their marriage than by going around the world? We started planning right away and haven't stopped since.

Second, this trip is special to us because it marks the end of our amazing ex-pat adventure in London. The past two (almost three!) years in the UK have truly been wonderful, and we are sad to say goodbye to our life here. We'll really miss our jobs, the friends we've made, British weather (just kidding!)...but we're hopeful that someday we might be able to move back here again.

Finally, this trip also marks the beginning of the next chapter in our lives - Graduate School! Jake has all but signed the dotted line on Harvard Business School, and I'm going to start a PhD program in Economics in the fall (although I don't know where yet - stay tuned). Quitting our jobs to travel around the world may not have been the most rational thing to do in the lead up to spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on our education, but it sure is going to be fun!

Anyway, we thought this blog would be the best way of staying in touch with our friends and family over the next few months. We are going to try to post regularly, and to keep things interesting we'll post photos as well. Feel free to leave us comments if you have recommendations, tips, complaints, etc. We only have one request - please, please do not give out this website address to any anti-aviation activists (take a look at the map of our journey above and you'll see why).

We hope you all enjoy reading about our travels!