New York City - Introduction

I'm not going to do the trendy travel blog countdown (1 couple, 2 backpacks, 3 continents, 4 lungs, 37 Q-tips, 12,000 dollars, and a dream...) but here is the deal: I am going to travel the Americas with my boyfriend, photographer Michael Simon, and we're going to document the trip. We're in our late twenties and have lived together for almost a year, so besides being a calculated grab at our dream careers, this trip is secretly the Final Test.

The plan is a compromise. I wanted to go back to India and on to Southeast Asia. Michael wanted to go to South America. The chance to become fluent in Spanish tipped the scales heavily and I agreed to South America--on the condition that we take the bus. Not to punish Michael for making me compromise, but because I love riding the bus. No, really. Much discussion and map-poring-over followed.

The current incarnation is this: We'll spend the next year riding busses from our home in Manhattan down the east coast of the U.S., along the gulf coast of Texas, through Mexico, Central America, and South America and eventually hit Antarctica. We'll visit the Gringo Trail Must-Sees (Macchu Picchu et al.) and also step out of the Lonely Planet and experience stuff we've never heard of. Sometimes we'll stop for a week of intensive Spanish study, then get back on the road to practice what we've learned. I'll write and Michael will photograph. That is the entirety of the plan. No reservations, no schedule and no idea where we'll be at this time next year.

Yeah, I know the route is not completely bus accessible. Or as a pithy Thorn Tree poster put it: "One question. The Darien Gap. How? "Well theres no rule that we have to have at least one foot on Mother Earth at all times. We're not trying to set a record for Most Painfully Contrived Trip Ever. (There's already some guy who unicycled to every Chinese restaurant in Norway or whatever.) Our trip will involve an occasional train, plane, car or boat to some otherwise inaccessible place. And of course visiting Antarctica will require a ship. And I make no promises--if the bus starts to suck, we'll do something else. But for now, we plan to ride the bus.

This trip has been done before, and photographed before, and blogged about before, but we're doing it anyway. Michael is a great photographer and is bringing a bunch of cameras, so his photos will be well worth viewing. I hope to write something both informative and enjoyable to read.

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Wish us luck!