It begins

1.8.2010 | Day 1 | 275 km | Helsinki, Finland

A sunny sunday morning and we're finally set for the liftoff. Last week has been really stressful, trying to realize that the two-year long planning is now reality and the plane takes off in just a moment. We arrived Helsinki last night to stay with our friend Jari and he drove us to the airport this morning. A perfect way to start the trip, with proper sleep and we're really, really excited to go!

Raging forest fires in Moscow have settled down a little, but it looks like we're going to experience the hot weathers from the day 1, since forecasts show 35c temperatures - and even brief thunderstorms.

And here we are in the first photo of the trip, Hannu on the left and Aleksi on the right.

Modern technology on tour

It doesn't come as a surprise, but I'm a technology geek. I love all modern gadgets money can buy. And just what that has to do with our trip? Simple answer, a lot... Hopefully.

First of all, obviously a camera is a must for a trip like this. I chose a camera with the ability to shoot high-res photos and full-HD videos, so that I can shoot with the quality of today, not something you'd record on a VHS tape! And as HD-videos require a lot of disk space, a netbook with a portable hard drive was in order. Hopefully 400gb of storing capacity will be enough... And a netbook comes really handy in multiple situations; Writing a blog, making different reservations for places to stay, renting cars ect and generally keeping in touch with the world. If it breaks down or gets stolen, things will instantly get tougher.

The coolest gadget I'm going to carry with me is still my Nokia cellphone. And I'm not even going to use it for calling, no sir. When trying to find a place to stay or while doing a road trip, a free navigation system included in the phone is a savior! But what I'm really looking forward to, is to record a GPS route where ever we go, to watch it after the trip and see exactly where we were. And as you might have seen in the footer of this blog, when there is an Internet connection available, I'll post our last GPS location for the maps.

The technology has advanced massive steps in couple of years, hasn't it?

But enough with the geek stuff. Days before liftoff from Helsinki, Finland: 10! :)

The planning

I have no doubts that some travellers can just pack a bag and head out there to see the world. That's not how we roll, because in the end me and Aleksi both have jobs where we need to be exactly after three months from the start of our trip. Just going without any plan wasn't a good option for us, and anyways we are not the kind of travellers who stuck to a specific place to relax for weeks or months.

So what we have done to plan the trip goes like this:

1. Searching info about Round-The-World flight pass, making the plans of the route and finding a good travel agency to handle all the official stuff. We found Matkaräätälit, which is part of travel agency in Finland called Suomen Matkatoimisto. Their customer service for our needs was really second to none and everything worked out easily. A Round-The-World pass allows you to choose a route and include all flights to one payment.
2. Getting vaccinated. Travelling, especially in Asia requires you to take a lot of different vaccinates and it's not really cheap. Hundreds of Euros have been injected to our bodies, but it needs to be done; You don't really want to die along the way...
3. Aquiring Visas for different countries. Matkaräätälit handled Visas to Mongolia and China, and we got Russia, Cambodia and Australia done ourselves. A slow process including sending passports to different embassies.
4. Buying equipment for the trip. I'm going with just a normal backpack that I should be able to take into flights with me, Aleksi takes a slightly bigger "hiking" backpack (not really sure what to call it in English), which will go with cargo. Since there will be VERY limited space available, a lot of stuff  had to be bought and it was another big expense. But it is what it is, we don't want to carry big suitcases with us!

Then of course a lot of other planning what do we want to see, to which cities we want to go, where to rent cars ect... Like said, someone can make all this happen in a heartbeat but we have used almost two years... And soon it's time to go, finally!

Days left before liftoff from Helsinki, Finland: 15.

A dream becomes reality

In 2007 I completed one major task from my "Things to do before you die" list; Drive North America from coast-to-coast. It was a 3,5 week journey with Aleksi, Petri and Anssi consisting 13 major cities and 10 000 km on the road. It was one dream come true, but was it enough? I thought so at the time, but year later me and Aleksi first joked about travelling around the world.

So, probably few minutes later it wasn't a joke at all and we started planning to do what's 1st in the "To do" list (I have already seen Metallica live, so that was already completed from the 1st place). Since the start of the planning, I haven't had a vacation since I wanted to save all days off from work for this trip. The first setback happened late in 2009, as an engine failure for my Mustang set me financially back to the square one; All the savings vanished as I had to buy a new engine. So how did I solve the money problems?

I sold my apartment. I asked myself why not, do I really need an apartment in Finland why I'm not even there? Nope :) Now, just over two weeks before the start of our journey I'm almost free as a bird, no bills waiting me to pay every month and that's just the way I want it.

So welcome to my first blog ever, if you're interested of hearing what's happening and possible looking some photos along the way. Don't hesitate to comment my blog posts, it would be fun to hear about friends while we are abroad!

Days left before liftoff from Helsinki, Finland: 16.

- Hannu