We’ve finally escaped the daily grind! Well… at least for about a year or so. After nearly 4 years in the real world (well at least for me, Erin had some adventures of her own and joined the working class about 2 years ago), we’ve decided to pack up a few bags and travel the world.
The craziness begins on February 26, 2011 with the wedding of the decade: the Given-Sardo Nuptualpalooza. If you weren’t able to make it, check out the broadcast of the Prince William/Kate Middleton wedding on April 29 for a scaled down/less jubilant version of what you missed.
Two days after the wedding we take off for our year-long honeymoon. First, we fly to Paris, France for 6 days of looking at art, eating buttery carbs, and taking at least one picture of Erin pretending to hold the Eiffel Tower in the palm of her hand. I’ve been given two rules for this leg of the trip: I can’t bring my American flag pants, and I can’t wear jeans with sneakers. So far, Marriage – 1, Brian – 0.
From France, we fly to Cairo, Egypt for a 37 day guided tour through the Middle East with a tour group company called Overland Oasis. The tour goes all over Egypt, through Jordan and Syria, and across Turkey. On the trip we’ll get to check out a ton of cool places like the pyramids in Cairo, the oldest city in the world in Damascus, the amazing mountain carved buildings of Petra, and the bazaars of Istanbul. OK, I confess, I definitely had to Wikipedia each city in order to pull out a highlight. Hopefully, this trip broadens my horizons outside of Hokie football and Dominos Pizza.
After the Middle East, we fly to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, where we will be volunteering for about 2 months. We will be working primarily with the NGO our buddy Blake works for. We will be doing all sorts of different tasks and will get a chance to work with both kids and adults. Also while in Africa we plan on taking a Safari around the Serengeti in Tanzania/Kenya and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Hopefully they have that escalator installed by the time we get there or that assent could get a little dicey.
This should take us through about mid-July upon which we will be coming back home, after a week in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (when did Holland switch its name?), to hang with family and friends for about a month or so before departing on the second leg of our trip: teaching English in Thailand.
During this trip, Erin and I will be updating this blog with awesome pictures and witty commentary (if Erin assumes control, otherwise you’re going to get a lot of blurry shots obscured by my finger and lame jokes). Feel free to post comments on anything you see on here. We really want this thing to be a way to stay in touch with everyone, so that when we get back you guys still remember our names. Wish us luck!!
Very cool idea. I look forward to hear about your adventures.
This is an epic trip; I can’t imagine how much fun it’ll be. At least you didn’t choose to spend six months in India. Sean is an idiot.
Erin, please let him wear the flag pants. And a matching t-shirt that says, “America! Fuck yea!” I hear the French are all about individual expression.
Wow Given(s)!! Sounds like a crazy adventure! And I’m glad to see ur wit is still sharp as ever! thanks for making all of your friends’ subsequent honeymoons look like chump change… congratulations and safe travels!
Can’t wait to stalk you guys…you’ve got quite the journey ahead of you! Thanks for doing this website for people like me who will live vicariously through you both!
YESSS. I can’t wait to stalk this. Expect hundreds of comments.
Erin, Brian, Have soo much fun on your travels!!!!….. Plan your hiatus for Oct 1 so we can take another kid’s pic!