So here it goes, blog post number 1 on our "five and a half to six month" long trip, which started out as "two to three months". We are making no commitments on frequency of posts, or whether they will be interesting, but we will give it a good shot to keep our dear family and friends updated on our journey. Rachael and Oscar's journey. RandOsjourney. When we mentioned that we were planning on keeping a blog during our trip there was an interesting range of reactions:

• "Fvck off, I don't want to hear about your 6 month trip. Call me when you are back. I hope it rains on you." (anonymous)
• "Make it funny!" (V-man)
• "You know me, I hate blogs, facebook, twitter and those sort of things… Here is my advice for your trip, have lots of sex and get some sleep, because once you come back and start having babies there will be none of that" (Hampus, proud father of two gorgeous children)
• "Blog?" [raised eyebrows and a straight mouth with a little smile] (Mamma Sundholm looking a bit lost as it sounds like she might need to log into that internet thing to do something on it)

I guess we should start by listing the high level plan (there is also a very detailed one in excel, which is borderline embarrassing - we like to plan things), and we both like "stats/numbers", so let's stick to that:

• 1 journey
• 5 continents
• 5.5-6 months
• 11 countries
• 19 flights (we can hear a little hiss-boo from our greener friends)
• 49 kg of (attempted) checked luggage
• Plenty more cities (we don't feel like counting right now)
• Even more miles/kilometers (we don't feel like counting - this website said it would - we'll see)

Despite some pretty excellent planning and execution (primarily by Rachael) in the pre-departure phase, most of Oscar's packing was done in the final hour before leaving for the airport. This included my new iPod nano purchase to make myself feel cool with a new gadget… last time I bought an iPod was in 2003 in NYC and it had 4 buttons on it, and people actually gave you a look of coolness approval on the subway because you had some white earphones which meant you had the latest toy on the block. Fast forward to 2012, and you have 31 one year old dude feeling very un-cool because it took him 15 mins to figure out how to set the time on his new iPod nano… As we were leaving Flat 5 London Spa Court, Don (our Flat 5 babysitter whilst we are gone) was making himself comfortable and the transition was already evident. There was a dark patterned manly bedspread on our bed, and there was "Friends" (usually prohibited in Flat 5) on the TV. We made our way to the airport, tried to check in our 24.5 kgs each, before having to shift a few kilos to Oscar's carry on backpack to avoid any excess luggage fees. (We are now excited every time we use some shampoo/lotion/toothpaste as we are very slowly shedding weight…) The check-in line for our flight to Bangkok had its usual fill of giddy ugly/fat men with multiple tattoos and their fresh 4mm hair cut in the plus 40 category excited about their jolly in Thailand, but I won't get into a rant about that here, but it saddens me every time. Maybe later on our journey if we come across it I'll rant some more. The check in dude was the most annoying check-in dude I have come across as he decided to update on the loud speaker every 20 seconds on what row he was boarding. i.e. "Now boarding rows 50-75" (repeat once. wait 20 seconds.) "Now boarding rows 49-75" (repeat once. wait 20 seconds) "Now boarding rows 48-75" (you get the point). He was the first person I wanted to punch on this trip. I'm looking to keep this list to a minimum during our trip, but I will keep you updated. We called our families for a final goodbye. Pappa Sundholm was drunk at a party up in Gothenburg, Sweden, which he called "one of the best parties I have ever been to". Whilst mother Patty wanted to make sure that we had our jewelry locked away in a safe place, and she wanted the details to the safe in case "something happened to us" during the trip. We love you both! So here we are, at the start of our "five and a half to six month" trip and what are we feeling and thinking? On the one hand it still feels surreal that we are completely checking out on our usual day-to-day life for six months, and it might only hit us a few weeks into our trip. No work. No routine. No "sorting sh1t out" or "admin". No sh1tty weather. (maybe a bit optimistic) On the other hand, we are hugely excited about what lies ahead. New places. New people. New cultures. New food. New experiences. New lots of stuff… It is difficult to sum it all up and I don't think we fully understand what lies ahead of us (which in itself is exciting), but ultimately we are pumped and cannot wait to go on this journey together! Boom - we are off! RandO