Many people ask about our backgrounds. Both of us were born in 1970. We met at high school, dated for seven years, and married in 1995. We took jobs in the computer industry (last job for Wes: a product manager at Cisco Systems, last job for Jill: consultant at Calico Commerce). People ask us if we struck it rich and decided to travel. No, we didn't strike gold. We decided to travel because we wanted to do something adventurous before having children. In 2000, we tried a 4 month sabbatical to find out if we liked traveling. Then in 2001, we quit our jobs, sold our possessions, and explored the world, backpacker style, with an open itinerary. Our trip changed course when Jill became pregnant in Myanmar. We continued traveling for another 5 months and came home in May 2004 to surprise our parents. We're living with them in Maryland, working on a book about our travels, and waiting for a baby girl to arrive in September 2004.

We wrote this letter before beginning our trip in 2000:

"We've entered our thirties, a period that neither of us thought about as children. Not a big deal for some people, but we really enjoyed being twenty-something. Maybe you know that we're obsessed with the passage of time. The bad thing about time is that it keeps going. So what are we going to do? We're off to see the world."

"One thing about us, we are too ambitious. Our packed travel itinerary shows that character flaw. We overdo things. Furthermore, we are perfectionists who only pretend to be laid back. A trip of this magnitude, with the inevitability of screwed up plans, should help us find our zen. We'll also test our marriage. Can two people spend every waking moment of every day exploring the world without killing each other?"

	Wedding Toast Our Parents Palo Home In High School On the Bike
Our Wedding Day		At the Beach