This Will Be Me

Friends, I have a new obsession: this couple and their crazy, wonderful, globe-trotting adventures. And their blog about it.

Yuriy and Julia got married in September, and three days later set off for a six-month trip around the world – stopping in France, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Thailand, Singapore, Australia...et cetera. And like I said, I’m obsessed with this entire concept. It’s wonderful especially because they obviously planned this out and have many practical tips (how to pack a suitcase, their overall plan, etc.) but at the same time, it blows my mind that they actually took the risk and did it, even knowing they’d return home broke. (But some experiences are worth more than money, right?) I’m a little bit upset about only discovering their blog as they are flying back to the States at the end of their adventure…but luckily, they are still catching up on Lviv, Ukraine, so we still have a slew of posts coming our way about all their Southeast Asian adventures since then!

And speaking of Lviv, this couple gets bonus points because after these pictures (can we talk about how these two happen to both be wedding photographers?), this city is now on my list of places I want to go:

(Seeing as Budapest and Prague were already on my list, though, it shouldn’t be too hard to catch a train over, right?)

Also, as both Yuriy and Julia were born in Ukraine but raised in the States, I’m loving reading about their reactions to going back to their home country:

Back home, I felt like I knew Slavics very, very well (I use the word Slavic because it encompasses Ukrainians and Russians). I knew what kind of cars they drove, the food they ate, and where they shopped. I knew they were cheap and had big families. I knew they shopped at garage sales and loved volleyball at the park and only lived in the suburbs--the bigger the house the better. I could spot a Ukrainian at the grocery store or in the car next to me at a stoplight. Yet in this country called Ukraine, I suddenly felt like I didn’t really know them all that well. I couldn’t pick one from the crowd. Suddenly I was the minority and trying to fit in. How strange to think that I’m a Ukrainian trying to be Ukrainian, when I had spent all my life trying to be an American.

Given my own born-in-America-raised-in-Ethiopia story, I appreciate having these sorts of experiences articulated by someone else.

Sorry to rave so much about these two (except, not really)…but I am just in love with this entire concept. And I want all of y’all to be aware that this is happening some time in my life. 


Note to self: be sure to marry someone who will agree to this insanity.