Questions and Answers

We love receiving questions from people -- whether they are armchair travelers or world explorers. We’ve even had questions from our own parents!

This spot is reserved for questions and responses in 2007.

If you have questions of us, please send them to mail[at]twogypsies[dot]com.

Q&A

Q: Tell us how you prepare for a new expedition.
R.T. Bellingham, WA

A: It’s different this time, since we our headquarters is now permanent (in Red Lodge, Montana) rather than mobile, as it has been the past seven years. Now we can fax things back and forth, and can be more easily “found” by people with whom we’re making arrangements.

One reason we have less time right now is Don’s continuing work on the biography of Senator Al Simpson. It’s a huge project of more than 700 pages. While we are in Asia, professionals we trust will be going over the draft, offering suggestions that we can follow up on when we return.

We prepare things at home as would anyone else, making sure bills are paid in advance and the house is looked after, etc. But this period “on the road” will be different, since, at seven weeks, it will be briefer than any previous adventure. In the past, we have set up a temporary headquarters -- for example, Thailand for the following year -- and have arranged travels from there after arriving. This time we must make all travel arrangements in advance.

For example, because we won’t have the time to investigate and take slow trips from place to place, we will fly more frequently. It is not easy making certain reservations -- intra-Lao flights on Lao Airlines, for example -- since it involves faxing credit information, paying half of the flight costs in advance the the balance in person (and in cash) at ticket offices in small, remote towns.

Because we won’t have the time to explore slow, inexpensive travel options, this seven week expedition will cost as much as previous trips of six months. A major expense has always been business class airfare to Asia, which allowed us to return quickly and without penalty when Don’s parents had medical emergencies, and is now required because Don’s back is still healing from his second spinal surgery in 18 months.

Another consideration involves arranging in advance to see friends, and knowing where they are before we leave. For example, our friend Thiam, a teacher, lives in a NE Thailand town so small that very few maps depict it. With the help of high resolution mapping and advanced GPS equipment, we now have it pinned down exactly. After getting within 50 kilometers we’ll have to following the GPS and use any kind of transportation we can find, but at least we know we will arrive there.

This time we’ll have to travel lighter. In the past, we have been able to leave most of our gear in temporary headquarters. This time we will have to take everything everywhere we go.

One great advantage is the Internet and E-mail. We have can arrange to meet our blind students in Kathmandu, for example, and set things up long in advance.

Even though we have a permanent home in Montana, we will continue to travel. For people truly in search of the world’s nooks and crannies, there is always a way.

A: I see you have planned a trip to South America. With all your traveling, is that continent new to you?
H.O. Boise, Idaho

A: No. We were both briefly in Venezuela, and Don has been in Peru, Brazil and Ecuador. Because Becky has not seen the amazing Machu Picchu in the mountains of Peru, we are going there. While in Peru, we will also spend time in Cuzco, Lima, Arequipa, and Puno, on Lake Titicaca. While at the 12,500 foot high lake, we will journey into Bolivia, which also borders the lake. This trip will be briefer than others, lasting only 30 days.