Hello world,
We are Julie and Carlos – welcome to our travel blog, Our Global Trek! This has been quite some time in the making and it’s a bit surreal to be writing the first official post.
First, let us tell you more about ourselves:
Julie
- Young Julie enjoying winter in Harbin.
Julie was born in China, in the northeastern city of Harbin, known for its bitterly cold winters and beautiful ice sculptures. At the age of 9, she immigrated with her parents to Canada, where they settled in the equally cold and beautiful city of Calgary (to be fair, most of Canada is pretty cold). After the initial culture shock, Julie aimed to be the best that the two cultures that she grew up with has to offer. She went on to attend college in the US to study Bioengineering.
Carlos
- Young Carlos riding a donkey on the beach.
Carlos was born and raised in Brazil, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, known for its coastal beaches and European influence. Descendant from Germans and Portuguese immigrants to Brazil, he grew up in Blumenau, a city known for Oktoberfest. After his first international trip at the age of 16, Carlos set his sights on seeing more of the world. He went on to study Mechanical Engineering in the nearby island of Florianopolis (with amazing beaches, of course).
Needless to say, we had very different upbringings and childhood life experiences. This leads us to the pretty unconventional way that we met (though it does make for a nice story).
How We Met
During college, Julie and Carlos both fulfilled their dreams of studying abroad – at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in Zurich, Switzerland. We happened to be neighbors in the same student house and met for the first time. It was there that we discovered our shared passion for travel, food, and learning about new cultures.
- Julie and Carlos at Jungfrau, Switzerland
Why We Are Blogging
The main purpose of this blog is for us to share our travel stories. While we traveled throughout Europe, neither of us bothered to properly document our trips and adventures. Oh, of course we took pictures, and even posted some on Facebook (well, Carlos did, Julie got lazy), but no one wrote down the details – the unexpected experiences, the funny anecdotes, the ups and downs of traveling to new places. Looking back, while we remember most of it between the two of us, there was also so much more that we let slip through the cracks. From now on, with this blog, that will no longer be the case.
We also want to use this blog as an opportunity to showcase not only the amazing places around the world, but also why travel is such a priority for us. From our experience, traveling is not only a fun adventure, but some of the best life lessons you could ever get. You learn so much about yourself – what’s important to you, what you’re capable of, and ultimately, what you want out of life. There is no better way to see the world from a different perspective, to push beyond your comfort zone. It’s our hope that we can inspire others to take their own adventures and learn their own lessons, all while having a blast.
We plan on blogging extensively during our year in Asia as keeping up with the blog is one of our main goals for the trip.
We Want to Hear From You!
We look forward to hearing all of your thoughts and feedback! We would love for you to be involved in the conversation – your comments are highly encouraged and appreciated. Shoot us an email, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and as always, subscribe to our newsletter. We’re excited about having you on this trek with us.