During the first long-term trip chronicled on this site I created a feature called the Round-the-World (RTW) Tally. This sidebar feature was a focal point on the site for the duration of the trip to give a quick snapshot into some of the highlights, low points, and important details of my travels including dollars spent, number of days on the road, countries visited, photos taken, all the way to number of squat toilets used (oddly enough, it was only 13).After the trip had ended, the RTW Tally was removed from our page to make room for new features. But with the upcoming long-term trip just a few short weeks away it is time to revive this feature in its full glory for the next 14 to 18 months! Since we are now traveling as a duo, the categories need revamped to cover the unique scenarios that us as a couple will be facing - and it is going to get very interesting indeed.
Returning Metrics
There were some metrics that were measured on the last trip that are just too good to get rid of. The following are some of the staples that our RTW Tally will feature that were present from the last trip.
Days on RTW Adventure: This category will roll up every update to reflect the number of days we've been traveling. The goal is to hit 500, but we'll see if our funds (see below) last that long. I'll sacrifice a good number of travel days if it means going to Antarctica, and I truly mean it. Angie, not so much.
Dollars Spent: This category will be updated to reflect our spending total on the trip thus far. Spending associated with points redemption, travel partnerships, or other comped categories are not tallied (but will be covered when the trip is over). This is only our personal out of pocket spending.
Pictures Taken: A running log of the number of photos we've taken between the two of us. If we make it to our 500 day target I suspect we'll be approaching 35,000 when this is all over with, thus doubling our photography collection nicely. This number may be inflated slightly due to duplicates that are not deleted right away being counted, but we'll do our best to keep it to unique ones! All of our photos will be continually updated on our Flickr account like always.
Countries Visited: A running log on the number of unique countries, islands, and territories we have visited during our trip. This number will count all countries with repeat entries as one (1) even if we enter and leave multiple times throughout our itinerary (For example, we'll be entering Austria 3 times but will only count it once).
Miles Flown/Overland: This number will include a breakdown of the total miles flown as well as a sum of all overland travel be it from train, bus, mini van, or ferry when moving from city-to-city. Below this figure we'll include a relative count on the number of unique planes, trains, buses, and ferries that we have traveled on to achieve this number. For the purposes of this metric, a flight may have anywhere from 1 to 4 unique planes depending on the number of layovers. This will be similar for other travel methods.
Days of Rain: A simple one, but important. We've crafted our itinerary to chase summer and dry weather as best we can; but from the last trip I know that even the best itinerary will have rain once every two weeks or so and we're hoping to extend that luck even further on the next one. A rain day will be defined as a day where we change our plans because it is raining so hard.
Sick Days: I was fairly lucky on the last trip that I was only severely sick for two days on the last adventure. For transparency, a sick day is not a day where we feel under the weather (those are relatively frequent) but are defined as days where you absolutely do not care to go out and explore and stay snuggled up in bed watching a movie and sleeping. As we are a couple, we will count both of us individually in this feature so if we are both sick on the same day that'll add 2 to the count.
Itinerary Changes: Our definition of an itinerary change is going to be relatively loose on this adventure. We don't really have a planned itinerary past our initial 2 months in Europe and only have a few major milestones we need to meet along the way. Since we could change our course of cities from our "ideal" route several times, we're only going to count the number of major route changes we come across along the way. This would include decisions to leave a country altogether, the addition or subtraction of a "ideal" route country, or visiting a different region than we originally intended in the same country (only in extreme cases).
Last Updated: The date of the last update of the metrics featured in the RTW Tally. Our goal is to update every 2-4 days, but sometimes we may be without internet for a few weeks (Nepal Base Camp, Antarctica, etc) and will miss it for a while.
Dead Metrics
Like all good things, a few of our older metrics will not be making it into this new iteration of the RTW Tally. For one, we need to make space for some new ones, and two, a few didn't live up to the excitement level I thought they would be the first time around. The following are a few notables:
Cold Showers: We actively seek out places that advertise warm water, so its not surprising that I hit it on the last trip only once a month. Since we have a higher accommodation budget this go around this number better be just as low and will otherwise just be taking up space.
Squat Toilets: Oh to be young and uncivilized to think that measuring the number of squat toilets used was a good idea. While I am older now, and still uncivilized, the need to measure this one is not as pressing. It happens. We've used them. We're over the fear now and can squat with the best of them.
Blog Related Category: When we were a new site the blog related category tallied the number of blog posts we had on this site, followers on social media, etc. As our posts are well over 650 now and over 9,500 followers on Facebook and Twitter combined, we can't update this one fast enough to keep it accurate.
New Metrics
Of course, getting rid of dead metrics means we have room for new ones! Since we are traveling as a couple, we thought it'd be fun to include a few new categories to cover unique scenarios that only those travelers in a relationship may face.
Number of Arguments: Hooray for a couples category! Any heated argument goes here; but, for sake of posterity, we'll ignore minor bickering as our sidebar isn't wide enough to cover that. Please be less than 50. Please? We wont start counting this one until the day of departure.
Number of Days Apart: Angie and I have already agreed that we may split up periodically during this adventure to pursue activities that we enjoy solo. I may want to go on a live aboard scuba diving where she doesn't join and she may want to go to a yoga retreat when I would rather hike. This category will count the number of days we spend apart (even if we reunite for dinner or overnight at the hotel).
Number of Dorms: We're married, we like to sleep in the same bed. It happens. We're going to try and stay in private rooms in hostels or budget hotels as best we can on this itinerary, but there will be some cases where the cost savings will be too great and a hostel with a shared dorm is warranted. This metric will only measure the nights that we split up and sleep in individual beds in the dorm arrangement and Jeremy finally gets a set of covers to himself.
Reader Picked Metric #1: Here is your chance to help us pick a category you'd like to see on our RTW Tally! Visit our Facebook Fan Page or comment below to let us know what you think should be a new metric that we should tackle on our RTW Tally! The two best ones will make it on our list and the submitter will receive a PDF copy of our book The Long-Term Traveler's Guide as a prize!
Reader Picked Metric #2: A second category like that above with comparable prize.
Looking to see the summary of the RTW Tally for the last long-term trip? Check out this link to find out some of the important numerical facts about the last grand adventure! Like the last trip, these metrics will be summarized when, or rather if, we finish the adventure!
