Explainer Post: Splitting Up

Hey, guys! Jack, here. If you have been following our Instagrams over the last couple of months, you may have noticed that we haven't been posting stories together or even from the same country. That's because after the tour in Egypt, we split up.

Most people assume that we broke up at some point. Not true, because we were never together. We were (and are) just friends. After five months of constant travel together, we just got to the point where we wanted to see and do different things in different ways. We, quite literally, wanted to go in different directions.

Jo was over North Africa, and, consequently, the Middle East. As a woman, traveling there can be a bit challenging. As a woman traveling with a man, traveling there can be a bit annoying and degrading. Shop keepers and restauranteurs would only take decisions on things from me when we were together, and not every man on the street was respectful of Western tourist women (to put it mildly). There were several times when she was literally pushed out of the way so they could talk to me.

On top of that, there were just other things she wanted to see and do before heading home, specifically in Southeast Asia and Oceania, like hiking, hanging on the beach, holding koalas, and going out. That's the great thing about travel: if you want to do something else, you can change your location just like that.

On the other hand, I had been looking forward to the Middle East since we started planning The Great Gallivanting. I was unwilling to compromise on going to Jordan, Iraq, and Turkey, despite all that was going on in Israel and the Gaza Strip at the time. I also wanted to see a bit more in Egypt before leaving.

In Tunisia, we came to an impasse over where was next, so we made the decision to part ways after our tour of Egypt. We figured we would cross paths again at some point (which we did in Australia), and both wanted to strike out on our own for a bit. Not to mention, we were two travelers who had been with each other 98% of the time for five straight months. Seriously, how many married people does anyone know that spend every waking moment with their spouse? Talk about a recipe for divorce.

So from here on out, these will be my stories. I'll be switching from this weird 3d-person/1st-person fusion perspective to just the 1st-person point of view. The same will be true on the YouTube channel and The Great Gallivanting backup Instagram channel. That said, you can still keep up with Jo over at her Instagram, @jo.goes.travel. Seriously, go follow her. She got her dive certification in the Red Sea, played in the sand dunes of Wadi Rum, and slow rolled it through Australia's East Coast. We'll also be linking back up for la Fiesta de San Fermin in Pamplona in July!

I'm looking forward to the next chapter of story telling with the blog and videos!