Around the World? Yes, Please!

It’s not every day you get an offer like this: We want you to travel around the world.

Well, halfway around it, give or take.

Our Digital Nomad, Andrew Evans, had a prior commitment and was only available to hop aboard National Geographic Expeditions‘ legendary Around the World by Private Jet trip midway through. Could I run the first leg of the relay until Andrew arrives (visiting some of the world’s most astonishing and iconic places along the way) and give him a high five on the other side of the globe?

Let me think about it.

SURE!

That was two weeks ago.

Today, I woke up near Peru’s Sacred Valley. Tomorrow, I will board a private 757 and fly to the next stop along this journey of a lifetime.

And this isn’t just any 757: It’s been fully customized for the expedition down to the smallest detail. But the jet has nothing on who’s inside.

My fellow passengers and I have full access to a host of experts in all fields — including the ever-eloquent anthropologist, author, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis, who described our journey as “skipping off the stratosphere like a skimming stone, then diving down to immerse ourselves” in the world’s wonders and cultures.

Machu Picchu. Easter Island. The Great Barrier Reef. On and on. It’s impossible not to be transformed by this experience. I know my view of the world’s gotten bigger already, and I’m only three days in.

Stick with me, and I’ll keep you posted on our progress, share our adventures from the road and from the air, send photos and reflections by Wade and his fellow National Geographic expert lecturer, Jack Daulton, and pump star photographer Massimo Bassano (who’s here to coach us) for his best tips while I’m out here in the field.

Next stop: Machu Picchu. Be good, and I might bring you a llama.

Follow Ford and Andrew’s journey as they circle the globe. Where will they exchange the baton? Your guess is as good as ours.