The Williams World Tour

Our Year of Travel Around the World

We've listed our Chicago condo and bid farewell to friends and family to set out on a year-long adventure. From savoring street food in Thailand to sipping espresso in Italian cafes, we're ready to experience all that the world has to offer. Many have asked us how we started planning and ultimately took the plunge into this adventure, so we've decided to answer some of these questions on our blog. Maybe this will even inspire you to embark on a similar adventure of your own!

Why did we decide to do this?

After graduating from college, we decided that we wanted to live in a big city and experience life abroad before starting a family. After achieving our first goal by living in Chicago for four years, we felt it was time to work towards our next adventure!

We considered the option of living in one international location for a year, but ultimately decided that we wanted to spend about one month in various locations over the course of a year to fully immerse ourselves in the local culture.

What does our year-long itinerary look like and how did we decide these destinations?

We chose our itinerary considering our shared interests, seasonal climate, and when we could visit family. We began with a long list of countries we wanted to visit and narrowed it down after researching and prioritizing our top destinations. Since we’re only bringing one carry-on suitcase and backpack per person, we’re traveling to each destination during their warm seasons to accommodate for our small load. From there we began mapping out our path based on warm weather and opportunities to visit family.

We are also planning about 3-months in advance, allowing flexibility to adjust our itinerary, incorporate new destinations, or modify the duration of our stay in each location.

Our journey begins in San Francisco, California, where we’ll spend two weeks visiting family before embarking on our international travels, starting with Brazil!

Following a month in Florianopolis, Brazil, we’ll travel to Montevideo, Uruguay, where we’ll spend another month before heading to Strasbourg, France for the holidays.

From Strasbourg, we’ll head to Thailand for our first stop in Asia, followed by a month in Vietnam to visit family in Cam Ranh. Our next destination is Japan during cherry blossom season. After Japan, we’ll venture to South Korea for our final Asian stop. Then, we’ll make our way to Australia before traveling to Germany to meet with family in July or August. The rest of the summer will be dedicated to exploring all over Europe!

You can also find our tentative itinerary on our Williams World Tour Page

Where will we be staying?

So far, we’ve booked our accommodations through Airbnb and plan to use a combination of Airbnb rentals, hotels, and staying with family throughout our journey. Airbnb rentals are convenient for us during long-term stays since they offer discounts for stays lasting at least one month and provide us with more space and fully-equipped kitchens.

How can people follow along with us?

We're sad to be leaving our friends and family for so long but are so excited to share this adventure with everyone. See all the ways you can keep in touch with us and follow along on our journey:

Sign up on the bottom of this page to receive updates on our blog
Keep up with our blog posts where we will be sharing our experiences and recommendations for each location
Track our current location and see our upcoming destinations on our Williams World Tour page
Follow us on Instagram for real-time updates
Follow us on TikTok for fun videos

We’re incredibly excited to share this adventure with all of you and we are so thankful to have you following along!