(Frequently Asked Questions)
Last Updated: March 4, 2012
Here we will post the answers to the questions that everyone asks us the most! If you have a question for us check here first and if you don’t see it posted contact us and ask it!
When did you leave on the trip? We left on our trip April 21st, 2007.
How long did you travel for? We originally planned to travel for up to two years, but purposely left the time frame open. Â After being on the road for 17 months, we returned home on September 7, 2008.
What route did you take? Here is a very basic itinerary. You can see a more detailed route on the Coomer Family World Adventures Travel Map.
Our first three months were spent traveling around the United States and Canada in our car.
After returning to Las Vegas for a week, we flew to Guatemala City and then traveled overland into Mexico, Belize and Honduras. This leg took about three months.
We then flew from Guatemala City to Los Angeles before connecting to Nadi, Fiji where we spent almost two weeks relaxing and taking in the local culture.
From Fiji we will flew on to Auckland, New Zealand. We spent around a month and a half exploring both of New Zealand’s islands.
We then flew from Christchurch, New Zealand on the South Island to Melbourne, Australia. In Australia we spent about two and a half months going all around the continent including a one month resting period in Newcastle.
After Australia we flew into Singapore and traveled around Southeast Asia for three months including visits to: Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
To start our final leg we flew into Macau and visited Hong Kong, Mainland China and Mongolia while also taking in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Our final stop on the way home was Japan where we turned a layover in Tokyo into a twelve day adventure trying to visit as much as we could in as little time as possible.
How did you finance the trip? We financed the trip with our savings and equity made through the sale of our house. We decided to leave behind ample money and were easily able to re-establish ourselves up our return.
Did you return to Las Vegas? Upon leaving on the trip we planned to settle down somewhere else upon our return, however after being away for so long, we missed our friends and family and ultimately decided to return to Las Vegas.
How did you teach Shawn Reece on the trip? Jasmine and I “home-schooled” Shawn Reece as we traveled around the world. We traveled with a laptop which contained educational software recommended to us. We followed the basic curriculum for our local school district and he was above his grade level in almost every respect when we returned. Â We feel the trip in itself was incredibly educational and he gained experiences that continue to add value to his life and his education.
Where did you stay on the trip? Each phase of our trip was a little different.  In the United States and Canada we stayed in mostly motels and campsites while in the rest of the world it was a combination of hostels and guesthouses.  Our travelogue has a lot more detail on the varying range of accommodations we enjoyed on our trip.
Are you crazy? Maybe a little, ok just my wife! …. Seriously this had always been a dream of mine for most of my life and one that I had tucked away when we became parents. Â In 2006 I decided to revisit the idea after many years of making very serious life changes. When I did some research I found that we weren’t the only ones considering the idea. I truly believe that life is one day at a time and I lived for too long putting all of my dreams in a drawer to be looked at some time in the future. Jasmine loves to travel as well and has always been supportive of all my endeavors including our various travels. Â Our life path over the two years prior to the big trip seemed to lead us to the road and everything fell into place!
I will continue to update this page as people ask more questions I feel should be answered here. As always please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting us through your feedback!