20 Reasons We Took Off

Since we've started planning this round-the-world journey, we keep getting the same question: Why? We couldn't come up with one good reason—so we came up with twenty. In no particular order, here are our ulterior motives for going nomad:

1. We'd rather wake up to the roar of the Amazon River than the screeching of an alarm clock.

2. Because fending off a drunken pervert in Central Park hardly constitutes as communing with the locals.

3. Hiking the subway stairs: 14 calories burned. Trekking the Inca Trail: 14,000.

4. We want to ban the phrases "in the loop," "per our conversation," and "out of the box" from our daily vocabulary.

5. Aussie's have walkabouts and Brit's take a gap year; isn't it time for Americans to break out their passports and get moving?

6. We'd rather get tan lines from lounging on the beach than worry lines from tackling endless to-do lists.

7. Have you ever seen a fat backpacker?

8. The real Wonders of the World can't be found on any map.

9. Gazing longingly at your "exotic locales" screensaver hardly compares to watching the sunset over the Serengeti or diving with the wildlife along The Great Barrier Reef.

10. The world is filled with yummy desserts just screaming for a taste test.

11. Because after six years of plugging into cell phones, blackberries and PDAs, we'd rather connect face-to-face with real people.

12. The phrases "burnout," "multi-tasking" and "quarter-life crisis" don't exist in most languages.

13. Natural disasters, poverty and illness have left billions in need worldwide. We want to lend three pairs of helping hands.

14. In 90 percent of the countries in the world, wine is cheaper than water.

15. Siestas. 'Nuf said.

16. The cost of a Starbuck's latte in the Big Apple will cover a week's lodging in Laos.

17. 'Cause we're suckers for guys with accents.

18. Cramming everything into a single backpack is the fastest way to simplify our lives.

19. As individuals, traveling is our greatest passion. Now that we've found our fellow Lost Girls, we'll never have to go it alone.

20. Sometimes you have to get lost in order to be found.