Last September, two college friends did something a lot of people dream about, but few actually do. They quit their New York City jobs to travel for more than half a year.
Over the course of their journey, Jennifer Diamond and Hilary Walke, both 26, made friends from around the world, hiked volcanoes, saw gorgeous scenery, and created unforgettable memories. In total, they visited 12 different countries in Asia.
They were just catching up on each other’s lives when the idea for the trip came up on the phone one night.
Click here to jump right to their photos >>
“At first it was casual — and somewhat hypothetical,” Walke told Business Insider. “We had been following The Lost Girls, three girls who were living in New York City and quit their jobs to travel the world for a year. We always felt our 10-day trips were cut short.”
Then it clicked. They booked two one-way tickets to Tokyo without a second thought.
"In terms of the itinerary, we looked at a map and checked off the countries we wanted to travel through. That was it," Hilary told Business Insider. "You can't plan 7 months of travel in advance, which is something that excited us."
Both had saved money by living at home after they graduated. During the six months before they left, they saved a bit more and settled on a budget of $20,000 for the year.
At the end of the trip, there was hardly any of the Asian continent they couldn't say they had seen: First they went to Tokyo, then Korea, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Bali and Indonesia, and finally, the Philippines.
Staying healthy was their biggest challenge. One night Jen got an especially bad case of food poisoning.
"With my friend totally out of commission, I had to carry two 35-pound backpacks,” Hilary said. “I was trying to communicate with people who couldn't understand me or where my guest house was.”
Most of the trip, though, was serene. Hilary’s favorite destination was the Indonesian island of Gili Trawangan.
"We were sitting in our beach bungalow with our local friends, playing cards, guitar, singing, laughing, unaware and unconcerned about where on the island our shoes were," Hilary said. "We were definitely wishing we could live in that moment forever."
Now they're back where they started — at least physically.
"Jen's an accountant and I'm writing, just like before," Hilary said. "But the trip changed who we are."
Hilary shared the trip photos with Business Insider. We've put them together in the following slideshow, along with her original captions.
Have an amazing travel story and photos to share? Send an email to thelife@businessinsider.com and we could feature your adventure next.
Our first stop in Tokyo. This was Japanese efficiency at its best — skip the waiters, go right to the ramen vending machine to place your order.
Tokyo arcades are as common as Chase Banks are in New York City. Kids and businessmen alike blow off steam at these overly stimulating technology playgrounds. Eye enlarging is an automatic Photobooth enhancement, but we didn't realize it until we had stared at the photo for a few minutes.
Here we are at Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto, Japan, where there's a path lined with thousands of holy torii gates.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider