January 17th never existed. At least for me it didn’t.

The year was 2003, and I was at the beginning of my first Round the World trip, flying west, across the International Date Line. When most Americans fly across the Pacific, they lose a day, but gain it back on their way home – often landing before they take off.

But not me.

Sure I “earned” the time back incrementally, one hour at a time, while I chased the sun west around the globe. But it didn’t feel like it. Questions haunted my mind: what if someone asks me to prove my whereabouts on January 17th? Do I celebrate my birthday a day late from now on?

At long last, eight years later, I will have the chance to regain what was lost. This week kicks off the first leg of our Round the World Honeymoon. Only this time, we will be traveling east.

When this trip was in its infancy, it was going to be a simple 3-week jaunt to the South Pacific. But being who we are, Amanda and I soon found ourselves pouring over maps and climate charts, assembling a trip that became a rousing (if somewhat obscure) hit parade of world wonders: The Trans Siberian railway… diving with manta rays in The Maldives… searching for tigers in India… scrambling over WWII wreckage in Palau. Throw in a couple stopovers like Iceland and Qatar, and three weeks evolved into 3-month, 13-nation odyssey.

Starting this week, we leave behind gloomy weather, toil and the incestuous humdrum of daily living, for adventure, wonder and romance.

And somewhere in the recesses of my brain, a tightly wound spring will begin to unwind. Equilibrium will be regained at last.

I will finally get my day back.