A little bit about myself to start things off. My name is Terry Heck. (toheckandback.com, see what I did there, pretty clever hey?) I currently reside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, arguably the coldest place on earth, mostly a thought by those that live here. I work in the trucking industry, in the office; driving for a living would suck the soul right outta me. I am engaged to my significant other Lisa, own a house, have two cats which came with my fiance, but I’ve learned to love them and we live a pretty normal life.

Now comes the reason I’m writing all of this…

I have developed an extremely intense sense of wanderlust as of late. You know, the itch you can’t get rid of, the thing that is always in the back of your mind. The need to explore, grow, be more in tune with other cultures. The sort of thing that not everyone understands or supports or needs for themselves.

I’m a dreamer, always have been. Working towards the next big thing, the next crazy idea of how I could live somewhere else, quit my job, leave for 3 years, whatever. It didn’t matter what the dream was, just that it was important that I kept dreaming and scheming and one day eventually it would happen.

I can’t count the number of times people would say “Why would you want to go there?” or “Why would you want to be away from home for so long?” The need to do these things, for those that DO get it, can be explained as a bit of an addiction, a constant need, a passion. That passion is what drives us to want to go out and see the world.

To be honest, up to this point, I’ve only been to all inclusive, four star plus resorts. I’m 32 years old and the exploration that I crave, hasn’t even really started. I always told myself growing up that I would be doing this one day. That I would see the ends of the earth and everything that came between them. The other voice in my head always had an excuse not to. Whether it was work, family, friends, or money. There was always some reason to stay instead of go. I know one hundred percent that there are many, many people who feel that same constant push and pull to stay or go as I have for years.

I’m looking to change that, and hoping to have people join me on my first journeys, and looking forward to have them stay with me on the many others I hope to take through the upcoming years. This is why I’ve started this blog. I want to help people get over that fear of first time long-term travel, live it with me, perhaps be inspired to do it themselves. If I can help even one person, who like me, is longing for something more, something out there in the rest of the world, to get up and follow their travel goals and push themselves to do so, then it’s all worth it.

Now that you know WHY I’m writing all of this, on to the plan!

Terry’s Big First Adventure, yeah, let’s call it that, why not?

May 28th to June 29th of 2015

The first of what I hope, and plan on being, many  more will be a European trip with my birth mother, Cecile, who I’ve known for only 12 years of my life. Lisa (my fiance, for those that can’t remember reading her name above) was supposed to join us, however there were some issues and unfortunately she is unable to come. Her and I will be planning a wedding when I come back and then this solo blog may turn into a husband and wife super combo blog (trademark pending, just kidding, use it if you want to). Cecile and I are taking this trip together to more closely bond  and we couldn’t be more excited.

10 countries in 30 days. It’s going to be a whirlwind of airports, trains, planes, taxis and subways. I think we are both up to the challenge and I think it’s a good way of getting to sample of a lot of different countries. It will help with the decision of where to visit for longer periods of time in the future.

The country list, in order of visitation:

Sweden, Ireland, Spain, Morocco, France, Poland, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece and Germany.

I will be documenting the build up, the preparation, and the gear list we have to start and hopefully updating the blog daily (likely every second or third day, let’s be honest) while we are on the trip going from country to country. I’m personally looking forward to the Gothic Architecture of Prague / rest of Czech and the ruins of Greece and Italy a great deal. Hopefully I won’t take too many pictures of those and bore you to death. I’ll make sure to add a varied assortment of content, you’ll see.

I hope that those that read these posts, follow our adventures or simply get an idea or two from us will enjoy coming along with us as much as I will enjoy having you in the passenger seat.