Jordy Borg and Martina Gerada, both University of Malta medical graduates, have put their careers on hold to travel the world one continent at a time, starting with Africa. Their journey began on July 22, when the two started their trip with Cape Town, South Africa.

This is a dream come true. It was not easy to give everything up to go on a trip around the world. But we are sure that it will be worth it in the end, we will have many memories to cherish.

The perfect time is now. We grasped the opportunity when it came. We worked hard and saved up some money and knew that the more time passed, the more harder such a trip would be.

Martina and Jordy in Namibia

We started backpacking in Africa. So far, we have visited South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar and Tanzania. We plan to volunteer at a hospital in Mount Meru, Arusha. Then we head to Asia, where we plan to stay until the beginning of next year, and then South America. We also would like to stop in some countries in Asia and South America to carry out voluntary work. However, in such trips it is important to be flexible with our plans and adapt to the situation at the moment, so we will see how our these unfold.

Keep learning about the world we live in. We have been travelling for a month, and we are already learning a lot about the countries and cultures we visit. It has broadened our perspective on life. We are also living very independently in countries with different amenities and resources, so we are learning to be more practical.

Family is precious. We are enjoying our trip a lot, but it was not easy to leave our family, friends and colleagues back in Malta. We look forward to seeing them and sharing stories from our trip with them. We’ve created a Facebook page to keep them updated with our latest activities and whereabouts. We also miss the delicious Maltese food and just spending a nice day at the beach with a good ħobż biż-żejt and a bottle of Kinnie.

Never say never. The plan for now is to return to Malta and resume our medical training in mid-2020. At the moment we have no plans to move elsewhere. But we do not know how the future will play out.

Follow their adventure on Instagram and Facebook.