This Odyssey happened as a result of my attempt to combine my bucket list trip to Easter Island with a work trip to Europe, to reduce jet lag and time wasted flying around. I had semi-planned the former, when I received the opportunity to work from our Netherlands office for two weeks. The timing was close; I could just about do them as two separate trips, flying westwards to Europe and returning, and then fly eastwards to Chile.
But it seemed inefficient. What if, I thought, I simply didn’t return home until I finished with both? I could adjust the timing of my Chile trip so that the two happened back-to-back. I’d be flying right to Santiago after I finished with work, and I’d fly home with a pit stop in Australia after that.
And that was how I ended up flying around the world, within 44 days.