About Me
I’m Jenny McIver Brocious – travel expert, blogger, and author of “The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting.”
I’m also a small business owner, a wife, a Silver Member of the Traveler’s Century Club, and a 16-time (very slow) marathoner. No, that’s not relevant here but any time you run 26.2 miles you should get to brag about it somewhere.
I’ve circumnavigated the globe 10 times, visiting more than 175 countries on all 7 continents. All while maintaining a full-time career.
How, you might ask?
It all started when I discovered the wonderful world of Round-the-World airline tickets.
It was New Year’s Day, 2005. I stumbled across the story of a Miami Herald writer who sold everything he owned and bought a Round-the-World ticket. He’d just returned from his year-long trip and the article recapped his globetrotting adventures in vivid detail.
I’d never heard of anyone taking a trip around the world, much less with a “round-the-world ticket” (what the heck is that?). But by the time I got to the end of that article, I had what Oprah might call an “Aha!” moment.
The idea just struck me like a lightning bolt. I knew I HAD to take a trip around the world.
But a year overseas was never a realistic option for me. As I mentioned, I have a business to run. I love my career and I didn’t want to give it all up to travel the world. There had to be a way to do both.
Ultimately, I settled on the idea of a one-month trip around the world and set out to make it count.
Exactly one year later…
I boarded a flight to Buenos Aires to begin my own bucket-list-shredding, trip-of-a-lifetime around the world.
From the Pyramids to the Taj Mahal to the Great Wall with as many places as I could squeeze in sandwiched in between.
I crisscrossed the globe like a contestant on the Amazing Race visiting 13 countries in 30 days.
My first RTW trip was love at first flight and quickly turned into an annual event each January (can you think of a better way to kick off the New Year?).
I quickly learned that Round-the-World travel is an efficient and affordable way to see the world. It wasn’t nearly as expensive as I thought but I did have a little help…
Business travel finally pays off
I’m a firm believer that anything worth doing is worth doing in style.
As a frequent business traveler, all those airline miles and hotel points help fund my trips. This translates into business class flights and 5-star hotels (most of the time) instead of buses and hostels.
In fact, in 2013, Money Magazine nicknamed me the “Miles Maven” for my ability to turn 2 million airline miles into 8 business class Round-the-World tickets. The feature article profiled “Super Travelers” and I’m proud to be included in this globetrotting group.
The “Miles Maven” Jenny McIver with Money’s July issue 
Check me out as a superhero in Antarctica!
I leverage a couple of programs to finance my RTW travel habit. As an Atlanta-based traveler, I’m a Diamond Medallion and a 2-Million Miler with Delta Airlines. For hotels, I’m a Lifetime Titanium Elite with Marriott Bonvoy (my favorite) and a Diamond elite member with Hilton Honors.
Committed globetrotter
Since that first trip in 2006, I have planned nine subsequent annual RTW trips.
My first 9 RTW trips were solo adventures. But after RTW #9, I met my husband, Dave. We got married in Italy. (Because, travel addict. Also, gelato.)
And RTW #10 was the most incredible trip yet – our honeymoon!
In addition to the annual RTW trips, I’ve also done six, month-long summer trips through Europe, Oceania, the Balkans, Central America, the Himalayas, and a month from Moscow to the Med. Unlike the RTW trips, those trips focused on a certain region in-depth.
When not on the road for business or pleasure, Dave and I split our time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Bavaria, Germany (where he works as a military contractor).
Some of my favorite places in the world are Greece, Thailand, Italy, South Africa, Easter Island, Moorea, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Antarctica. I try my best to get back to each as often as possible but some, like Antarctica, were truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I am fortunate that much of my work as a self-employed event planner can be done from anywhere – as long as I have my laptop and decent internet access. Back in 2006, working remotely was a rarity. But these days, of course, it’s common. My motto has always been:
If you can work from home, you can work from Rome.
Jenny McIver Brocious
The Bottom Line?
Traveling around the world doesn’t have to mean quitting your job and setting off for a year. You can combine wanderlust with your work life, more and more people are doing it every day.
My book, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting, can help you plan your journey from start to finish.
If there’s one thing I hope you will get out of exploring this site it’s that anyone really can do a round-the-world trip. In fact, I think everyone should!
It’s the single most efficient way to see the world and it’s not as expensive as you think.
As you explore the site, you’ll find each of my Round-the-World trips grouped under a single drop-down menu. Regional 30-day trips and marathons are listed next under “More 30-day Trips.”
And of course, there are lots of other destinations I’ve written about that weren’t part of 30-day trips. So if there’s a particular destination you’re looking to find, hit up the search bar in the upper left.
Planning a Round the World trip?
If you’re planning your own Round-the-World trip (and I SO hope you are!), you’ll find everything you need to know conveniently located under Round-the-World How-To.
I’m always happy to answer questions from readers who are planning their own RTW trips. So if you have a question…shoot me an e-mail, post a message on my Facebook page or send me a Tweet!
People often tell me that someday I’ll tire of all this traveling and crave being in one place.
Maybe so…but not today.
Happy Travels,
Jenny
A Note About Copyright: All of the images on this site hold my copyright. That said, I heartily encourage you to share them as long as they are properly linked back to the source page on this site. You can find out more about Image Licensing here.