March 3, 2001: The self-dubbed “Wander Boys” climb the Inca Trail and explore the ancient ruins at Machu Picchu.
July 4: Searching for fireworks and barbecues in Bulgaria—the 21st country on their journey—the boys find solace (and lunch) in a McDonald’s.
September 11: Desperate for news, they camp out in the hotel lobby at a Hilton in Hanoi, Vietnam, and spend the day watching CNN.
December 11: After 341 days, 133 hotels, 89 bus trips, 60 train rides and 31 plane flights, it’s over. Carlos Fonseca and Scott von Lossberg, both ’95, board a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to Los Angeles and complete their yearlong journey around the world.
“We didn’t like our jobs, didn’t have serious relationships, had the money to do [the trip] and somebody to do it with,” explains Fonseca, a former Los Angeles-based attorney.
Though they had only each other—“I don’t think married couples get along as well as we did,” says Fonseca—he and von Lossberg never lacked moral support. Family, friends and dozens of groupies followed their progress through 40 countries at www.watchuswander.com.
“The website took on a life of its own,” says Fonseca. “People had to get their fix every week. My aunt’s daughter’s third-grade class in Chicago was following our trip, [as was] Scott’s mom’s hairdresser.”
Now the challenge is to find jobs as interesting as their trip. “When I was working, I couldn’t even remember what I did the day before,” Fonseca admits. “I can sit down and tell you what I did every single day last year because each day was so unique.”
