Jamie and Michelle are stepsisters and best friends. They have always shared a passion for travel and adventure that the word wanderlust only begins to describe. The girls first met when Jamie was 11 and Michelle was 10. A year or so later, Jamie’s dad married Michelle’s mom and the rest was step-family history.

Michelle’s first memory of Jamie was that she was wearing a T-shirt that said “Save the Manatees.” Whatever happened to the manatees, anyway? Have they been saved? Since then, the girls have gone on trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Japan, and China together, but Southeast Asia is by far their longest and most ambitious trip. Will they survive 5-plus months on the road together?

JAMIE

Jamie is the first-born female of the Nadle family. Jamie has an unusually-shaped pinkie finger on her left hand. While many of her peers have made fun of the unusual pinkie, Jamie knows that it is what makes her special and is the source of all her magic mojo that will one day allow her to rule the world.

Jamie likes hiking and running and riding her bike really far. Like, why would you go that far when you’ll just have to ride back far.

Hidden talents and skills: Guitar. Yodeling. Shaking her eyeballs and freaking people out with her pinkie. Dance fighting. Freestyle rapping. Carrying a 100-pound pack through the Himalayas with little food and not dying. So … stamina and strong will.

MICHELLE

Michelle likes music, especially live music and outdoor summer concerts. Michelle likes to snowboard and surf. Well, what she means is she hopes to learn how to surf better in her travels, because as of now, she is quite bad at it. Michelle likes technology, specifically mobile technology. Michelle worked on the mobile and tablet apps at The Wall Street Journal before leaving New York to go sleep in hostels with no hot water for several months. Michelle hopes to be a mermaid one day. Though of course, wild unicorn, jungle princess, or president of the moon would do.

Hidden talents and skills: Shadow puppets. Balloon animals. Finding seaglass. The Gado-Gado discount. Good with maps and directions. Making the best of a bad situation, looking on the bright side.

Michelle has previously traveled to: China, Japan, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain, and admittedly not enough of the United States