Like many, eco-conscious couple Drew Weiner and Val Sarver often found themselves fantasizing about quitting their jobs and following their dreams. But unlike most, they actually did it. Breaking away from the parameters of their nine-to-five dot-com lives in California, they embarked on a yearlong trip around the world to experience different cultures and learn about local environmental issues. "The more we saw the environment in trouble the more we wanted to change the direction of our lives," recalls Val. "Drew said, 'Why don't we stop waiting to win the lottery and just do it?'"

The sojourn, which the couple dubbed Eco-Odyssey, began in March 2001 and lasted for a little more than a year. During that time, Drew, 36, and Val, 32, visited 16 foreign countries—shuttling between such exotic destinations as Fiji, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Greece and Egypt—where they met local people dedicated to environmental causes and spent time working alongside them. In order to share their adventure, Drew and Val posted journal entries and digital photos to their website. Ultimately, about 700 people worldwide subscribed to the site's e-mail newsletter.

Their trip wasn't entirely impulsive—Weiner and Sarver began planning, and saving, during the spring of 2000. Within a few months the company Weiner worked for went under, and shortly thereafter, Sarver left her job. "The hardest thing was giving up the lifestyle, the security," Weiner says. "We sold all our possessions. It really took a leap of faith."

That the leap was worth it becomes immediately evident when viewing Drew's intense underwater photos, ranging from a school of barracudas in Fiji to giant manta rays in the Socorro Islands of Mexico. Both Drew and Val are avid scuba divers, so marine ecosystems were a primary focus. "It's the one place on the planet you can actually be in an ecosystem and be able to interact with animals without worrying about being eaten—of course, you have sharks now and again," Drew says. "If you go to the Serengeti, you can't get out of your car and mingle with a lion pack. But I was feet away from a moray eel with its mouth wide open, fangs totally exposed. That's a remarkable feeling."

Val recalls a few dives in Dahab, Egypt, during which she and Drew collected "crowns of thorns—starfish that devour coral and monopolize reefs that have been stressed by humans. Removing these destructive creatures "was one of the neatest experiences," she says. "You could visibly see the difference you were making."

They made a difference on land as well. One stop that both remember vividly was a visit to an elephant nature park in Thailand that takes in mistreated pachyderms. Val fondly recalls bathing an elephant, an experience captured for posterity by Drew's digital camera, and posted on the Web. Another highlight of the trip was traveling on the back of a camel through the Sinai Desert in Egypt, accompanied by the nomadic Bedouin people.

The Eco-Odyssey opened Drew and Val's eyes, especially to the lives of people in developing countries, and expanded their social network significantly. "We have friends now in just about every country we visited whom we still talk to and could go visit," says Drew.

He and Val also say their travels improved their relationship and their feelings about themselves. "I started the trip with a major attachment to money issues, which is normal in America," Val says. "By the end, I was completely free of that. And I haven't gotten back into any old bad habits." Today she and Drew live in Oracle, Arizona; she teaches children about the environment while he's working toward his master of public administration in environmental science.

After Drew graduates in May, the couple would like to work abroad, perhaps in Thailand or New Zealand, for an extended period of time. "Traveling is really important to me," Drew says. "It's now part of my core."

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Photo Gallery: Drew and Val's Travels