Quit your job, quit your house, reserve about half a year, some money, book a ticket and you're set: Adventure guaranteed!
Besides having 'that restless feeling' since some time, the direct trigger for actually doing this came when my parents invited me and my sister to join them on their trip of a lifetime. Both have recently turned 65+, apparently an invitation to start checking off some overdue bucket list items: a trip to New Zealand. For me, the thought of being on the other side of the planet for a month made me wonder whether it wouldn't be a better idea to stay around a little longer.
Japan was high on the list of must-visit countries, mostly because of its unique culture. South-America was also high on the list, especially the Spanish speaking countries. An internship in 2008 in Madrid taught me a little Spanish, and a serious crush on the Spanish way of living. Being embedded in the language and culture again, actually learning the language correctly, instead of keeping it at my current gesticulating infant level: a great outlook!
Investigation into what this would cost (ticket-wise) introduced the flyertalk forum to me, and with it the concepts of mileage, frequent flyer plans, and round the world tickets. It became clear, that for slightly more money than the separate tickets would cost you can also purchase a ticket allowing 16 stops around the globe, with flexible travel dates! This added a lot of options and destinations, so without further ado, let me put up a rough schedule:
26th of January: AMS-LHR-SIN-SYD-CHC (28th january 23:55)...
I'll arrive as a total zombie in New Zealand
February:
Traveling New Zealand (south and north Islands) by car together with my parents and sister. Accommodation and sites booked in advance. A separate blog will be kept for this trip, so probably not much of the adventures there will make it onto this blog.
25th of february AKL-KUL
A couple of days of exploring a new Asian megacity...
27th of february KUL-NRT
Two weeks in Japan.
15th of march NGO-HNL
A week in Hawaii... well what would one do? I'm thinking: diving, wave surfing, cocktails and beach: chill-out time!
22th of march HNL-LAX
currently I have a month of US Westcoast planned. Looking at all the great stuff you can do there I will probably increase the time of this leg. Things to do/see: Bryce, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Death Valley, Bonneville Salt flats, Yellowstone, Montana (birth state of my grandmother), Giant Redwoods, San Fransisco, Las Vegas... and perhaps even a trip to Texas... enough for a year worth of travelling...
21th of april LAX-MIA
A week in Florida. Chill-time. Beach, nature, NASA, perhaps some diving/snorkeling.
28th of april MIA-EZE
Buenos Aires. Probably homebase for at least a month, although it is an expensive city. After a couple of months travelling it will probably be nice to settle for a little bit: get an appartment, sign up in a language course, meet some people with whom you can actually spend some more time, etc.
The plan after this is pretty much open and flexible. I would really like to do an internship on a scientific research station in Chile. If this happens I'll have a clear target and schedule from Argentina to Chile. If it won't go through I'll be really flexible, I could spend more time in Argentina, or go to Chile earlier. In the end I have to arrive in Lima, Peru though. On the way there's lots to see: desert, the Andes, Macchi Picchu, and probably a million other things that I don't know anything about yet.
27th of july LIM-MAD
A long weekend in Madrid to enjoy the company of some old friends there. Hopefully I'll be able to converse in Spanish now fluently, avoiding the 'lost in translation' challenges that often occured during my first stay in Spain.
1st of august MAD-HEL-AMS
For mileage reasons I originally chose FinnAir to fly me around the globe. This flight is a legacy of that choice. I might change it to actually let me explore Helsinki a bit.
Well, that's it for the first post. At least you now know when to book tickets to where if you're thinking about meeting up somewhere. I hope to be updating this blog regularly, however, time should ofcourse be spent on the road, not behind a computer. Especially when travelling, so no promises yet.
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| Round the world flight map generated by Great Circle Mapper - Copyright Karl L. Swartz |
Japan was high on the list of must-visit countries, mostly because of its unique culture. South-America was also high on the list, especially the Spanish speaking countries. An internship in 2008 in Madrid taught me a little Spanish, and a serious crush on the Spanish way of living. Being embedded in the language and culture again, actually learning the language correctly, instead of keeping it at my current gesticulating infant level: a great outlook!
Investigation into what this would cost (ticket-wise) introduced the flyertalk forum to me, and with it the concepts of mileage, frequent flyer plans, and round the world tickets. It became clear, that for slightly more money than the separate tickets would cost you can also purchase a ticket allowing 16 stops around the globe, with flexible travel dates! This added a lot of options and destinations, so without further ado, let me put up a rough schedule:
26th of January: AMS-LHR-SIN-SYD-CHC (28th january 23:55)...
I'll arrive as a total zombie in New Zealand
February:
Traveling New Zealand (south and north Islands) by car together with my parents and sister. Accommodation and sites booked in advance. A separate blog will be kept for this trip, so probably not much of the adventures there will make it onto this blog.
25th of february AKL-KUL
A couple of days of exploring a new Asian megacity...
27th of february KUL-NRT
Two weeks in Japan.
15th of march NGO-HNL
A week in Hawaii... well what would one do? I'm thinking: diving, wave surfing, cocktails and beach: chill-out time!
22th of march HNL-LAX
currently I have a month of US Westcoast planned. Looking at all the great stuff you can do there I will probably increase the time of this leg. Things to do/see: Bryce, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Death Valley, Bonneville Salt flats, Yellowstone, Montana (birth state of my grandmother), Giant Redwoods, San Fransisco, Las Vegas... and perhaps even a trip to Texas... enough for a year worth of travelling...
21th of april LAX-MIA
A week in Florida. Chill-time. Beach, nature, NASA, perhaps some diving/snorkeling.
28th of april MIA-EZE
Buenos Aires. Probably homebase for at least a month, although it is an expensive city. After a couple of months travelling it will probably be nice to settle for a little bit: get an appartment, sign up in a language course, meet some people with whom you can actually spend some more time, etc.
The plan after this is pretty much open and flexible. I would really like to do an internship on a scientific research station in Chile. If this happens I'll have a clear target and schedule from Argentina to Chile. If it won't go through I'll be really flexible, I could spend more time in Argentina, or go to Chile earlier. In the end I have to arrive in Lima, Peru though. On the way there's lots to see: desert, the Andes, Macchi Picchu, and probably a million other things that I don't know anything about yet.
27th of july LIM-MAD
A long weekend in Madrid to enjoy the company of some old friends there. Hopefully I'll be able to converse in Spanish now fluently, avoiding the 'lost in translation' challenges that often occured during my first stay in Spain.
1st of august MAD-HEL-AMS
For mileage reasons I originally chose FinnAir to fly me around the globe. This flight is a legacy of that choice. I might change it to actually let me explore Helsinki a bit.
Well, that's it for the first post. At least you now know when to book tickets to where if you're thinking about meeting up somewhere. I hope to be updating this blog regularly, however, time should ofcourse be spent on the road, not behind a computer. Especially when travelling, so no promises yet.
Awesome!! Eigenlijk nog ff Guatemala meepakken als je er toch bent. Fantastisch land! En hoe kon het ook anders: Madrid de gekste. Ik ga je in de smiezen houden. Disfruta!!
ReplyDeleteVette plannen! Langs de US-westcoast natuurlijk de highway 1 pakken en ondertussen langs alle surfer communities ;)
ReplyDeleteLeuke plannen....
ReplyDeleteWij blijven je volgen.
Is het gelukt?
ReplyDeleteHeeft Felix het voor elkaar gekregen dat wij berichtjes naar jullie kunnen sturen?
groetjes
C&A
Volgens mij genieten jullie volop. Hoe gaat het met moeder haar suiker na de vlucht? Moet Petra echt aan Robinson doen of heeft ze gewoon haar sinaasappelsapje en lekker eten. Aan de foto's te zien komen jullie niets te kort. Het lukt me niet om op de Witten aan de andere kant van de wereld te reageren maar ik neem aan dat dit ook wel overkomt bij de familie. Hier was het vandaag net voorjaar met veel zon en dansmuggen. Afgelopen week zijn we bij oma aan het schoonmaken geweest maar dat gaat niet zo snel. Na een hele dag is de koelkast/vries combinatie schoon en de bovenste helft van het buffet in de keuken. Woensdag a.s. meer. Geniet lekker van jullie vakantie en we zijn heel blij dat we jullie dagelijkse avonturen kunnen volgen via de blog.
ReplyDeletegroetjes aan allemaal. Anne Marijke
Hoi cees & annemarijke,
ReplyDeleteMooi dat t gelukt is! Wij genieten hier met volle teugen. Ma dr suikers zijn inmiddels weer goed. Zolang we kip met sperziebonen of bruin brood met eieren eten geniet Petra ook van t eten ;-).
Jongens het is onvoorstelbaar wat jullie allemaal zien en meemaken. Ik ben niet zo'n held dus ik ben blij dat ik jullie vanuit mijn stoel kan volgen. Na een paar dagen zon hier volop regen, dus blijf nog maar even aan de goede kant van de wereld. Gisteren eerste kijkers gehad bij oma haar huis.
ReplyDeletegroetjes Anne Marijke en Cees