Mary and I are going to travel the world! We’ve got an amazing opportunity to spend some time away from our jobs and life obligations and we plan on making the most of it. For the next nine months, we’re going to explore as many interesting corners of the world as possible. Our goal is to see incredible sights, take a cooking class in every country we spend time in, and document as much of it as possible.
We’re starting in South America, beginning with tacos and temples in Mexico City, Mexico. After we’ve had our fill of mercados, tequila, and luchadors, we’ll move on to the beaches and fortresses of Cartagena, Colombia. After salsa lessons and amasijos, we’ll make our way to Peru where we’ll hunker down for three big events – carnival, an excursion to the Amazon via Chuncho Lodge, and the big one – hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Pichu.
That will wrap up our South America leg and we’ll move on to a brief intermission across Europe. We’re going to spend a little time in London, Amsterdam, and Istanbul, before landing in Singapore. We’ll do our best to see every sight in Crazy Rich Asians (which was partly responsible for inspiring the trip) and eat our weight at the night markets.
From Singapore, we work our way up Southeast Asia – Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. This is around April, and where the plans get a little fuzzy. We know we want to see Japan, and possibly South Korea. We might make a stop in Australia (if it seems prudent given the fires) and New Zealand, but we might also want to switch directions and head to Africa.
If we do Africa, we’ll likely check out Botswana for a safari, and possibly South Africa or Morocco. Spending a little time in India is also a possibility.
Once we’re done with Asia and Africa, we’ll land in Europe. Because of the Shengen zone 90-180 rule, we can only spend 3 months in most of Europe. So we’ll start in Portugal, then see Spain, France, and Germany (hopefully around Oktoberfest). Finally, if we’ve got the budget and stamina, we might spend a little more time in the UK (which is not a part of the Shengen zone). Croatia and Eastern Europe is also a possibility here.
That will be the end of our adventure, and we’ll come home – hopefully with a new sense of purpose and goals for the future. We plan on landing back in the Bay Area, but who knows after that! All we know for sure is that we’ll have had the experience of a lifetime.