We've finally done it. Sucked it up and solidified our plans for the rest of 2010 by booking our 'around the world' tickets. Here is a rundown of what you, faithful readers, have to look forward to in the coming weeks and second half of the year:
April 11th - leave Queenstown. It's going to be bittersweet, but we are ready to go (Steph especially). We plan to visit a friend who is currently working at a dairy farm, spend a couple nights stargazing near Lake Tekapo, then hang around Christchurch for a few days trying to sell our car.
April 19th - Fly from Christchurch to Auckland. We already have a campervan booked, so we'll pick that up and spend a few days touring the North Island. The only place we are definitely going is Rotorua for its volcanic activity, some souvenir shopping, and maybe even sledging.
April 23rd - Fly from Auckland to Los Angeles. We get into LA at 5:30 in the morning, so we went ahead and booked a 10:30am flight home to Atlanta! Our official arrival back in Atlanta is 5:44pm. Chick-fil-a here we come!
Three months in the US - weddings, working, visiting friends and family, etc.
July 16th - Los Angeles to Mexico City. We have about a week to gorge ourselves on the last decent Mexican food we will find for probably the next 5+ months, plus visits to ancient Mayan and Aztec ruins.
July 23rd - Mexico City to Lima. Peru is one of the destinations we are most looking forward to - we plan to walk to Inca Trail to Machu Pichu, take a riverboat down the Amazon River, and possibly visit Lake Titicaca and the salt flats of Bolivia.
August 9th - Lima to Quito. Unfortunately we'll probably have to skip Ecuador's most famous (and expensive) attraction of the Galapagos Islands, but there should be plenty of wildlife watching, volcanic hikes, and chillin' on the equator to fill our 10 days or so.
August 19th - Quito to Santiago. Luckily for us, this is really the only region of the world that we will be visiting at a bad time - it'll be the middle of winter in Chile. We'll just have to take advantage and spend a couple days skiing the Andes before traveling by bus through Argentina to Buenos Aires, then Igazu waterfall, before hitting the beach and partying in Rio de Janeiro!
September 6th - Rio to London. We have about 17 days planned for Europe. We haven't decided what exactly we'll do quite yet, but we'll probably fly to Spain or Italy and work our way from there back through France to London.
September 23rd - London to Cairo. Egypt is another destination that we are super excited about - cheap, exotic, and lots to see and do. After a few days navigating the streets and markets of Cairo we'll travel up the Nile to visit pyramids, tombs, and mummies. Next we hope to ferry across the Red Sea for some apparently amazing snorkeling and diving before following Moses' footsteps up Mount Sinai.
October 9th - Cairo to Amman. Originally we had no desire to visit the Middle East, but since we would have to pass through here anyway, we might as well stay for a visit. The more we looked into it the cooler it sounds. Who wouldn't want to visit holy sites in Israel and the amazing carved rock city of Petra in Jordan?
October 18th - Amman to Bangkok. Southeast Asia is the backpacker's mecca. We'll spend 3+ weeks visiting remote jungle villages, sampling authentic Thai food, and if we get tired of all that - sit on the beautiful beaches of southern Thailand.
November 11th - Bangkok to Tokyo. Another destination that we kind of had no choice but to fly through, we'll only be able to afford about 5 days in the Land of the Rising Sun.
November 17th - Tokyo to Beijing. This is really about seeing some of China's - and also the world's - must-see destinations. The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Army, plus it'd be cool to see the Water Cube and Bird's Nest in person.
November 26th - Beijing to Hong Kong. A few days to explore this mega city and do some serious shopping.
November 29th - Hong Kong to Cairns. Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, so expect a lot of snorkeling and diving during our week here, as well as day trips along the coast and into the outback to see some crocs and other Aussie wildlife.
December 6th - Cairns to Sydney. Who knows? We have about a week, so maybe we'll travel around searching for koalas and kangaroos, or maybe we'll just hang out on Bondi Beach for a week.
December 15th - Sydney to Queenstown. That's right, back to Queenstown. If it were up to me we'd settle down for another summer of riversurfing and hiking here, but I think Steph would rather move on. We may end up coming home right away, stay here for a few months, or maybe even try somewhere else for a while. It's a long way off, with a lot to see and do before then.
So that's it! I'm exhausted just typing all of it, but it should be an amazing 5 months and we can't wait to get started! Counting down 18 more days until we are back in Atlanta!!
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