The 30 day countdown!
Today is October 1st, and I’ve got 30 days until I’m in Guatemala! I am extremely excited.
Many changes have been made since the last entry. At first, I was just going to rewrite the first entry, but instead I will leave it as is. I think that being flexible and comfortable with change is a big part of travel. I think it’s important to be open to change.
The main changes are in the itinerary, of course.There may be more to come, but most of the countries below I have agreed to do volunteer work already-so the order may change, but the list will probably remain the same.
I have spoken to two women who just returned to the USA after volunteering in Liberia, Africa. I was so moved and inspired by their experiences there that I decided to rethink visiting multiple countries in Africa. Originally, I had planned on seeing several countries-but I have come to realize that I would be more useful staying in one place longer. I now will only be going to Liberia to work at an orphanage in Monrovia;and, instead of 3 months stay I will stay for 6 months. I will be their first long term volunteer!
I have chosen Liberia over Tanzania, etc. because the need is so great and because it is a privilege to have the opportunity to go to Liberia at all. It is difficult to get into to,difficult to travel in, and coming out of an extremely difficult period.I am sure working with these children will be the experience of a lifetime.
So the new itinerary looks something like this:
Itinerary list of countries:
Fly to Guatemala
Bus to El Salvador
Bus to Nicaragua
Bus to Costa Rica
Fly to Miami
Fly to New York
Fly to Madrid,Spain
Train?bus to border of France/Spain
Overland travel thru Spain(Camino de Santiago)
Boat to England
Misc. travel in UK
Fly to Liberia
Fly to England
Fly to Turkey
Overland to Georgia
Overland to Armenia
Back to Turkey
Fly to Jordan
Israel still possible-I will wait and see, I am working on visiting Middle eastern countries at this time,depends on world events
Fly to India(possibly add Nepal)
Fly to Thailand(possibly add China)
Laos
Vietnam
Cambodia
Malaysia/Borneo
Australia
Vanuatu
New Zealand
Tonga(possibly add more islands in Oceania)
Hawaii.
More destinations may be added/subtracted-this is just the general plan….!
April 20th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Dear Gigi,
I met you at the purple hostel in David, Panama. I was so inspired by you then and now I’ve just started reading through your blog and it has renewed that inspiration. It makes me feel really excited about all the good things that are going on in the world and that there is so much that I can be a part of.
I have just read this post about your itinery and I noticed the ‘misc. travel in U.K.’. If you are interested to come to Wales I would love to show you round and you could stay with me, if I’m in the country at the time. I live right in the middle of Wales, just outside a town called Llanidloes. We are about an hour from the sea, very close to mountains, plenty of natural beauty everywhere. I am very passionate about my town and country and I love to show people what a brilliant place it is. You are very welcome if you are interested.
Hope your adventures are going well.
Florence xxx