Career Break Central

So now you know more than you ever wanted to know about our family.  Sorry, once I get started I can’t seem to stop myself.  Feel free to skim over the boring parts – I won’t be insulted.  It’s probably time to start sharing some of the nitty gritty details of our trip so you can get an idea exactly what we’re getting ourselves into.

How exactly does one come up with a Round The World itinerary?  It certainly was a daunting task.  The first thing we did was discuss priorities and dream destinations.  Claude really wanted to go to learn to surf in Hawaii, trek in Nepal and climb Mount Kilimanjero.  I wanted to learn to sail and “bareboat” a yacht in Australia, visit the South Pacific and take the kids on a safari in Africa.  Alexa wanted to meet our foster child, Hansu Bai, in India, visit the Great Wall of China and go see Peter Pan in Japan(?).  Simon’s dream was to see the pyramids and visit all his favorite characters in Madagascar.  So keeping these desires in mind, we cobbled together the following itinerary:

Ontario to Vancouver (Overland) (mid-Aug to mid-Sept)

We’ll tow our trailer from Ontario to Vancouver crossing over into the States to see the Badlands and Mt Rushmore and back to Canada to traverse the Rockies and visit the Columbia Ice Fields.  We’ll visit my brother, Nathan, in Vancouver before taking off.

Hawaii (mid to end-Sept)

Two weeks to relax , explore the islands and recover from the stress of planning the trip and moving.  The kids & I will recharge our batteries while Claude learns to surf.

Fiji (1st week of Oct)

It’s pretty much a free stopover so we figured we could do worse than spend a week cooling our heels in Fiji. 

Cook Islands (mid-Oct)

We’ll spend a few weeks revelling in the true South Pacific island experience in Rarotonga.  We’ll also fly to Aitutaki to see the legendary lagoon and go crabbing.

New Zealand (late-Oct to mid-Nov)

We’ll spend three weeks exploring the adrenaline capital of the world. We’d like to do a farmstay, rent a cottage in the land of the Lord of the Rings and, of course, try bungee jumping (adults only – remember my fear of heights?). 

Australia aka Oz (mid-Nov to late-Jan)

This is a big portion of our trip and, thanks be to God, Claude is in charge of the details for this leg.  First, we plan on touring the East Coast and sailing in the Whitsundays.  Then we’ll spend New Years Eve in Sydney and migrate inland to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock.  We’ll end our sojourn in Oz in Darwin.  We’re hopeful my brother, Nate, will join us for a few weeks in Oz as he’ll be doing a backpacking trip of his own.  I’m really looking forward to spending some time with him and getting reacquainted since we haven’t spent much time together since I left home for university.  Besides, after four months on the road with the kids, Claude and I will be in dire need of some couple time and I can’t think of a better babysitter than Uncle Nate.

Southeast Asia (Feb)

We’ll start in Bali, then do an overland trek from Singapore to Bangkok.  If we have the time and are feeling adventurous, we may venture into Cambodia to see the temple at Angkor Wat.  I’m curious to see how Simon handles Thai food, seeing how his version of going out on a limb gastronomically is opting for green beans over broccoli.

India (March)

I’m very nervous but excited about this leg of our trip.  We’ll fly into Mumbai (Delhi) and travel overland through Rajasthan to Delhi.  The point of our trip to India is to visit our foster child, Hansu Bai, near Bikaner.  This will be quite a culture shock but also a huge learning experience for the whole family.  We’ll see firsthand how this little girl and her family, who we’ve only known through letters and photos, really live.  It’s one thing to read about it in newsletters and yet another to see it in person.  I suspect we’ll have a very different perspective on life (and never look at a flush toilet in quite the same way again) after this trip.

We are also keen to see the Himalayas and would love to go to Nepal.  Considering the political situation in Nepal right now, we’ve decided to wait until we’re there to decide if it’s stable enough to visit.  If not, we have a back-up plan to see the Himalayas in northern India.

Egypt (early to mid-April)

We’ll take two weeks to see Cairo, sail down the Nile, visit Luxor and, of course, see the pyramids.  I can wait to see the kids’ faces!

Europe (mid-April to end-May)

We’ll spend 4 weeks touring Spain, France and Italy (maybe on a Eurail pass) and the last two weeks sailing in Greece.  We’ll be doing a flotilla holiday in the Mediterrean which consists of sailing in a group of ten boats from island to island.  You get to experience the freedom of sailing your own yacht while in the safety of a group.

Tanzania (June)

This is one of the most exciting parts of our trip and I can’t stand thinking that it’s a whole year away!  Unfortunately for Simon, this will be the closest we get to Madagascar, but I’ve been assured the meercats like to “move it” there, too.  We’ll visit the Ngorongoro Crater on a safari and, hopefully, get to spend some time with a local family and volunteer at an orphanage there.  Yet another chance to see how other cultures live, do some good and learn to appreciate our life in Canada.

At the end of our trip to Tanzania, Claude plans to climb Mt Kilimanjero with our friend Eric.  I’d love to join them, but, short of flying in a baysitter to look after the kids for a week, it won’t be possible.  Any volunteers?

So that’s it, our itinerary in a very large nutshell.  Unfortunately for Alexa, we won’t make it to the Great Wall this trip and I’ve managed to convince her that Peter Pan doesn’t actually live in Japan.  Maybe we can use our frequent flyer miles to visit Neverland when we get back.

If anyone has visited any of these places (chances are good) and would like to share advice and tips, feel free to post a comment.

Tags: Itinerary, Planning, Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 at 8:12 pm and is filed under Planning, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.