around the world in 180 days

So.

I should probably make my standard first post blog confession, that being this: I am a person whose interest frequently wanders and I am a person of little patience for tedious activities. As such, I have a tendency to abandon any and all blogging effors that I start once my attention lapses. I have done this before and I will eventually do the same with this blog. I am hoping that being on the road will give me something to write about and hence maintain my interest while we are traveling, but being on the road will also make updating more difficult. I will do my best. I can do no more.

We are still in the planning stages, but weeks are starting to slip away from us with frightening rapidity. We are flying to Guatemala on February 4, 2007 whether we are ready or not. Between now and then, we have to move out of our house, store our possessions somewhere, purchase more plane tickets, acquire certain difficult visas and on and on. We’re keeping plans to a minimum to allow ourselves maximum flexibility, but we’ve still got to make a fair number of decisions beforehand.

Here’s the plan so far: we will begin in Guatemala, staying in San Lucas with the family of a friend of ours. They’ve graciously agreed to host us gringos and help us avoid being robbed or taken advantage of in a country that can be difficult for first time travelers such as ourselves. We’ll stay with them for 10 days before flying to LA for a few days, and then on to Fiji, as long as they aren’t having any more military coups.

We’re spending a week in Fiji and then continuing to New Zealand. This is one of the main places we want to go. We’re going to spend almost a full month there, trekking around both islands and trying to avoid the forces of the dark lord Sauron.

After that, we’ll spend a week in Sydney, AUS, before meeting Paul and Patty (Anna’s Godparents and teachers at an International School in Kuala Lumpur, Mayalsia) and Anna’s mom in Bali. We’re spending another week there, and then going to India.

Ah, India. This is another place we’re really looking forward to, along with Nepal. We want to hike around in the Himalayas for a while, and see some ancient ruins and all that stuff. Things start to get pretty vague and this point, though, because we don’t know where the best places to go are. There’s only so much information you can get from a guidebook and besides, we want to see the amazing things that are swarmed with tourists and hucksters.

So yeah. That’s the plan. I’ll do my best to keep things updated here, with occasional posts before we leave and more frequent after we’re on the road. I’ve got a nifty little gadget that will store my text and spit it into a computer when I get to one, so I will likely write every day, but only post once a week. I’ll backdate entries so they are accurate as to the date I wrote them, not the date I posted them.

Thank you everyone who has or will help us prepare for this trip and who will help us get settled in in Mpls/St. Paul when we come back. We both feel lucky and special to be able to go on such a wonderful adventure and are keenly aware that none of this would be possible without the encouragement and support of our friends and family. It sounds cheesy, but you really are the best. Thanks!!