Rough Itinerary

Planning, reading, talking, map pinning, saving, organizing and the list of "ings" goes on and on of things we've done for a trip that doesn't seem real even a week before we leave. At one point we just decided to stop planning and go with the flow for a change. Of course we still have our travel guide books. We've been "mixing and matching" different guide books together. Ripping out sections of the books that we like and are most helpful, and then organizing the pieces to compile an ultimate guide book that's tailored to our trip. Then disguise the cover to look inconspicuous, so we can read and study it anywhere. Who wants to be targeted as a tourist anyway? Its Rick Steves' idea to "build your own travel guide book". Rick happens to be our favorite travel guide expert but unfortunately only covers Europe and a few other select countries, but still offers some fantastic general travel advice! He also offers great packing tricks and all sorts of valuable safety tips and much more. But I'm not here to promote Rick Steves I'm here to share our Itinerary.

We think of this Itinerary as a very loose guide to go by that is subject to change on a day to day basis. That's how we're choosing to allow the trip to unfold rather than regiment each moment and experience. A lesson in letting go of sorts for me at least. We'll of course be updating our itinerary as much as possible on the blog, everlater and through email. And to all you kind and wonderful people who have offered to open your homes to us along the way or plan to meet us somewhere!  It may be a little unsettling to hear that we're going with the flow so loosely but let me assure you we want to make it easy for you! So please let us know what dates work best for you based on the approx time of year we'll finally be in each respective area so we can tailor our timing accordingly. demelza.sa@gmail.com will be the best way to correspond for us. The current looseness of our plans gives us the flexibility to work with your individual schedules so please keep us posted along the way. Thanks again to all of you!

**locations and durations subject to change.

 

*Nov 8, '11 New Zealand (3ish weeks)

*Australia (4 weeks)

*Indonesia (2 weeks)

*Singapore (1 week)

*Malaysia (2 weeks)

 *Thailand (3-4 weeks)

* Cambodia (1 week)

* India, Burma, Nepal, Laos, (3 weeks)

*Vietnam (1 week)

*Southern China (2 weeks) 

*Taiwan (1 week)

*S. Korea (1 week)

*Japan (3 weeks)   

      Around May/June

*Europe -Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Ireland, France, Spain,    Portugal, Morocco, France again, Italy, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland, Greece (countries subject to change) (12-16 weeks)

*South Africa (4-6 weeks) Oct

 If time and money permit:

 

*Brazil (2 weeks)

*Argentina (3 weeks)

*Chile (2-4 weeks)

 *Peru (3-4 weeks)
 *Costa Rica (2 weeks)
 *Honduras (1 week)
 *Mexico/Belize
 *Belize/Mexico

*This is an ambitious list even for us but it's just an outline that will more than likely change based on time, money and how easy it is to get a visa. 

 

Not so still life.

Just one month and 4 days away from a 2 day long kick-off flight to Auckland, NZ.  No visa necessary for neither Craig or myself to enter is a kind relief from the long list of visa's we have yet to attain.  Australia, which comes next on the loose itinerary does however require a little visa action to enter.  Nothing grueling or painful with only an online application, and a nominal fee in comparison to some of the more lofty laws of countries I'll keep you posted on when we cross their bridges.  I'm not by any small means complaining about paying to enter any of these countries in fact I'm just happy to be able to visit them at all and all at once! 

The calm before the proverbial storm has been anything but calm instead it's been rather packed with fun and adventure still.  Since being back from our trip out west we've had some down time to relax, some exciting times of good news, and plenty of family enjoyment and celebration!  One of the highlights was a week-end of bachelorette party excitement, an elegant bridal shower tea party and an over all fabulous weekend with my still new family in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Southern Indiana this last weekend was a host to an annual car show as a fundraiser for Pulmonary Fibrosis put on by Craig's cousin and her husbands family.  They gather the very large and extended family in a small town called Holland, though highly populated with Germans the name somehow seems fitting with the windmill land marking the park where the event was held.  We were amongst the army of volunteers wearing bright orange shirts with lungs and some sentimental words once spoken by the late Douglas Partenheimer on the front.  "Crusin' toward a cure for PF....because breathing matters 2011" with a picture of a purple classic smeared the back.  If your interested check out the Cause.

  Douglas Partenheimer, who died only a few short years ago loved cars and anything to do with them.  He and his son Kory, my cousin-in-law's husband, spent many hours together working on their 1970 Chevy C-10 and bright yellow '04 Pontiac GTO (if I recall correctly), which both stood out amongst the 40 plus classic beauties in the show. This event was clearly not just to raise money for PFF but to commemorate the full and happy life he shared with his family and friends in this close community.  It's inspiring to see that causes like this are supported so strongly even in a less than perfect economy in this part of the world.  

 The wonderful part about instant new family that comes with having in-laws is getting to know them.  You and the spouse may have an unspoken love and who knows, maybe even some mysterious mutual understanding, where as with the families, one gets to know each other tid bits at a time.  That's how it's worked for us with our unconventional ways of marrying even before the families had met.  Who ever said it had to look a specific way?  So this summer has been so perfect for both of us to spend some valuable time with valuable people in our lives, and I at least have managed to have a wonderful time doing it!!