So today we are going to talk about Where!
This is an important question for many reasons firstly and importantly for me, it is about desire and then about cost. For some people it is cost first destination second not for me though. If it was totally about cost I would go to Asia first. However I have always wanted to go to South America and have a desire to learn Spanish. I have been trying to learn for years but without using it on a daily basis I forget it within weeks. I want to spend a year traveling through all the countries of SA. Then I am torn I would like to then continue up through Central America transvers through USA up to Canada and into Alaska. Here cost is an issue because I feel I should do one continent at a time. This way not having to spend extra money on expensive airfares. However that would mean one year in SA and then I think another year doing CA, USA, Canada and the Alaska. I would like to come home and visit the kids in between. My thinking is perhaps keep an eye out for great specials on airfare and flying home somewhere in between. This of course is making the assumption that I don’t get totally homesick within the first three months and come home back to reality.
Once I have completed this in whichever way the universe dictates in the end, I want to go to Nepal, India and Bhutan. The reason for this is, at this time I already have a holiday booked to go to Bhutan/India/Nepal with a tour company, this has been in the making for about six years. However I have recently decided to cancel this tour and go to Nepal solo and then take a tour through Bhutan from Kathmandu. The tour I have booked now will cost me roughly $10,000 for six weeks that much money traveling solo would last me almost a year in Nepal and India. It will still cost me a considerable amount to go into Bhutan from Nepal as the Government of Bhutan have a tourist cost of $220.00 per day per person, and you MUST go with a tour company you are not allowed into the country as a backpacker. They have a desire to keep their country just as it is and not let us riff raff spoil it (good for them). This will mean paying about $3000 as most tours go for around twelve days. This is considerably cheaper than $10,000 for 6 weeks. I will lose the deposit I have already put down but I think it is a fair exchange to save so much and travel so much longer.
I believe after that another trip home to recharge, maybe work for 3 months just to keep my registration up, make a bit of money see my children and grandchildren. Then I feel Africa may call me back again. I will always and forever continue to return to Africa. I believe that you either love it, or hate it, and once it gets into your blood you will never stop going or wanting to go. I have been to most countries on the East Coast of Africa. I have not been to any of the West Coast and I missed half of SA. I have also not gone farther north than Kenya and have not really done Kenya justice yet. I may spend a year catching the bits I have missed and watching as many sunset as I can during my stay. TIA.
Okay now things get a bit fuzzy, I am talking about 4 years on the road now and I believe money may be an issue. I am hoping to have enough to travel for 5 years without having to stop and work in a real job for too long. I am happy to teach English voluntarily but do not want to commit to a 12 month contract at this point. Go home and work for a year? Or get a job in China for a year, this is my thinking. I can get a job teaching English in China very easily with my degree and a TESOL course. I could take a 12 month contract and see the country on my days off, try to save for my next destination. If I choose well in the contract I accept, the money can be good and accommodation may be paid for. It is however a very real commitment with long hours. I can also look at working in Asian countries closer to home and then be able to come home for a few visits along the way. Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia are good places to get TESOL jobs these countries are very cheap to live as well.
If I make it to my 5 years on the road without having to take on TESOL jobs that will put me at retirement age at home and I will get my super policy which will give me another 5 years on the road traveling.
So off we go again, the plan now is Greece, Italy and Turkey spending considerable time in all (I know you say you have already been to Italy but…..) and then into Europe spend as long as possible touring all these amazing countries. This will have to be timed well though everyone knows how I feel about the cold if it’s too cold I won’t go. I am thinking that will chock up another couple of years.
Okay so I think we have now hit 7 years’ worth of plans, I know that is ridiculous as plans cannot be very solid for that length of time. This is a rough guide and I realise it may and probably will change. However this is what I will always come back to, I may throw in trips to places like Myanmar or Brunei and let’s not forget Kazakhstan or Mongolia these are all places on my list or any of the other hundreds of places I wish to go. There are arguably between 194-257 different countries in the world and I have only the rest of my life to see them all. Like I said so many places to see and so little time, I should have started sooner.
I have not even mentioned things like, I have always wanted to follow the Silk Road or follow the path Jesus took on his last days on earth. Let’s not forget the epic beginnings of the modern day Marathon a 26km race from Marathon to Athens or walk the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Warriors. See where Dracula once resided or to see the modern day Harry Potter Castle “Alnwick” in Northumberland, I know dorky. Oh and to see Hadrian’s Wall or what about ‘Stone Henge” The Hebridies in Scotland, The Northern Lights, although that one may be a wee bit cold for me. I would like to consider doing the “Camino” in Spain, although while in Spain I have said I will never do a bull fight, also the Trans-Siberian Railway trip. I have not even gotten to Japan and Mount Fuji or I have heard that Komodo Island is absolutely amazing. Up to this point I have only seen 13 countries. If we go with the USA count of 194 I have 181 to go, I may have left it too late to start.
The list is endless, I plan to try to see as many as I can before I die.
Following the Sun 