Places to go, things to see…

My world map

Planning a long term round-the-world trip is proving no small task. There are countless websites and blogs offering reviews and ideas, plus every person I meet offers me their advice on somewhere I just “HAVE to go”. There are 196 countries in the world and my own “must see” list currently stands at over 60. Despite this overwhelming availability of places to go and things to see, my itinerary is actually taking shape. 

The first seven months

In full knowledge that plans change as time passes on a trip such as this, I have only ‘planned’ out the first six months to allow opportunity to find me. Here is my itinerary thus far:

USA – Honolulu, LA, Detroit, Chicago, Austin, New Orleans, Memphis, Denver

Canada – Montreal, Quebec

USA – New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Juneau, Anchorage (and surrounds), Memphis

Mexico – Mexico City, Tulum

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras (I group these because this is my ‘coffee trail’)

Nicaragua

Costa Rica (transit through Panama to:)

Colombia – Medellin, Bogota

Peru – considering a bit of the North Coast, Lima, Cusco, and of course Machu Picchu

Chile – Alto Atacama Observatory, Elqui Valley and Santiago

Argentina – get here by mountain trek from Chile, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, Iguazu

Brazil – Rio de Janeiro

 

After that

The plan after that consists of getting to the Caribbean, jumping on a boat and floating around for about 4 months. While I am open to working during this time, I’m sure that the pace of the previous seven months of travel will see me wanting a break to recharge and plan out the next steps. Since I’m young and have always loved the idea of working in a foreign country, one of my draft plans after this initial travel period is to get back to Canada on a working holiday visa, top up my savings, and hit the road again across to Africa and Europe. There are six countries in Africa on my list and about eighteen in Europe. Although I would love to get that far on this trip, so much could happen between now and then I’m just going to let it fall into place if and when it does, all the while slowly chipping away at it as a long-term goal.

 

Which bit am I looking forward to the most?

This is something I’m asked a lot, and find it really hard to answer. It’s not really as simple as looking forward to one country or city in particular, it’s more about looking forward to the experiences. I mentioned in a previous post how expectation is the enemy of the traveller, so I try to keep this in check and instead look forward to the act of experiencing. This way, whether a day or place is good or bad, whether something lives up to expectation or not, and whether you’re having the time of your life or the worst day ever, the experience itself makes you feel alive.