It’s that time of year again…one month from today I’ll be departing on my 8th annual trip around the world! It’s going to be another whirlwind globetrotting adventure exploring 14 destinations in 10 countries and for the first time on all 7 continents.
Many of you know that Antarctica has been on my list for several years and this year I am finally making it happen. Yes, I’ll be cruising all the way from Argentina to the great white continent with Quark Expeditions and I am impossibly (some would say annoyingly) excited about it!
This year’s trip will start in Buenos Aires and be the longest yet at a staggering – when you consider the name of the website – 54 days.
This, of course, is due in large part to the logistics and extra time involved in getting to Antarctica, I didn’t want to short-change the rest of the trip! I figure I’ve taken my usual 30-day-ish trip and just “tacked on” Antarctica. The math works in my head. You understand.
From Buenos Aires I’ll be moving on to Ushuaia, Argentina (where the cruise will depart). After 10 days of exploring the frozen continent, I’m headed for more snowy-white wonderment in the heart of Patagonia, Chile with a stay at the stunning Explora Patagonia (that’s Explora of Easter Island fame last year).
From there it’s over to the Canary Islands to (hopefully) thaw out for a few days and then off to Africa to visit another spot that’s been on my list for a while, Victoria Falls! From Zambia, I’ll continue my domination of “places that start with a Z” in Zanzibar before heading back to Bangkok and on to Singapore…I hear there are a couple of fabulous new W Hotels over there that need my attention.
Next, it’s on to Indonesia, Phuket and then back down to the land of Oz to visit two new (to me, anyway) Aussie spots, the Blue Mountains and the Great Barrier Reef. And finally I’ll head back stateside and wrap things up by meeting the girls for a few days of jetlag-recovery R&R in Aspen, Colorado!
I’m still finalizing a lot of details (shocker!), but the basic itinerary looks like this:
Stop #1 – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Stop #2 – Ushuaia, Argentina
Stop #3 – Antarctica!
Stop #4 – Patagonia, Chile
Stop #5 – Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Stop #6 – Lusaka (Victoria Falls), Zambia
Stop #7 – Zanzibar, Tanzania
Stop #8 – Bangkok, Thailand
Stop #9 – Singapore
Stop #10 – Nikoi Island, Indonesia
Stop #11 – Phuket, Thailand
Stop #12 – Sydney & the Blue Mountains, Australia
Stop #13 – Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Stop #14 – Aspen, Colorado
And there you have it, the game plan for my 8th annual trip around the world! Honestly, I can’t even believe I just wrote that. Who would have ever thought when I took that first trip 7 years ago that today I’d be announcing my EIGHTH!?!? Not me, that’s for sure.
On this year’s trip, I’m thrilled to be working with Quark Expeditions, Explora and EcoLuxHotels and of course I look forward to continuing my relationship with the globetrotter’s-best-friend, Starwood Hotels.
Oh, and you may have noticed the flashy new logo above. There are big changes coming up in the next few weeks including a complete redesign and re-launch of this site to make it more beautiful, inspiring and user-friendly for all of you!
And it’s possible I may also have mentioned (10 or 20 times) about the new book, Round the World in 30 Days: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Globetrotting that is now available on Amazon in the Kindle store.
That’s it for now! If you have travel tips for any of the above destinations and you want to share, I’d love to hear from you! Until then, I’ll be packing for Antarctica…rumor has it it’s cold down there.
First stop, Argentina!
Be sure to send pics of Victoria Falls. Happy Traveling!
Posted a bunch from there on Twitter yesterday and lots more to come in the full blog post in a few days! It was just gorgeous.
Can’t wait to follow you in Antarctica!! Whoo-hoo! (It’s like waiting for the next episode of my favorite show. ;))
Thanks, Linds! Merry Christmas!!!!
just wondering how you afford it, i want to go
Hi Travis,
It helps that I use frequent flier miles for my RTW ticket every year. That’s the biggest expense for a trip like this. Without those miles I could have saved up to do it once but I don’t think I’d be able to go every year like I do. But it’s honestly not as expensive as most people think. Especially if you stick to less expensive destinations like Southeast Asia or South America. My book that’s coming out for the Amazon Kindle next week will have lots of information on booking RTW tickets and the general expenses for a trip like this. There will be one day when the book can be downloaded for free, if you follow me on Twitter or keep an eye on the Facebook page, I’ll be announcing it there. Thanks for reading!
congrats! Its amazing.