First Attempt – Planning Our Route Around the World

Planning a world trip can be daunting but we have to start somewhere. The route is something we have put a lot of thought into, and we’ve made some logical conclusions about how to approach it. It might even take our trip from 12 months to 17. But there is one little thing that could stop us from doing that.

Our Route

There are several ways we could plan our route. By using weather, location specific events, and trying our darnedest to avoid high crowds, we have put this preliminary route together.

Route Countries and Timing:

• July – Colombia
• August – Colombia / Ecuador
• September – Ecuador / Peru
• October Peru / Bolivia
• November – Chile
• December – Argentina / Chile Patagonia
• January – Korea
• February – Thailand
• March – Vietnam
• April – Japan
• May – Australia
• June – New Zealand
• July – South Africa / Namibia
• August – Do we keep going?

Extended plan:

• August – Ukraine, Romania, Poland
• September – Croatia, Greece, Italy
• October – France, Spain, Portugal
• November – UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany
• December – Home

The extension would allow us more countries, we won’t be restricted by jobs to which we need to return, and if we’re careful, we should have the funds to do so. So what’s the issue?

Holee

We have a 17-year-old cat named Holee who we will miss and worry about while we are gone. She is a sweetheart and has some minor health issues at the moment. Brianna’s parents have kindly offered to foster our kitties while we’re gone, and we plan to move in with them for about a month before leaving to make sure she is okay in the new environment. Luckily she has a 3-year-old companion, Mochi, to keep her company in her new home.

We don’t want this to be the last time we see her, but we also don’t want her age to restrict our ability to travel.

Other factors

While not as pressing, we do still need to consider cost with an extended trip; we have only saved up for a year abroad. If we don’t find adequate sources of income, we would be forced to come back. We could spend less time in some countries, but the timing on these is perfect for the things we want to do. Besides, rushing trips is like taking a vacation. We’d prefer to really get to know some places.

And contrary to popular belief, we do have lives at home, people who want to see us around, and annual activities we enjoy.  Not least of which are Christmas and our local anime convention, Kumoricon (with which we’re heavily involved).

Decisions are tough, but at least we have a rough plan now.

When we first dreamed of taking an extended leave for a trip around the world we said six months. Then we thought that wasn’t enough time and extended it. Now we’re talking about extending it further.  Should we do it?

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Have you ever faced this type of decision? How do you handle leaving behind people or pets you love for an extended period of time?

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