Our Itinerary

We've notified our employers.  Our One World Explorer tickets have taken a huge bite out of our savings.  We're showing our condo to potential renters.  We're practicing packing months of stuff into only one carry-on bag each (OK....I am.  Mohit might pack his bag for the first time on the morning that we leave...)

Only six weeks to go!!

Here's our *approximate* itinerary:

• Sturbridge, Massachusetts, USA: 4 days (spending Christmas with Kate's family)
• Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: 4 days (visiting Mohit's family)
• Guatemala: 2 weeks (Antigua, Tikal, Lake Atitlan.  We land in Antigua on New Year's Eve!)
• Japan: 1 week (Tokyo, Kyoto)
• Bali, Indonesia: 2 weeks (Kuta, Ubud, Lovina)
• Hong Kong: 3 days (brief layover on our way to India...)
• India: 5 weeks (Pondicherry, Kerala, Munnar, Mumbai, Udiapur, Jaipur, Agra, and a week in Delhi to visit Mohit's family.)
• Nepal: 2 weeks (Kathmandu, Pokhara, and the Jomsom Trek.  Kate's brother Brad is meeting us in Nepal.)
• Jordan: 5 days (Petra and Wadi Rum, a brief layover on our way to Africa...)
• Morocco: 2 weeks (Fez, Sahara, Todra Gorge, Marrakech, Essaouira, Casablanca.  We hope to visit with Mohit's friend Othman in Casablanca.)
• Spain: 5 days (We have to fly through Spain to get to Tanzania, so we decided to relax in Barcelona for a few days!)
• Tanzania: 2 weeks (Dar Es Salaam, Arusha and a camping safari, Zanzibar)

There are so many things that I daydream about seeing/ doing/ tasting: 

• Catching our first glimpse of the Treasury after passing through the red rock walls in Petra, Jordan
• Riding a camel into the desert sunset in Merzouga, Morocco
• Staying overnight on a houseboat in the backwaters of Kerala, India
  
• Enjoying REAL sushi in Tokyo!
• Seeing giraffes up close on safari in Tanzania
• Trekking for 10 days in the Annapurna Mountains of Nepal to tiny villages reachable only by foot
• Shopping for new sarees and bangles with Mohit's family in Delhi, India
  
• Exploring the terraced rice fields in Ubud, Bali
• Getting up close and personal with hot lava flows on the Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala
• Eating Nepalese curries, Indian masalas, Moroccon tajines, and Spanish tapas
  
• Spending days looking out over the green-blue ocean from a beach hut in Lovina, Bali
• Exploring ancient Mayan temples in the jungle at Tikal, Guatemala
• Hearing the muezzin call to prayer in Morocco and Jordan
• Feeling the cool marble under our bare feet at the Taj Mahal

I'm also a little nervous.  I'm anxious about whether I'll feel overwhelmed by the noise, dust, heat, and crowds in India.  I'm hoping we don't run into any big spiders.  I'm concerned about staying safe in countries that have had political instability like Guatemala, Nepal, and Tanzania.  I worry about bedbugs.  I'd like to avoid getting sick from food, drink, or malarial mosquitos.  I'm certain that I'll feel homesick at times. 

But mostly I can't wait to test my limits and have experiences that we'll tell our kids about!