Flights are booked!

We've crossed a pretty big milestone in the plans for my family's round the world trip for the latter half of 2017: we've actually booked flights. Here's how the latest location tracker looks:

Round the world itinerary shaping up

You can compare this with the more speculative plan from last time – which still holds good for most areas – to get a sense for the timing and flow. Around the world, around the wor-uld

The first image includes prospective destinations reached overland – we'll be renting cars/RVs/motor-homes in various locations, as well as taking a fair amount of public ground transportation. We're crossing our fingers that the bus from Salta, Argentina to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile – an apparently spectacular journey over the Andes – is going to be running in mid-September. All part of the adventure, I suppose.

Many thanks to all of you who have emailed/posted suggestions for the trip. Some destinations haven't made the latest cut – one I'm particularly sad about is that we won't have time to do both Yellowstone and Vancouver; Yellowstone ended up winning that one. Although as that's an overland segment, there's still some chance we'll rethink and make it work (at which point the information you kindly provided, Mike Ponti, will still come in handy – thanks again!).

It's nice things are moving forward. This is a big step to have taken: we're still worried we've been too aggressive on the number of destinations for a 6-month trip, but one way or another it'll all work out, I'm sure.

At some point in the coming weeks I'll share some more specific dates with people, to help with planning face-to-face encounters. In the meantime there are lots of logistics we still have to work through, of course. Onwards!

5 responses to “Flights are booked!”

  1. Jürgen A. Becker Avatar
    Jürgen A. Becker

    Hi Kean,
    I've been in South Africa (Cape Town, Westcoast and Gardenroute) last October.
    It's so nice that country, you will like it.
    When you have question or want to see same picture please contact me.
    Cheers Jürgen

    1. Kean Walmsley Avatar

      Thanks, Jürgen!

      That's one piece I've done before myself (my wife is half South African), so I know you're right. 🙂

      Best,

      Kean

  2. Michael Ponti Avatar

    No problem Kean, looks like it is going to be an amazing trip!

  3. Massimo Cicognani Avatar
    Massimo Cicognani

    Hi Kean,
    back in my younger ages I did something very close to your plan! Very close indeed! Six months too, but at that time I flew with TWA... just to give you an idea of how many years has gone since!
    No Internet, no smartphones, no digital cameras... it seems ages!
    At that time South Africa was still 'problematic' and in Lima sometime cars exploded in front of tourist hotels... but hey, I wish I could take the risk again, because such travels will remain in your souls for ever.
    It's a awesome gift for your children, even if they will grasp it a little later...
    I hope you'll meet lot of different people as I did.
    Have fun!

    Massimo

    1. Hi Massimo,

      Thanks for your kind note. We've definitely been having some ups and downs getting ready for the trip - we're really excited but also wading through administrivia - so messages like this are really valuable.

      Things must have been very different back when you made your trip (these days there are a thousand resources available for people doing something similar), so hats off for taking the plunge!

      Best,

      Kean

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