Wednesday, December 08, 2010

A Pipe Dream (that may come true)

A couple of posts ago I mentioned being given a real gift—a sabbatical to travel and to take a break. After the past couple of years, I am feeling tired, but I get excited when I think about my travel plans… Here they are. They may change and there’s plenty of flexibility in what I hope to do. Although I have 4 months, I’m learning that you can't do everything, even with that much free time!
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Starting at the first of June, I take off for a round-the-world trip. Unless there are unforeseen circumstances, I will fulfill this trip without getting in an airplane. My rough itinerary is to take the train to Oakland, California, board a container ship for Japan and then Hong Kong. The photo is of the actual ship that I’m booked on. I’ll get off in Hong Kong and travel inland into China. There are a few things I’d like to see in the South China, the Li River with its funky looking hills along with Tiger Leaping Gorge (which I hope to hike). In July, I will jog down to Haoni (jog metaphorically, on a train) where I hope to meet up with a friend from Utah who has 16 days to travel with me. We’ll take off on a bus for Vientiane, Laos and then find transportation on a long boat upsteam on the Mekong, stopping at nights to sleep in villages. We’ll end the boat trip at Chiang Khong, Thailand. From there, we’ll bum a ride to Chiang Mai, where we’ll board a train to Bangkok. From Bangkok, we’ll go to Ankor Wat, Cambodia, then by boat to Phnom Phen, the bus to Saigon. Somewhere along the way, he’ll have to be getting back to the states, but I’ll continue on north, with a planned stopped in Hue, before going on to Haoni, then on to China, ending in Beijing. After seeing the sights, my plan is to catch the Trans-Siberian for Moscow, taking it through Mongolia. Having never been to Europe, I plan to come in through the back door! From Moscow, I’ll make my way through Europe, meeting my family somewhere along the way. We’ll come back at the end of August on a cruise ship leaving London for Amsterdam, Brussels and Dublin, before heading north for Iceland, then Greenland, then Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and finally New York. From there, I will continue on home via train (having traveled untold number of miles in four months). There will be many things to see along the way, as well as lots of folks to meet, but as cliquish as it sounds, the journey is the destination.

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By the way, the photo at the bottom is not the ship I will sail on from Europe. But it’s the same company! When I was a kid, I was a stamp collector and a friend of my mother’s mother gave me a whole bunch of post cards. This one was from 1924. There is still a ship named “Rotterdam,” but it’s a little newer than the one here (but not nearly as graceful as those old steamers).

18 comments:

  1. make sure you get a starboard cabin on the Pacific leg.

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  2. Sounds wonderful. I look forward to each and every installment.

    As prep, you might enjoy Ewan McGregor's documentary LONG WAY AROUND. He and a buddy motorbiked east around the globe rather than west. Also the Woody Harrelson movie, TRANSSIBERIAN.

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  3. Travel safe- but not safe enough to get the Adrenalin rushing!!

    I'm with you in Spirit!

    J

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  4. May the spirit of love and safety follow you all the days you/family are gone. It sounds like a blissful and exciting trip, outlined but you just never know what your true journey will be until yoo go! Peace be with you!

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  5. You better be planning to blog along the way.

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  6. I know we're not supposed to be jealous, but we're also not supposed to lie, so...I'm jealous.

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  7. Wow Sage I am jealous. Have a wonderful wonderful time. Know you will

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  8. WOW. I cannot begin to imagine how someone prepares for a trip like that. First of all, one must be younger than I.....LOL

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  9. Yes, I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing some of this trip with you. I hope it all rolls out smoothly

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  10. Oh that sounds so lovely. I, too, am a bit envious. (Except for the container ship part - not sure of the comfort level there. But definitely an adventure!)

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  11. Vince, why starboard?

    Ron, thanks for the recommendations--I didn't know of the movie

    John, my adrenalin is rushing

    Karen, thanks!

    TC, I'll blog, that I am sure of

    Ed, yep!

    Pia, it will be fun and I hope I can survive without worrying about work for 4 months!

    Kenju, the prep is mostly figuring out how! I'm taking an old backpack :)

    Charles, thanks,

    Lynn, the rooms on the container ship is a lot larger than the rooms on a cruise ship-I'm looking forward to that leg, 15 days of reading and writing and sleeping and working out and talking with the crew... What a nice way to decompress and relax

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  12. dude that sounds like a dream trip...you will have to be hitting internet cafes left adn right to be telling us about it and sharing pictures..

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  13. Very, very cool. I hope you're able to blog about it.

    With copious photos, of course.

    Cheers.

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  14. Oh wow.. what a great opportunity. How wonderful!

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  15. This is amazing--truly "once in a lifetime"!

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  16. This sounds wonderful! I would love to do something like that. But for now I'll have my adventures more local. :)

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