(Updated 5/07/2018 with what really happened, once reality hit…)

The hardest part of planning this trip has not been in figuring out where we want to go. It’s been in figuring out what we’ll have to skip. We initially thought that a year would be plenty of time to visit all of the places we’ve always wanted to see.

Wrong.

We’ve had to make some very, very tough choices.

First, here is where our current plans take us, in approximate chronological order. This is wildly ambitious and yet only takes us to 30 (now) 28 (now 21) countries out of 196 over the course of a year – a mere 15% (now) 14% (now) 11%. We’ll barely scratch the surface of what the world has to offer. It will be a tiny little sampler platter. What a world we live in!

Hyperlinks and Blue indicate where we’ve been so far.

Europe: July-Mid-October

• London
• Ireland (simplified original plan to just Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Dublin)
• Bergen, Norway
• Copenhagen
• Berlin (cancelled to reduce the hopping around)
• Prague
• Vienna (cancelled to reduce the hopping around)
• Salzburg (ditto)
• Budapest
• Split, Croatia and Island Hopping (one-week sailing trip with friends along Dalmatian Coast)
• Podstrana, Croatia (quiet beach community; added as substitute for Greece – was perfect)
• Athens – Simplified by replacing with ten relaxing days on the beach in Split – same vibe, no hassle to get there
• Greek Isles (ditto)
• Amsterdam (cancelled to reduce the hopping)
• Paris
• Heidelberg (cancelled to reduce the hopping)
• (addition) Colmar, France in Alsace region – Charming place to chill, catch up on school and make day trips by car:
  • Spaichingen, Germany; along Bodensee; surrounding villages (childhood town of my maternal grandparents)
  • Freiburg, Germany
  • Various parts of Switzerland, including Lucerne, overnight in Chur, drive through Zurich
  • Lichtenstein
• (addition) Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest
• (addition) Oberdorf, Austria (on Weissensee): Small farm with horses and kids
• Nuremberg, Germany (husband only – to see Father’s childhood home and neighborhood; met up with brother and sister-in-law briefly in town as part of European river cruise)
• Venice (cancelled due to Disney-esque atmosphere, crowds and time)
• Florence (cancelled)
• Rome
  • Including day trip to Ostia Antica to view preserved Roman town (Pompei without the tragic backstory)

China Asia: Mid-October-early November

• Beijing
• Xi’an
• Shanghai (cancelled)
• Chengdu
• Guilin
• Nanchang
• Fengcheng (orphanage visit)
• Shicheng (orphanage visit)
• Hong Kong
• Hanoi
• Central coast of Vietnam – may cancel
• Thailand
• Singapore – may cancel
• Malaysia
• Bali or similar island for slow beach time – may cancel

Australasia: November-March

• Sydney, Australia
• Port Douglas, Australia (northern Great Barrier Reef)
• Townsville and Magnetic Island, Australia
• Hamilton Island, Australia
• (maybe) Tasmania
• Various parts of New Zealand

Latin America: Late March-July

• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• El Calafate, Argentina (Patagonia)
• El Chalten, Argentina (Patagonia)
• Various parts of Chile
• Buenos Aires part 2
• (addition) Sucre, Bolivia
• Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
• Cusco and Machu Picchu – may cancel
• (addition) Atacama Desert, Chile
• Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Quito, Ecuador
• (addition) Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador
• Galapagos Islands, Equador
• Quito, Ecuador part 2
• Columbia
• Panama Canal
• Jaco, Costa Rica
• Tamarindo, Costa Rica

When we originally sat down and made a list of all of the places we wanted to visit, it was clear that we’d have to make big sacrifices. The list was too long and geographically diverse. We finally realized it made the most logistical and economic sense to skip big geographic chunks this time, and visit them on subsequent trips. P-a-i-n-f-u-l. So we’re going to have to miss the following:

• Most of Scandinavia
• Spain and Portugal
• Japan and South Korea
• South Pacific Islands
• All of Africa
• All of the Middle East
• All of Central Asia
• All of Russia and most of Eastern Europe

Not just painful. Tortuous.

But we can’t do it all.

So there it is. Our itinerary as it currently stands, though I’m sure there will be updates as we decide to slow things down or speed them up. The best parts of trips like this are the ones you didn’t plan.