It's Almost Go Time!

 

Heading To The Other Side Of The World

Over two years of researching.   Over a year of planning.  14 flights booked on six different airlines.  22 hotels booked.  Three Airbnb's booked.  Tours and excursions mapped out.  Last minute hotel bookings cancelled by the hotel and needing to be rebooked.  Flights cancelled by the airlines and needing to be rebooked.

Whew!!!  I'm tired and I need a vacation!

But you know what?  It's all going to be worth it as we embark on our greatest adventure ever.

How Did We Decide On This Adventure?

Surprisingly, this started out with a passing conversation in the car.  We often talk about places we want to see.  I mentioned that Angkor Wat in Cambodia is a place I've always wanted to see.  Sonja has always wanted to return to Southeast Asia so it was an easy sell.

The second factor was that this would be our first full winter with both of us being retired. In the past we had considered a few different scenarios for how we would handle the cold and rainy Pacific Northwest during the winter.  

At one point several years ago, we looked into buying a winter home.  We looked at Phoenix.  We looked at South Carolina.  We looked at the gulf coast.  But we kept coming back to the realization that if we bought a second home in any location, we would be "married" to that location every winter.  And that's just not us.  

We decided that we would rather travel for 3-4 months to a warm climate and rent or Airbnb while we explored different locales.

What's In Store For Us?

At the time of this writing, we're still a couple of weeks out from leaving.  Plus, it's Sonja's last week of work!  It's crunch time for double, triple quadruple checking everything.  It's time to start figuring out exactly how we're going to live out of backpacks for three months.  The excitement and trepidation is building... but that's a good thing.  

The overview of the trip can give you a sense of how grand this trip will be. (And an idea of future blog posts)

On October 31, we board a Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore. 

 

It's a 17-hour flight and even for seasoned travelers like us, that's a damn long flight!  We splurged and upped to Business Class with lay down seats.  

We'll spend an almost 24 hour layover at the Singapore airport, which is touted as the best airport in the world, before the short hop to Kuala Lumpur.

A week in Kuala Lumpur, four to five days in Penang and we'll leave Malaysia for Chiang Mai, Thailand.  We're spending two weeks there before catching a small boat down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, Laos.

Out time in Laos is not that long as we head to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a few days before heading to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. 

After Cambodia, we are really looking forward to our next destination... the Philippines.  Even with Sonja's Filipina heritage, she was born in Seattle and has never traveled to the archipelago.  

I was there last in 1975.   We're going to have the chance to go to the city where Sonja's grandfather grew up and we'll do a quick swing-by to Subic Bay and Olongapo. I'm sure it does not look the same.

Then it's off to Sri Lanka for a couple of weeks before heading to Delhi, India and the Golden Triangle.  This will check off a second bucket-list item for us, the Taj Mahal.

12 days in India before a short stop in Tokyo on the way home in January 2025. 

For our grandkids, when we take these trips we think about you every single day and wish you were with us.  But more importantly, we hope you take from this that it's ok to be adventurous in your lives.  It's ok to be bold.  It's ok to take chances and just like your Grandma and Papa...  we want you to win at life!