Getting this blog in action

We haven't had a chance to update our website and get the blog going.

Over the past few weeks, since we made the decision to do the trip, we've learned quite a bit. Rita's new favorite site is www.onebag.com - and for good reason. It's a fabulous site, chock-full of ideas on how to minimize packing and travel wisely. We've both been working different parts of the itinerary. Some we need to plan in advance, because of required visas (we got our Vietnam and Tanzania visas back from their consulates). We're working on Kenya's today.

Athough the majority of our flying is done on our Around the World (ATW) ticket, it has a limit on the number of stops and you have to come in and out from those airports (e.g. you can't fly in to Tel Aviv and fly out of Cairo). So, we used the ATW to get us to the airports that can be used as launching point and which may have been more expensive. From there, we're buying local flights.

We're finding ways of booking airlines that are local to the regions, rather than using traditional internationals. For example we fly in/out of Bangkok on the ATW, but we've found ground and air transportation to get us around Thialand, Cambodia and Vietnam. WE did the same thing in Africa, flying RTW to Cairo to do Egypt. We also bought air to Livingstone/Victoria Falls (southern Africa) where we start our 24-day trip to Kenya. From there, we fly back to Cairo and the ATW ticket.

We're not trying to fly everywhere, but we are at times to maximize our limited time and get to the farthest reaches. We're looking forward to the pace of the rest of our travel... train, caravans, ferry, bus, hiking, boat, RV, car, etc.

Just a few weeks to Australia/New Zealand, another example of using a local air package. Through V Australia, they have discounted flights that will get us from Sydney AU to Christchurch NZ, where we're renting an RV for two weeks. We fly out of Auckland NZ to Brisbane AU for a day, before heading to Cairns AU where we will live aboard a boat positioned on the outer Great Barrier Reef for diving.

More later. Jeff