Round the world in a year.

Why did I decide to start a travel blog in the middle of a global pandemic? This is why?

During the middle of one of the 2020 lockdowns and in the depths of despair we made the decision to travel more when the pandemic was over. More specifically we decided to travel around the world for 12 months after our youngest son finishes school. The date is set for Jan 2025. I agree it seems a long way off, but there are things we need to do before we can travel. Here is a rough list of what we need to do before we leave –

Subdivide our property into 2 blocks. One with the house and 1 acre and another block of 2 acres.
On the 2 acre block arrange services, driveway, shedding etc so that we can move into the shed before we leave and then sell our house.
Clean up our current house, inside and out, so that it can be sold.
Downsize and sell lots of our excess furniture, cars and other possessions we will no longer need.
Research the best itinerary – this will be extensive.
Save money – aim to have $50,000 before we leave. My husband is taking LSL at half pay so we will have some money coming in while we are travelling.
Ensure we have our itinerary and budget in place for the trip and home expenses.

Rough Itinerary

We have spent some time getting together our must see places and other destinations that interest us so that we have an idea of how much time to spend in each continent. This is currently very rough and will no doubt change over the next 3 years.

First stop – Africa. Possibly looking at only 1 month and doing organised tours to ensure we see as much as we can in the little time allocated.
From Africa to the UK – 1 month to see areas we missed on our previous trip back in 1999. Definitely will head to Northern Island as we missed it last trip.
Europe / Scandinavia – 5 months. Does not seem long enough and we will need to be selective with destinations.
Canada / Alaska – 1 month around this area
US – 3 months travelling from one side to the other.
Finally some time in Asia. Option of spending Christmas in Japan if our eldest son is still living there.

Issues we are considering.

Sub division – fingers crossed it all goes well and we can get a shed on our block for living space and storage.
How much do we spend on our current house to ensure it is ready for sale?
How much will the trip actually cost?
How will we be travelling – train? Should we purchase a motorhome in Europe or the US?
Do we pre book flights to ensure we stick to our time frame?
Luggage – are we backpacking and how will I pack for 12 months away in different climates?
What will we do with the animals if our children are not living on our property?
Where will we spend Christmas – or should we be home by then?
Will our youngest be organised in Uni or a job before we leave.
Hope we don’t have any grandchildren by then!!!

As we plan this trip we will share our achievements and setbacks to keep you all up to date. We have lots to get done in the next 3.5 years – some scary and some super exciting.

What tips to do you have for us? Do you have a favourite website for itinerary planning? What other suggestions or comments do you have?