RTW trip schedule and pre-trip reasons!!

we DECIDED we WANTED TO GO TRAVELLING AROUND THE WORLD WITH the FAMILY A FEW YEARS AGO. WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT IT WE REALISED WE HAD A NARROWING WINDOW TO GO AS THE KIDS WERE GETTING OLDER AND OUR OLDEST WAS GOING TO BE 13 SOON AND WE FELT WE COULD NOT DISRUPT his STUDIES AFTER THAT. WE ALSO WANTED TO HAVE SOME WORK DONE TO OUR HOUSE AND SO INSTEAD OF RENTING SOME MISERABLE OTHER HOUSE TO LIVE IN WHILST IT WAS DONE WE DECIDED A RTW TRIP WOULD ACTUALLY SAVE US MONEY! WE ALSO FELT THAT WITH THE ECONOMY IN ITS CURRENT STATE WE WOULD NOT MISS TOO MUCH BY TAKING SOME TIME OUT AND COMING BACK IN SPRING 2010. AND LASTLY WE FELT THAT THE KIDS AND US WOULD BENEFIT GREATLY FROM THE TRIP AND THAT IT WOULD BE A BETTER EXPERIENCE THAN ANOTHER 9 MONTHS AT SCHOOL (23 WEEKS OF ACTUAL SCHOOL TIME).

SO WHAT WITH THE GOOD TIMING FOR THE KIDS, THE ECONOMY, THE BUILDING WORK AND THE EXPERIENCE, WE SET ABOUT THE PLANNING OF THE TRIP. WE ALL PUT DOWN OUR TOP PLACES WE WANTED TO VISIT. WE READ TRAVEL BOOKS AND WE GOT A ROUGH OUTLINE OF WHERE WE WANTED TO GO, WHAT WE WANTED TO SEE AND WHAT EXPERIENCES WE WANTED TO HAVE. SO THE ITINERARY HAS BECOME A BIT LIKE "PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, with a few boats thrown in!!" MEETS "ROBINSON CRUSOE" ....... AS IT TURNS OUT YOU CANNOT TRAVEL THE WORLD IN ONLY 9 MONTHS!!

YOU NEED TO BE SELECTIVE AND PICK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO - AND GET SOME PLANNING DOWN ON PAPER. IT WAS ALL VERY EXCITING AND THEN........THE WORRY ABOUT " WHAT ARE WE DOING TO THE KIDS AND OUR YOUNGEST ONLY going to be 4 YRS OLD Soon - WOULD THEY AND SHE COPE?" AND THEN I READ THE RTW BLOG OF A FAMILY FROM TORONTO WHO HAD A SIMILAR AGED FAMILY WHO HAD DECIDED within a week and left within a week TO TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD. THEY LITERALLY FLEW TO A PLACE - WENT TO THE AIRPORT HOTELS DESK AND ASKED FOR DETAILS OF A SUITABLE HOTEL TO STAY IN AND THEN WOKE UP IN THE MORNING WITH THEIR GUIDE BOOK AND DECIDED WHAT TO DO THAT DAY..... THEY HAD A FABULOUS TRIP AND WOULD RECOMMEND EVERYONE TRIES IT IF THEY CAN.... SO AGAIN WE WERE ENCOURAGED THAT WE WERE DOING THE RIGHT THING.

AND THEN WE SET ABOUT TELLING SCHOOLS ABOUT THE PLANS AND WORKING OUT HOW TO TRY TO KEEP UP THE KIDS EDUCATION WHILST WE WERE AWAY.....AND HOW THE KIDS WOULD COPE.........

We now have a month to go and all the flights, travel plans,jabs, visas, holidays and schools have been booked. A summary of our trip is below: Hurrah we leave in a month - lots to finish off before we go!

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RTW Schedule – West Family 2009/10:

Dates:

1st Continent - NAmerica/Canada:(19/7 -29/9):

East Coast (Washington and New York) 1 wk

Canada (Niagara Falls/Toronto/Lake Muskoka) 1 wk

Camp Lincoln – Minnesota American Summer camp 2 wks

Train across Canada - Vancouver Island camping 1 wk

West Coast (Vancouver to San Francisco) in RV 3 wks

West Coast (San Fran to LA) in Car - Highway 1 2 wks

2nd Continent – South America & South Pacific:(29/9/09 s. America – S. Pacific 24/10to 4/12/09)

Galapagos/Ecuador/Quito trip 1 wk

Peru - Inca & Machu Picchu/Cuzco trip 1 wk

Amazon/ Peru end trip 1 wk

Cook Islands – S. Pacific/Rarotonga - Kids school 6 wks

3rd Continent – NZ: (5/12/2009 - 3/1/2010)

NZ tour / North and South Island

then Xmas with family 4 wks

4th Continent – Asia tour:

(Tour 3/1/2010 to 20/2/2010 - arrive Suzhou 21/2 - 2/4/10 then Borneo 2/4/10 to 8/4/10)

Hong Kong 1 wk

Vietnam tour 1 WK

Cambodia tour 1 WK

thailand trip 1 wk

Japan and China tour 3 wks

China (Suzhou/Shanghai) Kids in school 6 wks

Malaysia/Borneo holiday 1 wk

Return to UK 9th April 2010

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