Organizing a trip is hard work even for a seasoned traveler. Fortunately, I've gotten better at parts of the process over time. I've learned tips and tricks over the past few years worth of adventures that make packing and prepping a breeze. Overpacking is a problem of the past, I have a good idea of how to choose the most convenient places to stay in any city, and rarely do we come home to forgotten surprises like moldy dishes in the sink.
While some bits have become easier, there are parts of the planning process that I feel may always provide some frustration for me. Unfortunately, these are major and unavoidable parts of any vacation. Topping my short list of travel prep frustrations is researching and booking transportation and accommodations. I place the majority of the blame on the tools that were designed to assist in planning a trip in the modern age - travel comparison sights and internet booking forms.
I love sites like Tripadvisor. It is a great idea to offer a place for personal reviews of everything a city has to offer all ranked according to a variety of appealing aspects. I can know that the toilet in the 3rd floor room runs all night or that the 'amazing view' is really a peek into your neighbors shower. The benefits to being able to completely weigh your options are amazing - you can find exactly the right room for you, the most comfortable seat on a plane, or the best and most reasonably priced meal near your hotel. You can plan your vacation to perfection.
The problem with having the option to research so many aspects is that you lose perspective on what is important and you can obsess over tiny details. This hotel is 2 minutes closer, but this hotel is $20 cheaper, but this one has a bathtub and the other one has a view. After a half an hour of weighing options it is easy to forget that you are looking for a place to lay your head for a night or two, not choosing your future home.
Once you can overcome the nearsightedness of too many options and not enough perspective it is finally time to commit to a decision. I click on 'reserve' and the favorite part of my adventure begins. First the room rate goes up, then the dates chosen are not actually available. You reevaluate your options, change your mind a few times, settle on something else and finally make it to the details form. You fill it in and click 'submit' feeling a sense of relief that this task is finally accomplished just to find you have taken too long, or forgot to click the 'i agree to your terms' button and the form restets itself and you get to begin all over again.
Perhaps this week's post should be subtitled 'frustrations' as it surely feels like the storm before the calm before the trip. This journey is a huge undertaking. In fact, this will be largest and longest vacation we have planned to date. From a planning perspective it is not really one large vacation so much as bunch of little ones all back to back. That means a heck of a lot of accommodations to book!
What I really love is deciding on a place and discovering what there is to see - looking more at the big picture than focusing on the small yet important details. I'm looking forward to the part where I get to be there, finally enjoying the benefits of all the hard work, planning, and frustrations. Well, I'm off to attempt yet another hotel booking. I'm feeling lucky, maybe this time it will only take me three tries to get the confirmation. ;)
Monday, August 27, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Timing
When *should* one embark on an around the world adventure? I suppose the best time might be when your desire, time, and money all abundantly converge. This can require a bit of advance planning or a lot of luck or perhaps a mix of the two. In our case, it is definitely a mix.
We've been saving for years for that mysterious 'something' - the undefined future, retirement, a large milestone purchase, or some crazy treat for ourselves. Really, we've been saving because that's what we hear you are supposed to do. Saving has become a goal into itself at this point. I've also been told that you should choose to go for your dreams when they are within reach. Turning a retirement dream into a reality a few years early seems like as good a reason as any to finally tap into the piggy bank and take a bite out of savings.
As for time, and timing, these seem to lean a bit more towards the luck side of things. A few people have asked how we can take so much time off work. This is where the luck part comes in. It turns out Europeans take their vacations much more seriously than Americans with the average company offering 4 weeks of vacation a year right from the start. Add to this some on-call compensation time and past years banked holidays and you end up with plenty of vacation time lying around and a manager that would really like you to use it.
Then there is the timing issue as in 'when should we go?'. This depends on what you want to see and why. We started with one date in mind - November 14th, the date of the eclipse. When we started fleshing things out a bit we started looking at what else was happening between here and our destination and when. We popped in dates for things that we enjoy (like the Great American Beer Festival), traditions (like the Treasure Hunt in Phoenix for our friend), or special occasions (like birthdays and holidays). We took this giant mess of dates and places and considered the limitations of how long we could afford to be away from home and ended up with a two month adventure this coming fall.
As for the third and final bit, desire, I guess it doesn't count for either side. It is not restricted by luck nor planning, it is self sustaining and always exists without consideration for your conditions. So basically when asked "When is the best time to take a trip around the world?", my answer would be when you have the desire and you have saved enough that you feel like to can spend a little and your boss says you should use some of your vacation time and you really feel like your dream has waited long enough and it's time to make it a reality.
I guess that means my short answer would be - "Now!".
We've been saving for years for that mysterious 'something' - the undefined future, retirement, a large milestone purchase, or some crazy treat for ourselves. Really, we've been saving because that's what we hear you are supposed to do. Saving has become a goal into itself at this point. I've also been told that you should choose to go for your dreams when they are within reach. Turning a retirement dream into a reality a few years early seems like as good a reason as any to finally tap into the piggy bank and take a bite out of savings.
As for time, and timing, these seem to lean a bit more towards the luck side of things. A few people have asked how we can take so much time off work. This is where the luck part comes in. It turns out Europeans take their vacations much more seriously than Americans with the average company offering 4 weeks of vacation a year right from the start. Add to this some on-call compensation time and past years banked holidays and you end up with plenty of vacation time lying around and a manager that would really like you to use it.
Then there is the timing issue as in 'when should we go?'. This depends on what you want to see and why. We started with one date in mind - November 14th, the date of the eclipse. When we started fleshing things out a bit we started looking at what else was happening between here and our destination and when. We popped in dates for things that we enjoy (like the Great American Beer Festival), traditions (like the Treasure Hunt in Phoenix for our friend), or special occasions (like birthdays and holidays). We took this giant mess of dates and places and considered the limitations of how long we could afford to be away from home and ended up with a two month adventure this coming fall.
As for the third and final bit, desire, I guess it doesn't count for either side. It is not restricted by luck nor planning, it is self sustaining and always exists without consideration for your conditions. So basically when asked "When is the best time to take a trip around the world?", my answer would be when you have the desire and you have saved enough that you feel like to can spend a little and your boss says you should use some of your vacation time and you really feel like your dream has waited long enough and it's time to make it a reality.
I guess that means my short answer would be - "Now!".
Monday, August 13, 2012
Destinations
Our current itinerary looks like this:
Zürich -> Frankfurt- > New York -> Delaware -> Peru -> Colorado -> Phoenix -> Oahu -> New Zealand -> Australia -> Tokyo -> home
Each place has at least a small reason that became the inspiration for deciding to find out what else is there for us to see. You can find out why each place made our itinerary below.
Frankfurt
I actually don't care for Frankfurt. It's a busy modern business city and looks like any major American city center, skyscrapers and all. Come to find out, this is exactly what makes the city appealing to many of our European friends. Frankfurt happens to be a short train ride away and we will save around 15% on our airfare by starting our journey there instead of Zürich.
New York
NYC is an American icon. The biggest problem here is figuring out how much we can see in a week without over doing it. Of course there are the classics to start with - Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim, Broadway, and more. Then there is the food, the nightlife, the clubs, the cocktails, the shows, the history, the architecture... It is going to be a crazy busy week, for sure.
Delaware
One word: dogfishhead.
For those who know us, we will finally fulfill a beer dream and visit the Rehoboth Beach brewpub where it all began. We may even consider a brewery tour though we've taken plenty of those over the years, maybe we will just skip to the beer tasting at the end.
Peru (Lima and Cuzco)
Even though I was never terribly fond of social studies, I remember first learning about Peru while in Jr. High. Who wouldn't remember the names of places like Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca? In addition to the fun names, Peru is still so incredibly different from anything I have seen while traveling and living in Europe. This will be our first visit to South America.
Colorado (Boulder and Denver)
There is always a business trip on the horizon. Boulder is one of those places we will likely visit for work about once every two years. As luck would have it, it's the right time of the year to catch the Great American Beer Festival.
Phoenix
Though it may no longer be our home, there are still plenty of people and places that we love in Phoenix. We decided to pop by for an extended weekend to say hello to friends and family and visit a few of our favorite places while our travel companion participates in the annual AZ Treasure Hunt.
Oahu
When given the choice of layover place it didn't take long to settle on Oahu to visit a good friend we haven't seen in about 4 years. Plus, who doesn't love Hawaii?
New Zealand (Auckland and somewhere on the south island)
Our travel companion visited last year and has recommended it for it's natural beauty and accessibility to extreme outdoor sports. It is likely we will spend a decent amount of time relaxing on the beach and catching up on our naps between adventures. We chose Auckland for visiting a friend who used to live in Zürich.
Australia (Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef)
The eclipse is the motivating factor for the entire trip. The only inhabited place that the eclipse can be seen in totality is about 30km north of Cairns. Cairns and Queensland are also the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. I don't have a 'bucket list' per se but I do have an idea of amazing experiences I'd like to have and diving the GBR is definitely high on the list.
Tokyo
It fits our qualification for 'somewhere in Asia'. We didn't want to duplicate our companions trip from last year so opted out of Korea, "One Night in Bangkok" sounded exhausting, China offered too many choices. Since this is mostly new territory for us, we decided on a place were we would have a potential tour guide. Now if our friend in Japan will just check his email...
Home
The best place to end any vacation! Our original goal was to be home in time to toss a huge Thanksgiving celebration with our friends but it looks like we will be missing by just a couple of days. After 9 weeks away home will be a welcome sight but I still feel like we could fit just one more place in before returning to Zürich.
Zürich -> Frankfurt- > New York -> Delaware -> Peru -> Colorado -> Phoenix -> Oahu -> New Zealand -> Australia -> Tokyo -> home
Each place has at least a small reason that became the inspiration for deciding to find out what else is there for us to see. You can find out why each place made our itinerary below.
Frankfurt
I actually don't care for Frankfurt. It's a busy modern business city and looks like any major American city center, skyscrapers and all. Come to find out, this is exactly what makes the city appealing to many of our European friends. Frankfurt happens to be a short train ride away and we will save around 15% on our airfare by starting our journey there instead of Zürich.
New York
NYC is an American icon. The biggest problem here is figuring out how much we can see in a week without over doing it. Of course there are the classics to start with - Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, the Guggenheim, Broadway, and more. Then there is the food, the nightlife, the clubs, the cocktails, the shows, the history, the architecture... It is going to be a crazy busy week, for sure.
Delaware
One word: dogfishhead.
For those who know us, we will finally fulfill a beer dream and visit the Rehoboth Beach brewpub where it all began. We may even consider a brewery tour though we've taken plenty of those over the years, maybe we will just skip to the beer tasting at the end.
Peru (Lima and Cuzco)
Even though I was never terribly fond of social studies, I remember first learning about Peru while in Jr. High. Who wouldn't remember the names of places like Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca? In addition to the fun names, Peru is still so incredibly different from anything I have seen while traveling and living in Europe. This will be our first visit to South America.
Colorado (Boulder and Denver)
There is always a business trip on the horizon. Boulder is one of those places we will likely visit for work about once every two years. As luck would have it, it's the right time of the year to catch the Great American Beer Festival.
Phoenix
Though it may no longer be our home, there are still plenty of people and places that we love in Phoenix. We decided to pop by for an extended weekend to say hello to friends and family and visit a few of our favorite places while our travel companion participates in the annual AZ Treasure Hunt.
Oahu
When given the choice of layover place it didn't take long to settle on Oahu to visit a good friend we haven't seen in about 4 years. Plus, who doesn't love Hawaii?
New Zealand (Auckland and somewhere on the south island)
Our travel companion visited last year and has recommended it for it's natural beauty and accessibility to extreme outdoor sports. It is likely we will spend a decent amount of time relaxing on the beach and catching up on our naps between adventures. We chose Auckland for visiting a friend who used to live in Zürich.
Australia (Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef)
The eclipse is the motivating factor for the entire trip. The only inhabited place that the eclipse can be seen in totality is about 30km north of Cairns. Cairns and Queensland are also the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. I don't have a 'bucket list' per se but I do have an idea of amazing experiences I'd like to have and diving the GBR is definitely high on the list.
Tokyo
It fits our qualification for 'somewhere in Asia'. We didn't want to duplicate our companions trip from last year so opted out of Korea, "One Night in Bangkok" sounded exhausting, China offered too many choices. Since this is mostly new territory for us, we decided on a place were we would have a potential tour guide. Now if our friend in Japan will just check his email...
Home
The best place to end any vacation! Our original goal was to be home in time to toss a huge Thanksgiving celebration with our friends but it looks like we will be missing by just a couple of days. After 9 weeks away home will be a welcome sight but I still feel like we could fit just one more place in before returning to Zürich.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Evolution
"I will see the world this year, I will feel it's size and see amazing things." 31 December 2011
I'm not exactly sure when the plan changed from 'see the eclipse' to 'see the world' but I wrote the above in my new years eve review this past year.
When the idea started morphing into something larger than an already amazing one month in Australia, I envisioned this grand trip crossing every continent and visiting remote islands to see every place I had ever imagined I might visit. When we started to put ideas on paper we had this incredible list of possibilities - Reykjavik, Freetown, Galapagos, Tahiti, Easter Island, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangkok, Lebanon, and on and on... We filled in dates of events, homes of friends, strange sights that we might not otherwise see.
We made a map called "Around the world in two months or less" and put all of our potential spots on it. We filled in the gaps on the map until we broke our path into 4 to 6 hour flight segments around the planet. We ended up with this beautiful dotted tour covering the entire map full of possibilities and at least a years worth of travel.
The map sat for a couple of months. I daydreamed, browsed travel guides, and searched websites for interesting tips. I envisioned this amazing journey to tiny out-of-the-way places for weeks before we sat down with our friend to talk in more detail. We chatted about the limitations of an around the world ticket, how many flight segments we would have, how many miles were allowed in each tier, how much time we could really spend away from our responsibilities, and exactly how much this would end up costing.
In the end, practicality began to win out. We each chose 3 locations that we would like to see and proceeded with planning on a much smaller and more realistic scale. Our next challenge would be which airline alliance to go with since there is more than one from which to choose. More procrastination, more indecisiveness, and more restrictions continued to mold our trip into something new.
The reality of mapping a journey with multiple destinations becomes quite challenging for many reasons. From point A to point B there can be multiple changes and layovers eating up both time and flight segments. The worst situations are when 'you can't get there from here'. With each alliance you can only stop in cities that are serviced by that alliance. This meant that getting places like Tahiti or the Galapagos were impossible on the same trip as heading to Australia by way of New Zealand.
We played with a few different itineraries and possibilities before deciding to go with Star Alliance. For me, it was the front runner for the final bump up to frequent flyer status. Fortunately, it also happened to have all of the places we had currently settled on.
The evolution of the plan went from 'some day see a solar eclipse', to 'this year a month in Australia for a solar eclipse', to 'fantasy trip of the lifetime around the world journey of amazingness', to the current (and final?) pragmatic yet still decadent 9 weeks, 5 continents, lots of friends, a little bit of work, a festival, a treasure hunt, an eclipse, and still the trip of a lifetime!
_____________________________________________________
Plan your dream vacation around the world using the Star Alliance trip building tool.
Click on "Book your around the world trip now" near the bottom of the page to create and save an itinerary.
I'm not exactly sure when the plan changed from 'see the eclipse' to 'see the world' but I wrote the above in my new years eve review this past year.
When the idea started morphing into something larger than an already amazing one month in Australia, I envisioned this grand trip crossing every continent and visiting remote islands to see every place I had ever imagined I might visit. When we started to put ideas on paper we had this incredible list of possibilities - Reykjavik, Freetown, Galapagos, Tahiti, Easter Island, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangkok, Lebanon, and on and on... We filled in dates of events, homes of friends, strange sights that we might not otherwise see.
We made a map called "Around the world in two months or less" and put all of our potential spots on it. We filled in the gaps on the map until we broke our path into 4 to 6 hour flight segments around the planet. We ended up with this beautiful dotted tour covering the entire map full of possibilities and at least a years worth of travel.
The map sat for a couple of months. I daydreamed, browsed travel guides, and searched websites for interesting tips. I envisioned this amazing journey to tiny out-of-the-way places for weeks before we sat down with our friend to talk in more detail. We chatted about the limitations of an around the world ticket, how many flight segments we would have, how many miles were allowed in each tier, how much time we could really spend away from our responsibilities, and exactly how much this would end up costing.
In the end, practicality began to win out. We each chose 3 locations that we would like to see and proceeded with planning on a much smaller and more realistic scale. Our next challenge would be which airline alliance to go with since there is more than one from which to choose. More procrastination, more indecisiveness, and more restrictions continued to mold our trip into something new.
The reality of mapping a journey with multiple destinations becomes quite challenging for many reasons. From point A to point B there can be multiple changes and layovers eating up both time and flight segments. The worst situations are when 'you can't get there from here'. With each alliance you can only stop in cities that are serviced by that alliance. This meant that getting places like Tahiti or the Galapagos were impossible on the same trip as heading to Australia by way of New Zealand.
We played with a few different itineraries and possibilities before deciding to go with Star Alliance. For me, it was the front runner for the final bump up to frequent flyer status. Fortunately, it also happened to have all of the places we had currently settled on.
The evolution of the plan went from 'some day see a solar eclipse', to 'this year a month in Australia for a solar eclipse', to 'fantasy trip of the lifetime around the world journey of amazingness', to the current (and final?) pragmatic yet still decadent 9 weeks, 5 continents, lots of friends, a little bit of work, a festival, a treasure hunt, an eclipse, and still the trip of a lifetime!
_____________________________________________________
Plan your dream vacation around the world using the Star Alliance trip building tool.
Click on "Book your around the world trip now" near the bottom of the page to create and save an itinerary.
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