Remarkably, we adhered to our initial plan/path of our journey. Aside from a few minor flight delays, we experienced NO flight cancelations. We not only hit every place we planned to visit, but managed to work in several additional stops along the way. At some point during our trip, I started considering the scale and scope of our adventure numerically… and I kept a tally of trip statistics. Here is a high-level summation of the trip:
Days Traveled: 81
Continents visited: 3 (Asia, Africa & Europe)
Countries visited: 15 (Japan, China, Thailand, India, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Croatia, England)
Cities visited (i.e., stayed): 21 (Tokyo, Kyoto, Beijing, Hong Kong, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Cape Town, Paris, Barcelona, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Prague, Munich, Dubrovnik, Saltburn, London)
Additional places visited: 14 (The Great Wall (China), Doi Inthanon Nat’l Park (Thailand), Pushkar Rajasthan (India), Kruger Nat’l Park (S. Africa – 5 day safari), Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe), Dachau Concentration Camp & Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle (Germany), Korcula/Hvar/Split (Croatia), York, Whitby & Cambridge (England)).
Natural “wonders of the world” visited: 2 (Table Mountain (S. Africa) & Victoria Falls (Zambia/Zimbabwe)):
Man-made “wonders of the world” visited: 2 (The Great Wall & Taj Mahal):
Total Miles traveled: 36,703**
— Miles by air: 32,987
— Miles by train: 2,169
— Miles by car/bus: 1,352
— Miles by boat: 195
** This mileage count is just travel between cities/places we stayed. Actual total miles traveled — including transportation within cities/places — was well in excess of this total.
David’s Favorites:
While there were SO many truly great experiences and certainly more than one in each place, I tried to think of one thing — an activity, a sight, or an experience — that stood out to me from each location. Below is my tentative list of “favorites,” which will almost certainly change as I continue to think about the adventure we just completed:
Kyoto: Bamboo Forest
Beijing: The Great Wall
Hong Kong: Victoria Peak
Chiang Mai: Hiking Doi Inthanon Nat’l Park
Phuket: Beach
Agra: Taj Mahal
Jaipur: Learning I have “good Karma”. [backstory: a beggar/conman came up to our car and told our tour guide/driver (in Hindi) that I “would have good karma and good luck, IF I just give him 50-100 rupee,” our guide laughed and said to him (referring to me) “He already has good karma and good luck — he is in this car while you are out there.”]
Kruger Nat’l Park, S. Africa: Watching pride of lions eat their “Geoffrey the Giraffe”-kill on safari
Zambia & Zimbabwe: Microlight flight over Victoria Falls
Croatia: Cruise up the Adriatic Sea
Wow. Just wow.
Glad you are home.