T-5 days

Welcome! Thanks for checking out our blog! We’re hoping to update this fairly often in an attempt to preserve our memories of this wonderful experience, as well as provide our family and friends the ability to share this journey with us.

As some of you may know, we are both taking 3 and half months off of work to travel through parts of southern Asia. The map to the left shows the route we are planning on taking… no doubt it will change on the fly as we continue to learn more about places we want to go (or not go), talk to other travelers, get tired of 90+ degree heat, etc. But here’s the general plan:

Fly to Delhi, India from Chicago. Spend 4 days in Delhi to explore the city, see the Taj Mahal (in nearby Agra, India), and try to get acclimated to crazy Asia. Next, Fly from Delhi to Kathmandu, Nepal. After a few days of preparation in Kathmandu, set off on trekking the Annapurna Circuit—a 21 day trek through the Annapurna region of the Himalayas. Fly to Bangkok, Thailand from here, and begin a “loop” (via trains, planes and automobiles) through Southeast Asia. Heading north from Bangkok, explore Chiang Mai Thailand and surrounding areas, then head east to the border of Laos. After border crossing, take a river boat into Laos, arriving at Luang Prabang and to more destinations south. Then, we’ll fly from Laos to Hanoi, Vietnam and move south through Vietnam (Sapa, Ha Long Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang), finally arriving at Ho Chi Minh City. From here, head northwest to Cambodia to see the capital city of Phnom Penh and on to the temples of Angkor Wat. A short flight from here will take us back to Bangkok (completing our loop), where we’ll head south into the beach areas of Thailand (Krabi, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi on the west, and maybe Ko Samui or Ko Phangan on the east. Where we go from here is less planned out… perhaps we’ll try to head further south into Malaysia and/or Singapore (or, more likely, find a cheap Thai beach bungalow and stay put for a while). Finally, we’ll make our way to Bali for a while before flying back to the cruel reality that awaits us!

Most of the big pieces are in place—inbound and outbound flights booked, visas (finally!) acquired for countries requiring them before entry (India and Vietnam), vaccinations and travel meds--check, apartment lease cancelled (a few pics included), etc. With 5 days left, there are LOTS of loose ends to tie up but it should all get done.
We can’t wait to take off and share our adventure with everyone! Will write more soon… take care!