:: Approximately four degrees of longitude per day ::

Thursday, December 18, 2008

I'll be leaving Christmas day for a three-month vacation. I'll probably get into the whys and wherefores later - after all I'll have plenty of time for explanations - but suffice it to say I had the free time and the southern hemisphere is warm right now. I know a real round-the-world trip deserves far more time than I've giving this one, but not knowing when I'll have 18 months to do it properly I'll take what I can get.

I drew a rough map of the trip to kick it off. You may be wondering, "why is the starfish not happy?" The truth is that the starfish is the happiest of all the ocean critters depicted here, but cannot show it as starfish are notoriously uncomfortable expressing emotion.

If you have advice and tips for the locations where I'll be (excluding those in the US), please let me know. Destinations include, but are not limited to:

• Ho Chi Minh City
• Mui Ne
• Can Tho
• Chiang Mai
• Pun Pun
• Hong Kong
• Sydney
• Darwin / Kakadu National Park
• Brisbane
• Vanuatu (various)
• New Zealand (various)
• Los Angeles
• Crooked River State Park, Georgia
• New York City
• Washington, DC

I'm also going to try and squeeze in another SE Asian trip, so any suggestions within a reasonably short flight of Hong Kong are welcome. I also know a couple of you have done this in a much more hardcore fashion so general RTW backpacking tips are appreciated.

There will be photos.

Posted by morland @ 04:23 PM

:: Comments ::

when you have enough time and money for an 18 month trip, my recommendation is this: make it a 9 month trip and take me with you (at your expense, of course).

when you're in australia, make sure you go do some snorkeling on the great barrier reef. i went there and it was unbelievable. i think i went to lady musgrave island.

in australia you can also see amazing things, like the world's largest pineapple (at the aptly named pineapple plantation), and the world's largest guitar (in tamworth).

in new zealand i liked rotorua, basically a boiling lake. and don't forget the world's largest sheep while you're there (but they call them merinos, when they say sheep it sounds a lot like "shit").

i'd actually avoid all those world's largest things. but they seriously are there.

Posted by: josh on December 18, 2008 04:53 PM

If you have the time in Chiang Mai, I'd totally recommend spending a full day at the Elephant Nature Park. It's a bit of a commitment, because it's about 1.5 hrs away, but it was maybe the most memorable experience I took away from Thailand.

Posted by: bedwell on December 18, 2008 08:54 PM

Make sure to check out Outback Steakhouse in Brisbane, really good.

Posted by: Alex on December 19, 2008 10:05 AM

When are you going to be in LA? Perhaps I will plan my trip there to concur with yours.

Posted by: choi on December 19, 2008 12:58 PM

When are you in NY? Wanna sleep over...
xo

Posted by: joey on December 25, 2008 02:14 PM

you don't know me

Posted by: starfish on December 27, 2008 02:54 PM

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