The Journey Has Finally Begun

Waiting in Tampa

Since late Tuesday afternoon we have now traveled just over 12,500 miles to arrive at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Auckland at 1am on Saturday.

After 90 days of planning, booking over 50 individual flights, well over 100 separate nights in every imaginable sort of accommodation (5, 4, and 3 star hotels, guesthouses in Nepal, a prison in Australia, houseboat in southern India, Yurt in the Gobi Desert in Uzbekistan, tents on parts of my treks thru northern Pakistan and Nepal, dug out caves in Cooper Pedy and Cappadocia, and a repurposed palace in northern India), assorted forms of transportation (rental car, passenger jets, prop planes, hot air balloons over Cappadocia, Turkey, Luxor, Egypt, and Jaisalmer, India, Helicopter over the 12 Apostles off

Southern Australia, modern and scenic trains in New Zealand, high speed trains across China, historic trains in India, Ferries between the north island and south island of New Zealand and between Hong Kong and Macau, paddle boats across lakes and down rivers in New Zealand, China, the and the Nile in Egypt, long tail boat and speed boats in Thailand, and a canoe like contraption in Laos, Buses, mini buses, limos, tuk tuks, motorcycle, scooter, bicycle, e-bike, elephant in southeast Asia and India, Camel in the Gobi Desert in Central Asia and Jordan, Arabian Horse on the Arabian Peninsula and my own two soon to be sore and abused feet across 36 countries the trip finally is underway.

I have now been vaccinated against every disease or parasite known to man to point I felt like a human pin cushion.  But I am now bullet proof from yellow fever, dengue fever, malaria, cholera, Hepatitis A and B, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and tetanus and several other diseases I can’t even remember or spell.

Hawaii

I have my visas all in order thru late July and have my final visas (Pakistan and Bangladesh) in processing under a second passport.  By far this is the longest (9 months) and most complicated (36 countries) trip I have ever undertaken.  But in true Rocko Polo style I have a 287 page itinerary accounting for every minute of the trip with a schedule down to the minute for how long I will spend seeing every temple, pagoda, palace, market, museum, and ruin.  I know which volcanoes to climb and what time I need to reach the summit for the best sunrise or sunset photos, and precisely how I am to get from point A to point B.  But as they say, “men make plans and the gods laugh” or as a friend of mine used to tell me plans are for shredding.  So, let’s see how long I can stay on my plan. 

Breakfast in Auckland

I have included just four quick photos from the long journey to Auckland – one as I waited for the airport shuttle in Tampa, my breakfast in first class to Los Angeles, me ready for bed on my 9 hour flight from Hawaii to Auckland, and an incredible breakfast this morning in Auckkand.

 

 

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3 Responses to The Journey Has Finally Begun

  1. Mary Pennington says:

    Have a good time and safe travels can’t wait to read your blogs. Breakfast looks so good.

  2. Grammy and Erin says:

    Where is Jeannette? Did you leave her behind? haha. -Grammy and Erin

  3. Bee says:

    Little did you know how great that breakfast was compared to what was coming. (I’ve inadvertently read these out of sequence so the shredder kicked in with the subsequent train trip and boxed “meals.”) Hope all that extensive planning is rewarded overall!

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