Mary & John's BIG Adventure

WHERE ARE WE NOW?

e-mail us!

Pre-Trip Journal. 

10/31/98: John and I are just beginning to actually PLAN our trip.  We've both done quite a bit of travelling ....my longest trip was about 6 months...John has travelled for years at a time.  One of our main challenges is deciding where to go.   John has been everywhere except South America...I haven't been to New Zealand, Australia,  South Africa,  and much of Asia.  Anyway we both have favorite places we want to re-visit and share  with each other.  My lifelong dream has been to travel extensively with the man I love (although all of my trips alone and with friends have been GREAT!!)

1/9/99: We are making progress on our trip, slowly but surely! Mostly we have been taking care of all the business of maintaining our lives here in Santa Cruz...possibly a year's worth of business crammed into a few weeks! It's a lot like work! The fun part has been meeting with friends who have recently done (or are also planning) round-the -world adventures. We are still not completely sure of our itinerary but right now it looks like 3 months in South America. Then on to Greece via Miami. Europe will include Turkey , South of France, looking up Mary's relatives in Sicily and Naples, John's family in England and Ireland, Prague, and whatever else. So about three months in Europe. After that we're not sure...but we'll definitely be following the sun and avoiding anyplace in conflict. Of course, we are looking forward to seeing some of you along the way..so keep us informed of your travel plans. Of course, we are also looking forward to hanging out in some of the more desireable places for a while....more to come...

1/19/99: We'll be leaving next week (mid-week) for Southern California to see my family and friends there before we take off on the 31st from L.A. (everyone else in the country will be watching the Superbowl!) Our first stop is Lima, Peru where we will get a connecting flight to Cusco. From there we'll take a train to Aguas Caliente, where we'll take a bus to Machu Pichu...this is someplace I have wanted to go my whole life!!! After communing with the Incas, we'll take a train to Puno on Lake Titicaca (What does THAT mean???) We'll hang out there a while and check out some of the islands in the lake. Then on to LaPaz, Bolivia. In Bolivia, we hope to visit places like Cochabamba, Sucre, and Potosi, as well as Tiwanacu, Copacabana, and some other places that our friends have told us about. From La Paz we'll fly to Santiago, Chile. There we'll visit the wine country and beaches before we head south to Puerto Montt. This is in the beautiful Lake region. Moving along, we'll head to Bariloche, Argentina (the Swiss Alps of South America)...then fly to Buenos Aires,another dream destination of mine. We'll check out the beaches there, take a hydrofoil to Montevideo, Uruguay, then fly out of Buenos Aires to see the Fabulous Iguacu Falls on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. We then fly to Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. From there we may go to Porto Segura. Then on to Rio and all the wonderful places around there. If we can tear ourselves away (no easy task for me..I LOVE Brazil), we'll go to Sao Paulo to visit a few friends before we leave for Miami. We'll be in MIami a week and then fly to Athens......

1/27/99: I can't belive it! We are actually winding things up here in Santa Cruz!We've moved everything into storage, taken care of all business and areready to roll!! I thought this day would never come. So tommorrow we drivedown south to see my family and friends there before flying to Lima.Thanks to all of you for all of the support, prayers, and good wishes. Weare the luckiest people to have YOU in our lives!! I know we are going tohave a great time but we will miss you and our wonderful lives here inCalifornia. Now I just have to make sure I can remember all of this emailand internet stuff so we can communicate from the road!!! (this is whereI'll need the most luck!!) Bye for now!!!