Getting Started

I noticed an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal for a trip around the world with National Geographic, and following up on that found a different one that would take place from Dec to Jan 2020. That meets a couple of my pleasure points:
  • It gets me out of Central Texas during the height of cedar allergy season.
  • Most of the sites were in the Southern Hemisphere, so it would be Summer, and hopefully warmer.

But the trip during 2020 was already full, and then in 2021 Covid hit, but it looks like they will re-open for the 2022-2023 schedule, so we are on "Around the World by Private Jet" from 29 Dec 2022 to 21 Jan 2023.

Our trip starts in Washington DC and goes to

  • Peru, for Machu Picchu
  • Easter Island
  • Somoa
  • Great Barrier Reef in Australia
  • Cambodia for Angkor temples
  • Kathmandu, Nepal
  • Paro, Bhutan
  • Agra, India for the Taj Mahal
  • Tanzania for the Ngorongoro Crater
  • Jordan for the Petra ruins
  • Marrakech, Morocco

and then back to Washington DC.

We need to fly from Austin to Washington DC and back, so we have a flight on United leaving on 28 Dec and getting back on 22 Jan.

NatGeo takes care of all the details.  We had to get shots (Typhoid, Yellow Fever, ...) and Visas (Australia, ...), but they cover all the hotel stays, transportation, guides, and such.  Covid is of course an issue, but Linda and I are shot and boosted (4 shots now).  Our biggests concerns there are the mosquito borne diseases, like malaria.

And the first change -- Political instability in Peru -- so Machu Picchu is out, and we are going to Panama instead of Peru.  See the Panama Canal.

And we need a Covid test before we leave ...


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