A Year of Early Retirement
In and around World
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We (John and Lynne) have decided to take a year off and travel while we are still young enough to carry our own cases and enjoy the sights and sounds of this wonderful planet.
We have both been lucky enough to travel already and this has just given us the taste for more. We will be taking Lynne's 11-year old (she will turn 12 in New Zealand) daughter, Fiona, with us for part of the trip and think that this will be a fabulous educational trip for her. We will be "home schooling" her to continue her basic school work and her school has given us a great (Fiona says "no Mum, HUGE") package to work with. She will also be able to visit a rich diversity of cultures and people as we travel in this ever shrinking world with its global economy. Our education will continue as well. We are looking to forward to making lots of new friends in lots of new places.
Check back here to see where we are and how we're doing!
………………John
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler The Three Amigos
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1
Getting Ready to go! D-Day minus 30!
So we have a departure date!
We plan to leave on September 17th. There were a number of factors that were effecting our departure date and fi... Continue reading »
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2
D-Day minus 27!
We made some more decisions over dinner last night.
We really wanted to have some sort of going away party but we just don't have the time to... Continue reading »
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3
New Zealand First
A good friend of mine and old army buddy, Ken Jones, saw that we are planning to go to Auckland and sent us some valuable information.
He was... Continue reading »
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4
We've added Singapore!
Unfortunately, after some research on Papua New Guinea, we decided that it was just not quite safe enough for us, especially with Fiona so we've ha... Continue reading »
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5
D-Day minus 18. We'll be Alameda Ambassadors to China!
Lynne and I happened to be at a surprise birthday party for Barbara Price last night and Mayor Beverly Johnson was also there. We were telling them... Continue reading »
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6
We missed our flight!
Well, we never made the flight to Auckland - we are now leaving on Tuesday night, same bat time, same bat channel. This just means we have two days... Continue reading »
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7
We're in New Zealand!
Well, we finally made it…
What a frantic last few days it was, as Lynne said, it’s just not easy to pack up your whole life and... Continue reading »
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8
Sydney, Australia
What can I say - we have become confirmed "hostellers". We are at a place called Collaroy Beach, which is about 45 minutes north of Sydney, and a b... Continue reading »
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9
Brisbane, Australia
We decided to take the train up to Brisbane (where we are staying with my school friends at their ranch of 256 acres of bush). It is a 13 hour jour... Continue reading »
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10
Darwin and Kakadu National Park
Morning everyone - it's 4 a.m. at the Changi Airport in Singapore, and the internet here is free, so I thought I would try and catch us up.
W... Continue reading »
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11
Singapore
Oh my gosh - could any trip began more beautifully?
Our cabin crew on the way to Singapore was great and we were treated royally. We sat in... Continue reading »
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12
Tokyo, Japan
Leaving Singapore (at the crack of dawn – 3:00 a.m.) we had all our cases opened and searched. It must have been a slow day. Then as we walked... Continue reading »
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13
Kyoto, Japan
We took the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto commonly known in the US as the bullet train. It was the world's first high speed train and... Continue reading »
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14
Beijing, China
Leaving Japan was the usual “convince the ticket agents to allow us to take two cases each” saga. Having successfully accomplished that feat, w... Continue reading »
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15
Xi'an, China
Xi’an and Franc!
We were met at Xi’an airport by William, our new guide.
Apparently, in China, the guides all choose English name... Continue reading »
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16
Wuxi, China
We arrived at the Wuxi station, having successfully made it, via train, from Shanghai to here. Richard (our guide whose real name was Hiuming Ren)... Continue reading »
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17
Suzhou, China
When we arrived in Suzhou, we couldn’t see anyone. It was pouring down with rain and we wondered just what we would do when we got there. As we lef... Continue reading »
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18
Shanghai, China
We spent only two nights in Shanghai before we left for Wuxi, the first night John was so sick. He had eaten something in Xi'an which was not... Continue reading »
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Agra, India
Home of the Taj Mahal!
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and sche... Continue reading »
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21
Merry Christmas from Thailand
OK, so we made it to Thailand for Christmas and its HOT!
Our friends Joan and Ed came out to join us and brought my daughter Nikk... Continue reading »
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22
Christmas Pix from around Asia
A friend persuaded us to take these Christmas hats everywhere - which we did, and here are some of the silly photos.
Just double click to mak... Continue reading »
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23
Pattaya - our home away from home
This is a place holder for our four months in Pattaya. Although we arrived in Thailand last month (December) we were travelling around Chiang... Continue reading »
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24
Scuba Diving
Living the Dream
Part of the reason for coming to Thailand was to allow me (John) to become a Scuba Diving Instructor.
I had been div... Continue reading »
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25
Cambodia
Lynne and I needed to extend our visas one last time in Thailand. This time instead of just doing a "border run" and having lunch in Cambodia we de... Continue reading »
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26
Viet Nam from Saigon to Hanoi
First night in Sai Gon
Well, we finally left Thailand and arrived in Saigon in Vietnam. I managed to get Lynne to travel light and I have t... Continue reading »
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27
Mui Ne, Vietnam
Mui Ne
This is where Lynne gets some of her pampering. We had booked into a hotel called Dynasty which by Vietnamese standards was quite ex... Continue reading »
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28
Nha Trang, Vietnam
After a few days of sitting around, we were getting itchy feet again so we decided to start heading north up to Nha Trang. Guess what? Another f... Continue reading »
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29
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Halong Bay
The flight up from Nha Trang was OK.
The idea was to try to find a bus to Halong Bay where we could book a night or even... Continue reading »
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30
Cat Ba Island, Halong Bay, Vietnam
It took a couple of hours on the Bay to reach Cat Ba, so we were sunning on the deck of the transfer boat (John says: Where very kindly the skipper... Continue reading »
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31
Hanoi, Vietnam
We left Cat Ba, and by way of Haiphong, arrived in Hanoi around mid day. (John says: This by bus, a high speed boat, another bus an... Continue reading »
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32
Sri Lanka
Our trip to Sri Lanka was eventful before it even began! We left Vietnam L on 18th May and headed back to Bangkok only to disc... Continue reading »
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33
Karuna's Cooking Class, Unawatuna, Sri Lanka
Karuna’s Cooking Class
Let Karuna, the best cook in Unawatuna, teach you how to make Sri Lanka’s traditional meals. The class includes... Continue reading »
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34
Seychelles
Up at 5 a.m. the next morning and back to the airport for our flight to Doha. Yep, Doha. (John says: Doha is in Qatar on the Arabian Peninsu... Continue reading »
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35
Nairobi, Kenya
Our Kenyan Airways flight was uneventful – which is a good thing. We were told that it would take an extra hour to g... Continue reading »
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36
Safari, Kenya
Jambo, Karibu,
We are on safari – the word safari means journey. I am sitting in Treetops on the second floor typing this with an e... Continue reading »
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37
Cape Town, South Africa
Think San Francisco, or Sydney, and just add Table Mountain as a backdrop and you have Cape Town.
John says: OK, you cannot “just... Continue reading »
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38
Buenos Aires, Argentina
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and schedule, of course, it may chang... Continue reading »
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Santiago, Chile
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and schedule, of course, it may chang... Continue reading »
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Lima, Peru
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and schedule, of course, it may chang... Continue reading »
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43
Panama City, Panama
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and schedule, of course, it may chang... Continue reading »
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San Jose, Costa Rica
We will update this entry once we get here.
This is here for now so that you can see our proposed route and schedule, of course, it may chang... Continue reading »
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