Bill and Michelle Around the World 2008-2009
In and around World
see all photos »
How do you introduce a trip that is expected to span 13 months, 5 continents, and includes a wedding? There is no really good way, but I will try anyways.
But before I get into the details of our trip. I would like to tell you a little more about us.
I have always enjoyed traveling. After 4 years of college in the Upper Penisula of Michigan, I took a year to study in Ireland. After the school year was done, I spent 3 months traveling across Europe. When I ran out of money, it was time to come home, but then the reality life after college set in.
see all photos »
Michelle was also bitten by the travel bug long before I met her. She also used education as a vehicle to travel the world, spending 3 months studying in England, and then spent six weeks studying in Costa Rica and Peru.
After we met each other in the Travel Section at Border's, we began planning things to go see and do around Southern California. Shortly after that, it became a trip to Belize to see the Mayan Ruins and enjoy the snorkeling. The following year we headed out to Tahiti to enjoy the beautiful beaches of the South Pacific. After that, we headed to Egypt to see the Temples and Pyramids scattered along the Nile. Finally, this last summer Michelle volunteered in a Monastery in Nepal, and of course I went to visit. We spent two weeks traveling around in Nepal and Tibet. But it was this trip that got us thinking about taking a summer off to travel around on 2 or 3 month vacation. Well, as we started planning that it started growing until it reached the point where we decided to leave our lives behind and just take a year off and go.
see all photos »
So, the plan is to leave the beginning of August 2008 and return the end of August 2009. We have purchase our Round the World ticket, so our itinerary is set: Los Angeles - Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo - Tokyo - Jakarta - Bangkok - Mumbai - Hong Kong - Auckland - Melbourne - Brisbane - Cairns - Sydney - Johannesburg - Nairobi - London - Moscow - Amman - Athens - Madrid - Buenos Aries - Lima - Sao Paulo - Los Angeles.
If this was not enough, we have decided to add our wedding to this trip and call it the Ultimate Honeymoon. We have decided to get married in Brisbane, Australia, in the Q1 Tower at Sunrise overlooking the beach.
see all photos »
I hope that this introduction has lived up to all the hype and enticed you enough to follow our travels from where ever you are. To all of our family and friends, I hope you have brushed up on your geography so you can follow our journey. To the rest who are reading this, I hope you find the information useful.
Bill
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Bill & Michelle DeKeyser
-
1
Saying Goodbye is Always Hard
Two weeks left before the big departure day, time to gather up family and friends and say goodbye for a year. For all of the people who made it to... Continue reading »
-
2
It´s Rio Baby
Rio was a great stop for our first leg as we both needed some time to unwind after all the long preparation. Though it only took three flight... Continue reading »
-
3
Aye mattie, Greetings from Paraty
First, since we posted our 1st blog half way through our stay in Rio de Janeiro, please go back are read the exciting conclusion of our visit. ... Continue reading »
-
4
The Short Route of Traveling
First, I want to start with a disclaimer as this internet site has had difficulties and typing on foreign language keyboards can be pretty difficul... Continue reading »
-
5
Temples, Shrines, and Pagodas Oh My!
Kyoto is what everyone pictures when they think of old Japan a small city that was the capital for more than 1,000 years. Temples, Shrines,&n... Continue reading »
-
6
One Big Buddha
An hour train ride outside of Kyoto brings us to the small town of Nara which quaint feeling is what we had expected from Kyoto. After we get... Continue reading »
-
7
A Stay at a Ryokan
After Nara, we took a train through the Western side of the Japanese Alps to the small town of Takayama. The train ride was gorgous through t... Continue reading »
-
8
The Oldest Castle in Japan
From Takayama we took a bus through the middle of the Japanese Alps to get to Matsumoto, home of the oldest (without being rebuilt) castle in Japan... Continue reading »
-
9
Sayonara Japan
Our final days brought us back to Tokyo where we started making a full circle. We did take one last day trip to Nikko about 2 hours outside o... Continue reading »
-
10
Let the Adventure Begin
This trip starting off feeling like your typical vacation. Go away for two weeks, see the sites, relax a bit, and then come home. Brazi... Continue reading »
-
11
Yogyakarta and beyond
After getting off our never ending train ride from Jakarta we arrived in Yogyakarta, better know as Jogya in the heart of the island of Java. ... Continue reading »
-
12
Malaysia: Searching for a Bit of Home
So cheap flights must be a thing of the past between excess gas surcharges and now excess baggage charges. This is what we found out wi... Continue reading »
-
13
Colonial England???
After Kuala Lumpur we traveled by bus to the town of Butterworth, which is near the Thai border. The plan was to go relax on the beautiful be... Continue reading »
-
14
Island Paradise? Part 1
On arrival to one of Malaysia's well known beach retreats, we find ourselves in a rain storm. This shall be the theme of our beach retreats a... Continue reading »
-
15
Island Paradise?? Part 2
Hoping to continue our beach journey and find a more sun, we headed to Thailand crossing through the town of Satun. We found that flying out... Continue reading »
-
16
Land Ho, Thank GOD!
One more ferry ride to get from Phi Phi to Phuket. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? However, the waves weren't cooperating, so it... Continue reading »
-
17
Adventures in Thai Travel
Warning from Lonely Planet: “Do not take private buses in Thailand that do not leave from the regular bus stop.” Bill read this as we w... Continue reading »
-
18
Time for new pants
Ayutthaya was once the Thai capital, but it was sacked multiple times by the Burmese and other invaders, so eventually the capital was moved to Ban... Continue reading »
-
19
Thai food anyone???
The Bus Ride from Ayutthaya
So after taking the tourist bus in Thailand and having our clothes taken, which we still have no idea why they to... Continue reading »
-
20
Jewel of the Mekong River
I was so glad boat trips were over until I went on a flight to Luang Prabang. The flight was only an hour, but an hour at a low altitude in a... Continue reading »
-
21
Temples of Glory
After getting up early to see Alms in Laos, we realize there was no point in trying to get any more shut eye as we had a 10:00 am flight to Siem Re... Continue reading »
-
22
Band for the Bride
Two buses, two totally different countries. As we left Cambodia, we took a mini bus not quite as big as a normal bus that was filled to the comple... Continue reading »
-
23
India here we come!!!
Let's just say that nothing can really prepare you for the streets of Dehli...but I'll back up a bit before i get there.
Our flight from Ban... Continue reading »
-
24
Crown Jewel of India
We took the train from Dehli to Agra, passing on the express tourist train that leaves at 6 in the morning so that you can buzz through all the hig... Continue reading »
-
25
A visit to Mother Ganges
Well, the food took a turn for the worse as I lay in bed all day long not able to move except when I had to run to the bathroom. The pain of India... Continue reading »
-
26
Searching for Enlightenment
It turns out that we tried to take a train on a holiday weekend which must have been like trying to get a train on memorial day which of course we... Continue reading »
-
27
Erotic Temples???
We woke up early in the morning as we had a 30 minute taxi ride to the train station before our 5:30 train left. The night before we had been given... Continue reading »
-
28
Cave digging Monks
What a relief to finally have a train ticket where we could get on a train, have some AC, and some sleep before we reach our next destination. And... Continue reading »
-
29
Our last "real" India stop
As we left the Ajanta caves, we got our packs back on and went searching for the public bus to Aurangbad. Bill thought a friendly boy was pointing... Continue reading »
-
30
Birthday in Mumbai
Some of you may already know my feelings about my birthday, they're just simply curse. My quickest example is my birthday last year was during the... Continue reading »
-
31
Welcome back to the Civilized World
We arrived at the airport in Mumbai wondering what we were going to do to keep ourselves busy for the next 6 hours until our plane left. Afte... Continue reading »
-
32
A trip down memory lane
Zhongshan does not make a very common stop for most tourist, but all people familar with Fluidmaster will understand that it is a very convient sto... Continue reading »
-
33
The Natural Beauty of China
After being woken up by 3 train attendants, we arrived at the Guillin station around 7:00 AM in the morning. We hightailed it to Meidou Fandi... Continue reading »
-
34
Search for a Wedding Dress
Our options of getting to Shanghai were a 23 hours train ride or a 2 1/2 hour plane ride. We opted for the plane ride that ended up being alm... Continue reading »
-
35
A Burried Army Lost in Time
So after all our train adventures, we have nothing to report but a pleasant journey. We had two companions who were only staying on the... Continue reading »
-
36
The Great Forbidden Capital
We arrived in Beijing knowing we needed to catch a bus to our hostel, which was right across from the train station, just not the one we had arrive... Continue reading »
-
37
Wedding Dress Mission Completed
Have you ever gone into a sauna? The sweat just starts to pour off your face as soon as your feet touch the floor inside and the steam swirls... Continue reading »
-
38
A Pleasant Day Trip
This day started with an early wake up call as Gigi's driver was picking us up at 6:15 am so we'd have time to get her colleague and then make it o... Continue reading »
-
39
Vegas of the East? More like Laughlin!
So the cheap way out of China required a morning flight to Zhuhai as it's so much cheaper to fly within China than to fly to Macau or Hong Kong a... Continue reading »
-
40
A Home in New Zealand
I wait for Bill on the other side of immigration wondering why he's taking so long. Finally, he comes through and tells me that he got yell... Continue reading »
-
41
A Walk in Bay of Islands
So the beginning of me losing track of all space and time has finally approached. As we exited our pleasant bus ride from Auckland up to Paihia... Continue reading »
-
42
Xtreme Sport Capital of the World
We left the Bay of Islands a little skeptical as we were told to get to the airport 30 mins before our flight. This is the smallest airport... Continue reading »
-
43
The Finest Walk in the World
So computers can be a blessing at times and others just a pain in the behind. I've spent about three days writing this blog and trying to use... Continue reading »
-
44
Another Taste of Home
The bus from Queenstown left early in the morning and wound its way across the mountainous spine of New Zealand. The scenery was breathtaking... Continue reading »
-
45
Kayaking the Open Seas
We investigated a lot of options to get from Christchurch to Nelson so we could Kayak the Abel Tasman National Park, in the end with alot of advice... Continue reading »
-
46
One Last Ride Through New Zealand
We arrived in Wellington from the ferry where we had to take a shuttle to the bus station where we could catch a bus to our youth hostel. When... Continue reading »
-
47
G'day Mate, and Welcome to Australia
An early morning plane from Auckland deposited us in Melbourne, Australia where we were to meet up with Michelle's parents (Paul and Doreen) who we... Continue reading »
-
48
The Great Ocean Road
We left from Geelong to head out along the Great Ocean Road. The first part was not very remarkable as it wound through small villages that we... Continue reading »
-
49
The Australian Hinterland
The next morning we left Port Campbell to finish our drive along the Great Ocean Road before turning in land and exploring the hinterland of Austra... Continue reading »
-
50
The End of an Aussie Road Trip
Since everyone was tired the night before, we took a drive through the Grampians, we decided that the first place we would stop was a water fall... Continue reading »
-
51
An Aussie Christmas
After spending the night in Marybrough, Bill called in the morning to the only other hotel in Woodgate. And with a Christmas wish, they had a... Continue reading »
-
52
The Hug of a Koala
After a great Christmas in Woodgate, it was time to head back down the coast to Brisbane to meet Bill’s parents. Bill wanted to take the... Continue reading »
-
53
A Wedding in Paradise
How does one get everything ready for a wedding in a foreign country while they’re still traveling around? I started to realize that I i... Continue reading »
-
54
A New Year and a New Life on the Gold Coast
One of the great things about a small morning wedding is that it is all done by breakfast and you still have the rest of the day to go out and en... Continue reading »
-
55
Off to an Unexpected Start
On our last morning on the Gold Coast, we spent trying to pack all the extra stuff we know had. Bill’s parents had brought a luggage we pack... Continue reading »
-
56
Under the Sea on the Great Barrier Reef
Well, I decided to start a new blog to describe everything we did in Cairns as to put all the troublesome travel in the past and now laugh as it's... Continue reading »
-
57
On Our Own Again, Down Under
We arrived in Sydney without much trouble, so we went off to find the hotel I'd booked. Our Lonely Planet had it listed, and it wasn't far from the... Continue reading »
-
58
Lions, Cheetahs, and Elephants. Oh My!
So I'm usually complaining about all our travel experiences, but this time I get to tell you about how lucky we were. We are taking the 14 ho... Continue reading »
-
59
Gazelles Galore and Hungry, Hungry Hippos
Kruger National Park
After a large breakfast that was included in our B&B price at Autumn Breath, the owner had warned us we would get a... Continue reading »
-
60
A Drive Across Southern Africa
Our flight to Cape Town was a little rough. There was some weather and we flew around and over that, but our pilot still believed he was in the mil... Continue reading »
-
61
The Garden Route
We arrived in the Knysna area and had to go through our normal driving around and debating on where to stop to look for a place to stay. I think th... Continue reading »
-
62
The End of South Africa
Arriving in Cape Town late the previous night after a long drive left us moving a little slowly in the morning. This was a shame since between ou... Continue reading »
-
63
The Jovah Express
Let me just start by saying that this was a 21 hour long bus ride...
But it was the easiest and cheapest way to get from Cape Town all the w... Continue reading »
-
64
That's a REALLY Big Dune!
We picked up our car in Windhoek and then headed out for small town of Sesriem in the Namib Desert. Prior to leaving though, we thought we would c... Continue reading »
-
65
A Slow Ride Through the Delta
We woke up fairly early expecting our tour guide to pick us up between 7:00 and 7:30. We ordered a breakfast pack to take with us from our ho... Continue reading »
-
66
Back to Namibia
The next morning we took our Indiana/autotopia drive back out to the small little town to pick up our van and head on our way towards the Manhangu... Continue reading »
-
67
Safari Botswana Style
We again found ourselves crossing from Namibia to Botswana as shortly after we left our campsite in the morning we arrived at the... Continue reading »
-
68
The Smoke that Thunders
Our short drive to Livingstone, still had the oil alarm (now disconnect) going off because Tongai had not located a decent mechanic, much less one... Continue reading »
-
69
Relaxing in Africa
We headed out of Faulty Towers in time to get a taxi to town to use the internet and get some breakfast before the our bus left at 9:00. As w... Continue reading »
-
70
The Spice Islands
So when we first started these long bus rides, it was from Cape Town, South Africa to Winhoek, Namibia boy did I not appreciate the luxury we had.&... Continue reading »
-
71
Land of the Elephant
We woke up early and left the hostel in the taxi that was arranged for us. The owner of the Florida Guesthouse asked multiple times if we w... Continue reading »72Meet the Tour Group
After being rushed to leave our campsite in Tarangire, we were cramed into the very back seat of the Range Rover. I could not sit up straig... Continue reading »73In Search of Big Kitties and a Missing Bag
The next morning we woke up at a normal time, ate breakfast, packed our stuff onto the roof of the car. This was the first time that our grou... Continue reading »
74The Lost World
As we left the plains of the Seregeti behind us we started to head up the edge of the crater again. Since we were not planning on going into... Continue reading »
75Being a Bum Without the Beach
I'm so glad this is our last public bus ride in Africa as it took 12 hours to go 250 miles. In Africa, you don't look at how far anything i... Continue reading »76Out of Africa
A three day trip for one hour. But what an hour it was. But before we could get to that hour much had to take place starting with an... Continue reading »77Return to Civilization
After nine hours of watching airline movies and eating their food. (Well, Bill enjoyed his Bond movies, while I whinned there wasn't much t... Continue reading »78St. Patrick's Day in Ireland
The plane ride from London was smooth and uneventful, one of the wonderful things about flying. We arrived found the car rental agency and ca... Continue reading »
79St. Patrick's Night in Ireland
We arrived in Galway on St. Patrick's Day afternoon and the main square of town was crawling with people dressed in green with a beer or two in han... Continue reading »
80Happy 250th Guinness
Since our plans had changed, we returned our car early to get the refund. We had to return it to the car lot a few km from the airport, to ge... Continue reading »
81The Castles of Ireland
body {margin:8px} .MjFkef-yrriRe {font:normal x-small arial}
We woke up and got on the road heading towards Kilkenny. We stayed mostly... Continue reading »82Blown Away at the Causeway
We left Sligo after a brief exploration of town in the morning and headed along the northern coast of Ireland. Our first stop was Donegal, wh... Continue reading »
83Le Tour de Paris
After finally getting our passports back from the states, it was time to head onwards in our journey to the city of love or is it the city of touri... Continue reading »
84The Land of Fries and Chocolate
As, we arrive at the train station in Paris to catch our train to Brugge, we became confused as our tickets doesn’t show our final destinatio... Continue reading »
85Bumming Around Brussels
There was nothing exciting about our train ride to Brussels and since we had booked a room in advance all we had to do was find the right place.&... Continue reading »86Just Like Old Times, Almost
Just about ten years ago, I spent a semester abroad in Oxford. Ånd now I sit on the Chunnel excited because I get to see the family tha... Continue reading »
87Easter in England
Mike is my old roommate from college (and not the one that went crazy my freshman year) and despite the fact that since his wedding almost seven ye... Continue reading »
88To Russia With Love
We may have eluded to this process in some of our other blogs, but just to make sure it all gets in there I’ll explain the process of getting... Continue reading »
89St Palaceburg
We rolled into the old capital of Russia around 6:20 in the morning where we were promptly greeted by Alexey's friend, Valeria, after h... Continue reading »90Tourist Trap Under Construction
After a number of days of late nights and late mornings since our arrival in Russia, we had to wake up early in order to catch a taxi to the bus st... Continue reading »
91A Tourist in the Kremlin
We arrived in Moscow station around 5:30 in the morning, as we looked out the window of our cabin we were greeted with the sight of a light dusting... Continue reading »
92The Orginal Philadelphia
We arrived from Moscow around eight at night, once we got to Amman we had to start waiting for our entry visa. Unfortunately we had to get Jo... Continue reading »
93The Golden, Eternal, Holy City
Our arrival to Jerusalem all started with the border crossing that on the Jordan side the longest time was spent waiting for a bus to take us to... Continue reading »94Following in the Footsteps of Jesus
Our drive out of Jerusalem was surprising because as apposed to the barren dessert that we had crossed coming from Amman heading out towards that c... Continue reading »
95Roman and Templar Ruins on the Coast
We left Nazareth and headed back towards the coast to go see some of the ancient cities built on the Mediterranean Sea by some of the invading armi... Continue reading »
96Cameraless in the Roase Red City
We woke up early in the morning to pack our stuff get some breakfast before we caught the tour of Jordan on the way to Petra. It was a one wa... Continue reading »
97Practicing our Retirement
We arrived at the Athens airport and got our car. There was a rather large French lady trying to return her car and she must have been late... Continue reading »98Its All Greek to Me
After a couple relaxing days in Galixidi we continued towards the Peloponnese, which is almost an island, but connected by a little stretch of six... Continue reading »
99That's a Lot of Steps!!!
After a long day of driving across the center of Greece we arrived in Nefplio, which is situated along a beautiful strech of coast. It also... Continue reading »100Arrival of Friends in Greece
We arrived in Piraeus, and I have to admit, Bill did some great maneuvering with the car as those streets are so tiny and so many one way streets... Continue reading »101Atlantis Found
So felt a little like I was entering the story of The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants minus the pants but plus the anklets. So I´ll expla... Continue reading »
102Just Another Day at the Beach
The ferry ride was pretty smooth as we wound our way through the Greek Islands. We called in Ixos, Naxos, and Paxos to pick up and drop off p... Continue reading »
103Goodbye Gyros
A walking tour in 5 hours covers all the important aspects of Athens according to our our guide from South Carolina. He said if you have any... Continue reading »
104Relaxing in the Plaza
Our typical planning as we go about 1 to 2 weeks in advance ran into some problems when we got to Spain. First, this is the first time we h... Continue reading »105Gaudi´s Candyland
Bill thought he had booked the 9:30 flight and he did, only he booked the pm instead of the am flight. And so, we spen... Continue reading »106Family Around the World
When we arrived in Sevilla we decided to take a taxi to our hotel since we only had an address and did not know where it was on the map. On... Continue reading »107The Art of Relaxation
The fast train from Madrid from Sevilla cuts through the heart of historic Spain, unfortunately much of the new train track is laid in a channel... Continue reading »108Spanish, Tango, and the Movies
This is a strange blog for me to write as it is the longest we´ve stayed in place, a whole 16 days. The reason for this is I got ... Continue reading »109A Day Away From the City
While in Buenos Aires studying Spanish we had a three day weekend. After spending a lazy day exploring Buenos Aires on Saturday we decided to... Continue reading »
110Uruguay For the Day
1001 places to see before you die lists Colonia, Uruguay as one of those places to see. We had tried to go on our long weekend, but we did no... Continue reading »
11110 Minutes of Sun, Please
When we arrived at the bus station we were about 40 minutes before our bus left so we went to find a seat to relax in, however being a Sunday nig... Continue reading »112Welcome to the Real Argentina
We were definately spoiled by our bus to Puero Iguazu, we were not able to get the full cama seats and had to settle for semi-cama for the 21 hou... Continue reading »113An Oasis in the Dust
Our hotel in Salta was located only a block off the main square, so for breakfast we decided to walk there and see what was happening. Thre... Continue reading »114Cultural Capital of the Americas??
When I booked the tickets I had asked for the premium cama seats (the nice seats like we traveled to Iguazu), because after the long bus ride not... Continue reading »115Hasta Luego Argentina
Again we arrived early in the morning and headed to our hostel. We were fortunate to be there during low season as the room was ready and we... Continue reading »
116Mini San Fransisco of the South
We arrived in Valparaiso around 6:30 and after finding an ATM we got a taxi to take us up the hill to our hostel. For people that have never... Continue reading »
117Welcome to Dharmaville
We got up extra early to catch our flight. So early that there was not any breakfast, and our taxi was 20 minutes early as well.&nbs... Continue reading »118Back to the Mainland
We arrived back in Santiago pretty late after loosing two hours on our flight back from Easter Island. We had really enjoyed the hostel we ha... Continue reading »
119In the Wild, Wild West
After spending nearly a day on the bus we were a little disappointed when we saw San Pedro de Atacama as it is not much of a town. There ar... Continue reading »120Under the Weather in Chile
San Pedro was such a dust storm this day that I was looking forward to leaving yet not quite sure about a night bus yet again. Though it wa... Continue reading »121Cloudy Days in the Andes
We went to the bus station and bought tickets, despite lonely planets warning of just taking a collectivo taxi to the border then buying a bus ti... Continue reading »122On the Shores of Lake Titicaca
It was night when we arrived, so we just got a taxi to take us to the hotel, hoping that we had reservations and would not be out searching for a... Continue reading »123In the Shadow of the Old Mountain
About 9 years ago, I spent three weeks in Cusco living with a host family and studying Spanish. As we made our way to Cusco, it felt a bit... Continue reading »124The Long and Winding Road
We originally had a plan to wander our way up through northern Peru to Ecuador where we would fly home, but Michelle wanted one last week of Spanis... Continue reading »
125126Bill´s Bogus Journey
This is the first time Michelle and I have split apart on the trip. Michelle returned to Banos for Spanish classes and I headed out to explor... Continue reading »
127128129130
Copyright © 2005-2009 Real Travel, Inc.
All rights reserved.
| RealTravelpc b p1
Would you like to comment or ask a question?