I love planning trips- so much so that even before having decided to take this trip, I had researched and identified possible routes for a variety of destinations, keeping my findings in a OneNote notebook on my laptop.

There is of course a balance to strike when planning a trip- too much planning and you leave no room for flexibility, not enough and you could end up without a place to sleep.

At a minimum, I try to read and learn as much about an area as I can before I go, so that I can understand what some of the main highlights are, what kind of costs we could expect and how much time is needed.

Below is our loose itinerary for our major stops, in the order we’ll be hitting them, with the priorities we’ve identified as wanting to pursue when we get there.

January- February:

1. Peru: Machu Picchu, Inca Trail
2. Chile: San Pedro de Atacama, Santiago, Torres del Paine
3. Argentina: Ushuaia

March- April:

1. Antarctica: cruise
2. Argentina: Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls
3. Uruguay: Montevideo, Playa del Este
4. Argentina: Mendoza
5. Chile: Santiago
6. England: visiting friends in London and Cambridge
7. Morocco: beaches, desert, cities

May- July:

1. Spain
2. France
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. Netherlands
6. Germany (again)
7. Czech
8. Austria
9. Hungary
10. Croatia
11. Italy

August- mid October:

1. Thailand- Bangkok, Koh Tao for scuba certification
2. Washington, DC- yes, back to the states for a few weeks for my (Sarah’s) best friend’s wedding
3. Thailand
4. Laos- Mekong river
5. Cambodia- Angkor Wat
6. Vietnam- beach towns, Imperial City, Halong Bay

Mid October- mid December:

1. Australia: Sydney, Great Barrier Reef, Melbourne, Tasmania
2. New Zealand