I’m so excited to share our upcoming travel plans for 2010! While the first half of our year of traveling was a whirlwind of many places within a relatively small amount of space and time (3 months in Europe), the second half of our trip will be fewer places but spread around the world for 5 months. And I mean that literally, Ben and I will be traveling completely around the circumference of the world using a RTW (Round-The-World) flight ticket. In RTW-terminology, we’re purchasing a 5-continent OneWorld Explorer ticket (“LONE5”) starting in February from Ecuador. The ticket is pricey, around $5k per person after all of the taxes and a couple additional flights. And it’s not easy to plan it either, I’ve probably spent a good 40-hour week figuring this out (good thing I’m not working!)

But back to the fun part, here’s our itinerary:

• Quito, Ecuador (3 weeks) – Alonna will be studying Spanish while Ben remains in Boise
• Galapagos Islands, Ecuador (10 days) – Ben arrives in Ecuador we head out for an 8 day cruise
• Patagonia, Argentina & Chile (3 weeks) – Hiking, biking, and enjoying the outdoors
• Buenos Aires, Argentina (4 days) – A little time in the city before leaving South America
• Istanbul, Turkey (6 days) – We missed Istanbul on our Europe tour, so we’re going back!
• Egypt (9 days) – Traveling further back in history from where we left off in Ancient Greece and Rome
• South Africa (9 days) – We’ll base in Johannesburg and go on an African Safari
• New Zealand (1 month) – Focusing on the South Island and all the adventures we can manage in a month
• Australia (3 weeks) – Three weeks somewhere in Australia
• Hawaii (1 week) – Bonus! Our RTW ticket lets us stop in Hawaii on our way home

All of this starts January 8th when Alonna leaves for Ecuador – only 1 week away! Our dates are flexible, but we plan to be back to Boise by the end of May.

Please share this trip with us! We are extremely interested and open to having YOU travel with us at any point of this trip. If you were thinking of going to New Zealand, Egypt, Hawaii or somewhere else listed above this spring, let us know because we’d love to meet up. Also please share if you know anyone in any of these areas that would be interested in meeting or hosting us. The more the merrier!