7 days and counting...

Hi all –

It’s funny how life works – even in the midst of a generally acknowledged horrific economy, there’s an occasional silver lining…

London is definitely still treating me well. I love it – from the incredible cosmopolitan vibe, the pace of life, the pubs (of course!), and even being creatively heckled for being a colonial American, it definitely is a great place to live. Add in the long holidays, and the amazing places to explore in Europe whether as near as Blenheim Palace or far as Iceland, and it’s pretty hard to imagine getting bored over here!

That being said… the slowing economy has meant that I was able to persuade my boss to let me have a leave of absence before things started picking up again, and that means…

… I get to go travelling again! *cue applause*

Soooo – starting April 24^th, I’m going to be hitting the road on a RTW trip that’s going to include some amazing places that have long been on my list. The minor downside is that I’m going to be seeing them in the midst of the wet/hot season, but what the heck, it beats workin’.

If you want to keep an eye on my travels, I’m taking a page from Dave and Drea with a blog…

http://findhawkins.blogspot.com/

(If you want to get automatic email updates – just click on the ‘Follow Blog’ at the top of the screen.)

The plan right now is:

April 24^th: land in Nairobi, Kenya – meet up with a 8 day camping safari to Tanzania

May 3th: Join a 9 day trek up Kilimanjaro – 19,000 feet… going to be amazing!

May 22^nd: After faffing about (Brit-speak for messing around) in Tanzania and Zanzibar, catch a flight to Katmandu, Nepal. Land in Nepal and join up with treks to Annapurna and up to Everest Base Camp, plus check out Nepal.

June 15th – make my way to northern India overland, eventually winding up in Delhi where it will be (oh joy) 45 degrees C/ 113 F with 90% humidity. Yuck.

June 24^th – Fly to Saigon, to start a bike ride in the Mekong, and then generally wind my way up to Hanoi. Final stop will be 4 days in Halong Bay for jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery in the midst of 1600 islands.

July 15^th – Fly to Sydney. I’m not really sure about my plans here… since it is such a massive country, and I only have 3 weeks, I’ll probably just do the classic tourist route, and meander up north towards Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef.

Aug 4^th – To Dunedin, New Zealand. I’ve been to NZ before, so this is more of a change to hang out with Dave and Drea, plus check out the southern part of the South Island. The minor downside? I’ll be going in the middle of winter, to a VERY cold place. Sheesh – from Delhi to here, I’m going to catch all the temperature extremes!

Aug 15^th – To San Francisco. Ah, SF in August. Foggy but lovely – I’m looking forward to seeing the family, catching up with folks and eating multiple times at Sushi Bistro. Best sushi EVER.

Aug 25^th – Back to London, where *touch wood* I'll catch the end of the UK summer.. I'll be back at work at Monster, assuming that no weirdness pops up.

7 days and counting!

Mike