London.
Where we're going...
Japan (Pen & Antonia), Canada (Pen & Mike), USA (all three of us, but mainly Mike & Antonia), Iceland (for a day). In summer 2018. Technically, this will be mine and Antonia's second RTW trip, but it's not quite like the first time when we took nearly two years.
- 2 July - London to Tokyo Narita via Amsterdam
- 3 July - Narita City
- 4 July - Boso no Mura near Narita
- 5 July - Tokyo to Aomori then drive to Ajigasawa
- 6 July - Hirosaki
- 7 July - Mount Iwaki then Lake Towada
- 8 July - Oraise Stream and Falls and Lake Towada
- 9 July - Aomori to Hiraizumi
- 10 July - Hiraizumi
- 11 July - Hiraizumi to Sendai
- 12 July - Yamadera
- 13 July - Sendai to Nikko
- 14 July - Nikko
- 15 July - Nikko to Tokyo
- 16 July - Tokyo
- 17 July - Tokyo
- 18 July - Tokyo
- 19 July - Tokyo Narita to Newark USA via Dallas
- 20 July - Arrive in Newark and on to Philadelphia
- 21 July - Philadelphia
- 22 July - Philadelphia
- 23 July - Philadelphia to New York, then Montreal on the Adirondack
- 24 July - Montreal
- 25 July - Montreal, then on to Quebec
- 26 July - Quebec
- 27 July - Quebec, then overnight train
- 28 July - Arrive Moncton, New Brunswick
- 29 July - Fundy National Park
- 30 July - Moncton to Nova Scotia, via Prince Edward Island
- 31 July - Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
- 1 August - Cape Breton, then overnight ferry
- 2 August - Arrive Argentia, Newfoundland, and on to St Johns
- 3 August - Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland
- 4 August - Avalon Peninsula, then overnight ferry
- 5 August - Arrive Sydney, New Brunswick and drive to Halifax
- 6 August - Halifax to Philadelphia, via Toronto and Ohio
- 7 August - Philadelphia
- 8 August - Philadelphia
- 9 August - Philadelphia, then fly to Iceland
- 10 August - Iceland, then fly to London
Where we've been...
The other thing that makes me feel good is the list of places we've been in the past:
Asia:
- Cambodia: Phnom Penh & Angkor Wat
- China: we stayed about six week including a side trip to Hong Kong
- India, twice. We've been around Rajasthan, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and of course Delhi and Mumbai
- Indonesia: we've all been to Bali, but it was Mike and Antonia who really stayed there
- Japan: Mike's worked in Tokyo, the rest of us have had to make do with a short but much enjoyed stopover in Narita
- Laos:part of Mike & Antonia's worst bus trip ever
- Malaysia: we stopped off in a few places on a boat, and another few places on the train
- Mongolia: Mike & Antonia's tour as part of the Trans-Monglian train trip
- Nepal: Kathamandu, and what they deign to call a 'honeymoon trek' in the mountains
- Singapore: a short but sweet stopover on our RTW trip.
- Thailand: Bangkok, on our RTW trip
- Reunion: a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean, technically part of France and rather like a Tardis - larger on the inside than the outside!
- Vietnam: Pen roamed the length of the country from north to south and Mike and Antonia joined her in Hanoi
Europe:
- Austria: Vienna for a short trip with a friend, a few days on the shores of Lake Constance in autumn 2016 & Bad Kleinkirchheim for Christmas 2017
- Belgium: brief stop in Bruges and another in Brussels
- Czech Republic: Prague, for a short trip to visit a friend
- Denmark: Cophenhagen, on a school band trip, way back a long time ago and again in summer 2017
- England: lots of places, but the highlights are London, the Pennine Way, York, Scarborough, Stonehenge
- Estonia: a short stop in Talinn, which we loved
- Finland: cross-country skiing in Iso-Syote for Christmas 2016, then Helsinki for WorldCon in summer 2017
- France: lots of places,but the highlights are our honeymoon Tour de France, which went, well, everywhere, and our own Alps and pre-Alps
- Germany: Munich and the Bavarian castles a short drive to the south. We've also been to Kassel for the Documenta contemporary art show. Cologne and Hamburg a couple of times.
- Hungary: a few days in Budapest
- Iceland: we drove round the main perimeter on a fabulous, nearly impromptu holiday, then did it again in summer 2015
- Ireland: Dublin and Newgrange
- Italy: Tuscany, Venice, Rome including Vatican City, Naples and surrounding country
- Luxembourg: most boring childhood holiday ever (sorry Luxembourg)
- Monaco: short excursion from the French Cote d'Azur
- Netherlands: camping in Holland + HAR 2009 for Mike
- Poland: Mike keeps going there on work trips
- Portugal: Lisbon and surrounding country
- Russia: on the Trans-Siberian
- San Marino: day trip for Mike
- Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Skye, Orkney, West Highland Way and other Highlands
- Slovakia: short but very pleasant excursion to Bratislava
- Spain: Andalousia, Barcelona, and parts of Catalonia to the north-east, Madrid - read about Antonia and Pen's girly camper van trip here.
- Sweden: on a school band trip, way back a long time ago, then Stockholm for a couple of days, much more recently
- Switzerland: we keep going to Geneva for various reasons but our fun trip was to Gruyere and Fribourg
- Wales: mostly Portmeirion, home of The Prisoner
Middle East:
- Israel : a longish but interesting trip, before Penny knew how to plan trips or understood that Mike doesn't (plan trips, that is)
North America:
- Arizona, USA:
- California, USA: we just sort of keep ending up there
- Connecticut, USA: to see family
- Delaware, USA: on a hunt for horseshoe crabs
- Florida: Mike & Antonia have been to Disney
- Idaho, USA:
- Illinois, USA: If I have an excuse to go to Chicago, I take it
- Louisiana, USA: New Orleans and surrounding country, before all the hell broke loose
- Mexico: Mike's been there, on Spring Break or something like that, before he moved to Europe
- Massachusetts: Boston and Martha's Vineyard, in November!!! Ugh.
- Maryland, USA: to see family
- Nevada, USA: home of Las Vegas, where we've been a couple of times
- New Jersey, USA:
- New Mexico, USA:
- New York, USA: to see family. I finally got to see the Statue of Liberty, though.
- Ohio, USA: to visit a friend
- Oregon, USA: to visit family, with a trip to volcano country
- Pennsylvania, USA: home of Philadelphia, Penny's least un-favorite city on the East Coast (sorry, East Coast)
- Texas, USA: Mike is going for work
- Wyoming, USA: home of Yellowstone
- Washington, USA:
- Washington DC, USA: which isn't a state
- Ontario, Canada: just Toronto and Niagara Falls, so far
Oceania:
- American Samoa
- Australia
- Fiji
- Hawaii, USA: Mike was there, a long time ago, and we all went, during the RTW trip
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand: most fabulous life-changing holiday of all time