Time for a recap

I've read a lot of travel blogs and books lately and I'm pretty sure mine is the only one that starts a good 2 years before the trip itself even begins! The trip is so huge that it has required so much more planning than most but I feel as though I'm just about there now and have control over the various bits and pieces still to do before we leave the UK in 208 short days time.

I think at this point it may be necessary to just go over the details of the trip again, as much for my own benefit as well as for those who may come across the blog and want to know more without having to go back to the first entry.

Having returned to Hartington Hall from a 4 month jaunt round Central America and parts of Europe in early 2009 the plan was always to travel again. South America was always on the cards and I feel I will right a fairly large wrong when I step off the plane at Bogota airport in around 18 months time due to my failure to get to South America at all during my last trip.

I have now been saving consistently for almost 3 years and feel I will be deserving of the big moment when it all begins on September 3rd this year. The other continents involved in the trip Europe and Asia have gradually fallen into the mix and whilst the actual itinerary was finished last year, I have known the country list since 2010 and that has not really altered as yet.

Early last year a couple of really positive things happened, I got promoted at work meaning a fairly small, but helpful, pay rise. Secondly my good friend Luke decided he would be joining me for the length of the trip as well as starting a second stint of working at Hartington Hall, which for anyone reading who doesn't know is the youth hostel in which we work. As I wrote at the time, Luke's decision to join me gave the trip a real jolt in the arm when it was probably most needed. It has been great having someone to talk to properly about it and who almost shares my excitement(pretty sure nobody can be more excited about this than me!)

The trip itself then, it is entitled Rome to Rio and will start in Rome on September 3rd 2012. From there we will spend some time in Italy before exploring the Balkans - Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia will all be visited before we go east to Romania and Bulgaria before finishing off the European leg in Istanbul. From there we fly to India where we will spend approximately 3-4 months and may pop into Bangladesh and/or Nepal, this is the only part of the trip I am leaving open due to possible transport delays in India. We then fly to Bangkok and do a loop round Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before coming back through Thailand and down through Malaysia, Singapore before island hopping through Indonesia and ending up back in Malaysia. We then fly to L.A where the plan is to relax and refocus for South America. First stop is Bogota and then it'll be approximately 14 months of overland travel through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil.

Planning the itinerary has been tough, trying to ensure that we see as much as we can whilst making sure to mix things up in terms of beaches, activities, cities and most importantly plenty of rest stops!

So that's Rome to Rio in a nutshell, I'm a bit clearer on where we're going now so I guess that's the most important thing.