Well, we are off once again to places we have not yet been. We told ourselves that after all the continent hopping last year we would take a year off, regroup and get some stuff done at home. Apparently the urge to see new things is stronger than that so we are once again booked to go exploring. This trip will add two more continents to our list - leaving just Australia to conquer. Though there is a large arguement for going back to many other parts of both Africa and Asia after this trip!
We leave Southampton, England on January 10th aboard the fabled Queen Mary II oceanliner of the Cunard/ White Star line (famous for being the folks who brought you the Titanic). Our first port will be Barcelona, Spain followed by Athens, 4 ports in Egypt and ending in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
For those of you who are wondering - we booked the trip BEFORE things started getting messy again in Egypt. Hopefully we will not be affected by the continued unrest there or the many other messes in the region. Waiting for calm in the MIddle East seems like a pointless pursuit so we are going and will just go with the flow. Afterall - we have been in a hurricane in Antarctica, been in the wilds of Amazonia with huge snakes and tiny poisonous bugs, not to mention dealt with 1000s of tourists on tiny Caribbean islands. Civil unrest and the potential for pirates kind of seems to fit in with all the rest.
Anyway - we plan to see lots of awesome things, meet interesting people and see things that we are all familiar with from photos but, as experience has taught us, the photos never do justice to the real thing. Pyramids! Temples! Deserts! It's gonna be great.
Hopefully the magic of internet connectedness stays with us and we are able to share as we go along. Keep your fingers crossed. Till then - Merry Christmas to you all and here's to a wonderful New Year where ever in the world this finds you.
Dale and Marsha
