Some may remember my "Old Fool's Tours" on which I rode my bike from Newfoundland to Mexico, through the Rockies, around the Great Lakes and down to the Florida Keys, 50,000 miles in all.
Well, the Old Fool is alive, well, and about to take another tour.
I have booked passage on MSC Geneva, a cargo freighter that I'll catch on July 7th in Freeport, BAH. She will sail to Kingston, JM, and through the Panama Canal; I'll disembark at Balboa. During July and August I'll travel through South America to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.
On September 13th, I'll catch another freighter that will make stops in Tahiti and New Zealand and drop me in Australia about 21 days after departure. It will be spring, and I have a three-month visa. Travel there will include Tasmania and New Guinea.
Forward, the "hows" and "whens" get sketchier, but around the first of 2014, I'll move through Bali, Singapore, Thailand (oh, definitely), Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo, or thereabouts.
That will put me about 18 months out. I'm holding a five-year visa for India. Dubai, the Suez Canal, Egypt, Turkey and the EU are all on my "To Do" list.
When there are no alternatives I'll fly, but more frequently I'll travel by rail, bus, ship and ferry - with the locals.
If you don't know about Airbnb.com have a look. There are abundant non-hotel accommodations all over the world.
I will probably be gone a while. If I hate it (make no bets), I'll just come back to the US. I'm carrying a 40L backpack and my iPad.
Thanks for taking the time to read this note.
Amor, aşk, 爱, αγάπη, حب, 사랑, yêu, love,
That old fool,
Todd
