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I am home alone on a Friday night. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do more than work on ATW Adventure planning! (Seriously!)
But I have to tell you, I started about two hours ago, it is now 9pm, and I am exhausted. Granted, it's Friday night and it's typical to be tired after a long work week. However, the combination of staring at my laptop for two hours (in addition to how many hours at work?!) and sorting through the mass of information that is available online is overwhelming. Not to mention, I am interested in pretty much everything I read, so I end up getting distracted continuously and I'm not really sure how much progress I've made other than creating two new word documents and an excel spreadsheet with a few lines of text.
My online activity and thought process goes a little something like this:
My brain: "I wonder if I'm 'on track' according to those planning websites as far as what we've done so far."
Fingers type into Google: "RTW trip planning"
Results: Tons of sites, one is bootsnall.com, one of my favorites. I "know" the article I am thinking about lives here. I search. I read. I get distracted by an article about planning where to go. I open a Word document because I want to write down (again, but this time on my computer) some of the various route options we are considering.
My brain: "Hey, weren't you looking for something. Oooh, yeah. Back to bootsnall.com. Where is that article? Oh, what's this? Overland travel... in Europe. We'll need that. I wonder how much it costs."
Fingers type into Google: "Euro Rail"
Results come up. "Click."
My brain: "Here we go. Oh no, that's an impostor, rewind. Oh, there it is! Now let's see..."
So I discover that if we were under 26 we could get discounted passes, but no, we're officially "adults." Also, apparently if you are over 26 you don't even want to consider 2nd class cabins on these trains because they don't give you the option! Come on, I think I can handle it. Where's my freedom of choice? Although...1st class does have a nice ring to it. Oh, "When available. Not all trains have first class." Right.
My brain: "This is good information. I'm never going to remember all this. I should start an Excel document with a preliminary budget where I can save all the valuable information I am finding! Great! Progress!"
And so it went for the next hour and a half, as I looked up Inca Trail advice and tours, Antarctica group tours, Galapagos tours, advice on overland travel from Peru to Brazil, special deals in Croatia using a Eurail pass and MORE! So much more!
So, before I continue this blog post like I continued the next hour and a half on my computer, I will wrap up. I DID eventually find the "timeline" I was looking for and it was nowhere near as good as I remembered (Also it was NOT on bootsnall.com, it was on airtreks.com).
The good news is, it calmed my mind a bit seeing that according to their recommendations we are in a very good place right now. Everything up to six months (YES, we are now only six months away from our ETD!!!!) is very vague and fluid - right where we are. Even 4-6 months is pretty low-key....just deciding on places and booking main flights!! That is coming soon....
Once we decide if we're going to South America or New Zealand first we will be able to arrange more pieces of the puzzle.
Hmm, I should Google that city in NZ where my friend going to be and see what's around there....I wonder how much an RV costs to rent in NZ...
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