The Trip
Deciding which countries to visit was not easy. We were keen to explore places we had never been before apart from the USA which we really wanted to discover again but with the kids in tow this time. We all had our part to play in the final destination list with Aidan keen to include Canada and Japan and David ensuring we had central America and Vietnam high on the agenda. As for me, I longed for Hawaii as well as China and to experience the extraordinary in the high plains of the Massai Mara National Reserve and Serengeti National Park in Kenya and Tanzania. Grace didn't have her say!
North America: USA and Canada
First stop: USA. Arriving in San Francisco on 1st September 2018, we are spending a month on the West coast with a planned road trip in a enormous RV. Then we head East for four weeks from early November kicking off our tour in New York, our starting point, before making our way to Montreal in Canada for our flight out to Nicaragua.
Costa Rica
We were supposed to go to Nicaragua instead, but considering the political situation at the time, we switched to Costa Rica. Doubt people would complain about the alternative and we must agree on that.
Cuba
Arriving in Havana on the 5th of December and leaving just before Christmas, we are looking forward to seeing with our own eyes the iconic streets, vintage cars and sampling the culture on offer. We will need to plan this leg soon as you are restricted from booking on sites such as Airbnb once in Cuba.
Mexico
From the 20th of December to the early February, we will be in Mexico, arriving in Cancun, from Havana. This is one of the countries we will be staying the longest in, mind you it is a pretty big country. We are considering making a detour to Belize and potentially Guatemala as we make our way West to Mexico City where we will be leaving the last Spanish-speaking country on our tour - hoping by then our Spanish will have evolved from dos cervezas...
Hawaii
9th of February, time to fly to Honolulu, where Katie timed the whole thing in order to be there for her birthday!! We will stay there just 2 weeks - yeah another mini holiday - just long enough for me (David) to realise surfing on the calm English West coast has nothing to do with surfing in Hawaii. We hope to have our good friends from London join us.
Japan
From a little island to a bigger one! We will spend the first part of March in Japan, just in time for the cherry blossoms, known in Japan as sakura. You can't say we didn't get the timing perfect for this one. Arriving in Tokyo, we aim to check out the rest of the country with their extremely reliable train service.
China
We will be leaving Japan to head to China, or the People's Republic of China to be precise, arriving in Beijing mid March. From there we have about a month to get to Hong Kong. We are still planning this leg but one obvious stop along the way: The Great Wall. From friends' advice and some reading, we will try to travel by train to discover the Chinese way of life, on board and through the window.
Vietnam
This is going to be our last stretch in Asia but the longest too. We will be arriving in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam since the reunification of North and South Vietnam, mid April and have more than two months to explore it. We will have all this time to gradually make our way South to Ho Chi Min to catch our departure flight in July to London.