I've just finished putting together a DONE4 to finalise several trips next year.
I have a milestone birthday and the slippery slope is getting steeper so I've decided that I need to pick up the pace.
1. Early March: Kimberley in the wet. The only way to get into the Mitchell Plateau area at that time of year is by air. A nice bit of aviation involved in this trip
:
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2. Late March- early May. Six weeks Chile, Argentina, Uruguay.
This started when
@juddles said to me that I ought to cease always moving while travelling and stop and settle into a place for a bit. Why don't I come to the fishing village in Chile where he is busy refurbishing his house?
My response was to first check that it wasn't the rum talking
, because I said I'm prone to making instant decisions. All clear and the best time sorted, so within a few days I'm scoping a QF FF redemption. Hmmm - that's interesting - a J award on EK PER-xDXB-xGRU-SCL shows up
. I didn't know EK flies to SCL
. Turns out they didn't then, but it was starting in July. Bingo! Awesome!
. Booked and I'll worry later about getting home.
Have a bit of a think about what else I'd like to do while over in S America. The Salta wine region in NW Argentina has been on my to-do list for years. And Uruguay has sat under the radar, but not entirely unnoticed for a while. Six weeks sounds like a nice sojourn to accomplish all these objectives - roughly two weeks in each of the three places.
Look for award flights home and QR EZE-xDOH-PER in J shows. Ding! Done!
Buy a LA el-cheapo LSC-xSCL-AEP where I'll rent a car and head to the mountains and back, then take the ferry to Uruguay and rent a car there for a snoop around.
Thanks
@juddles!
Really looking forward to this one!
.
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3. Mid June-mid October. A bunch of things strung together like pearls on a string using a DONE4 (and a few other linking flights.)
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Start with a visit to friends in South Carolina, followed by Mexico & Cuba.
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Back to LOTFAP and up to Nome, with a few days there to rent a 4WD and scope it out. Take a charter flight over to Anadyr in Russia to join an expedition cruise 'Across the Top of the World' to Wrangel Island.
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Back to Nome from Anadyr, down to LAX, across to DOH and up to Helsinki for a weekend. Then to DEL via a bit of cruising on AY and JL
.
From DEL to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan to start a 5 Stans tour. Told
@RooFlyer I was doing this; he was swiftly aboard
. Finish that in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
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Back to DEL and on to BOM to fill in a few days there and at the Ajanta and Ellora caves near Aurangabad.
Then move on to Amritsar to scope out the Indian Hill Country.
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Finish that and straight down to CMB for a look around Sri Lanka.
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Then home xHKG.
That lot should help pass the time and keep me from getting bored...
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Now to start on 2020...
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