World Trip 2005

At the beginning

Grant Macandrew

In early 2005, it became obvious the company I was working for was in big trouble. Most of us started job-searching amidst the general doom and gloom - but one day, I announced I was not looking for a job but was going to South America.

Now I was more making a bold statement than definitely stating my intentions. However, my plan met with such approval and as I kept getting asked how my planning was going, it was hard to back out. Before long, I was reading through Lonely Planet travel guides

So many places I wanted to go to! I soon started thinking about a Round the World Ticket.

First of all, I wanted to go the Andes. To get there, I could fly via Tahiti to Los Angeles for a few days and then spend ten days in Panama. I would then fly to Lima and spend six weeks in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador before flying on to Cuba from Quito.

After a week or so in Cuba, it was on to Europe - a couple of weeks in Spain, six weeks in the United Kingdom, and then to Amsterdam and Budapest. From there, I would head for Beirut.

From Beirut, six weeks would see me travelling overland through Syria and Jordan to Egypt. A flight from Cairo would then get me to Nairobi.

After the safari, I would fly on to Mumbai and travel across India to Kolkatta by rail, taking several weeks. From Kolkatta. it was on to Kuala Lumpur for a week and then abck to Auckland.

So many places I wanted to go to! I soon started thinking about a Round the World Ticket.