When I was in Antarctica, I won a trip to Egypt in an auction. The Egypt trip was happening in September 2022. I also booked a trip to Cuba that was taking place in November 2022. A few big things on my bucket list were to visit all 7 continents (in general but ideally within 12 months) and fly all the way around the world. So why not check those off and have this world wind vacation??
The planning
How does one go about planning a trip like this? Well, it is definitely NOT easy. Lots of excel spreadsheets, googling, and wine were definitely involved. It also may have added some gray hairs. :-(
I knew the dates I needed to be in Egypt and Cuba. While I have been to Europe several times, to complete this bucket list item, I needed to go back. But I didn’t want to go to a country I had been to before. Thankfully, I met Anton in June 2022, and he bugged me every day for almost 2 weeks to come visit him in Switzerland that September.
Now that I had Egypt, Switzerland, and Cuba planned, where to next? I had been wanting to go to Kenya for as long as I can remember. We have dear family friends who have lived there for over 30 years. An additional logistic to consider. The anniversary of my brother’s passing is at the end of September. I knew I wanted to be with people who also knew and loved him like I did. So, I obviously needed to be in Kenya during that time.
Summer of 2021, I had met this couple who was visiting Roatan from Koh Tao, Thailand. They were living and working there are dive instructors. Because of covid, they had to leave as they are not Thai. They decided to travel through Central America for a while. I wanted to dive in Thailand and see what that was like. At this point, Roatan had been the only place I had been diving.
I added Singapore to the list for a few reasons. 1 – My brother lived there for 3 months when I was a teenager. He told me all about his experiences there. 2 – Crazy Rich Asians is one of my favorite movies. 3 – It is not far from Thailand.
I absolutely could NOT pass up the opportunity to dive at the Great Barrier Reef. This means Australia was on the list! I also really wanted to see a show in the Sydney Opera House.
If you are counting along, we are at 7 countries so far.
1. Egypt
2. Switzerland
3. Kenya
4. Thailand
5. Singapore
6. Australia
7. Cuba
Wait, where does the 8th come from? Well, I had to stop in the States to get many items I would need for this trip. So, I spent several days in Atlanta before flying to Egypt. Additionally, after Australia, I didn’t want to bring all these items with me to Cuba. Therefore, I stopped in California for a few days too. After Cuba, I spent time in Arizona with my bestie and then Thanksgiving in CA with my family before flying back to Roatan.
7 continents in 12 months:
North America (where I live)
South America - December 2021
Antarctica - December 2021
Africa - August 2022
Europe - September 2022
Asia - October 2022
Australia/Oceania - October 2022
This flight path also allowed me to fly all the way around the world. This checked that off my bucket list too.
Check out the additional blog posts that cover my time in Egypt, Switzerland, Kenya, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, and Cuba.
Cheers,
Mekela