A deposit paid -- and an itinerary made

We've paid the deposit on our round-the-world airline tickets -- departing Canberra on 28 January 2009. Final payment is due within a week, so no more indecision. Well maybe! The tickets cost an absolute bomb -- $9000 for the two of us (including taxes) -- but they are good for a year and we can make changes without extra charge. No Peggy, no Peggy, no more changes.

So far we have more than 15 stops.

Let's see if I can remember them -- Canberra > Sydney > San Francisco > Los Angeles > Denver > Dallas (for an hour) > Omaha > Dallas (for a stay) > Lexington, Kentucky > Chicago (we go there by car and maybe have a side trip to Madison, Wisconsin) > London (for a few hours) > Amsterdam (with a side trip by train to Belgium) > Madrid > then we work our way to the south of Spain to meet the truck in Gibraltar.

About 10 months later, we surface in Istanbul. The trip home is Istanbul > London (probably with a stay) > somewhere in Asia > Sydney > Canberra.

Oh, dear, I just thought of a change I'd like to make. Back later.

Moment of decision

Those who know me well also know I have a terrible time making up my mind. 

We still haven't bought our airline tickets (to get us to Africa) because I haven't been able to decide on an itinerary or a departure date. 

John figured out several plans that I either rejected or ignored. But on Friday, he presented a plan I couldn't argue with. I even typed it up and emailed it to the travel agent. We go in at 3 this afternoon and, assuming John gets his way, we'll pay. Hope there are no snags!

We've been stabbed and jabbed

Preparations for this trip have involved a whole swag of injections. We like to think we're protected from almost everything -- yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, polio, hep A and B, flu, polio, rabies and much, much more. Not sure we can do anything to ward off broken bones, but we have been to the dentist and our choppers seem okay.

So far our array of jabs, appointments and tests have cost almost $2000 for the two of us, and we're not done yet. One last appointment in January for cholera and something else, and a rabies booster for John. 

I had all the rabies injections in the mid-1980s after I was bitten by a dog that later became rabid. Just recently they gave me a booster (recommended) and THEN did a blood test to see how immune I am. They should have done it the other way around. I have 8 times over the recommended immunity. John says I'm probably a carrier.

Africa and what we're doing

John and I are heading to Africa in early February. First stops are in the USA (to see family and friends) and southern Spain (to be complete tourists). 

Come 11 March in Gibraltar, we'll climb on the back of a truck with a group of like-minded souls, and set out for 43 weeks 'round Africa. 

It is literally 'round Africa -- heading down the west coast to South Africa before heading northeast and on to Nairobi, Cairo and finally Istanbul. We're travelling with African Trails. Check out our trip plan and our Facebook page.