Happy 50th to me... well eventually...
I have begun to think about my gift to myself for my 50th birthday, coming up in just a little over two years. A Trip Around The World. There's a cool website to help plan such an endeavor, and I took a first pass at it.
I'm interested in a couple of things from the readers here:
My current thinking is that this trip will be over the course of six weeks to two months, with an average of 2-4 days in each location. I will stay longer in some places, such as the South Pacific, than others, I'm sure.
I'm also thinking that I'd like to make this a "human-centric" trip as opposed to a "thing-centric" trip. That is, I would like to do something like try to connect with a person (a friend of a friend, perhaps), or a "host family," if something exists for the city/country I'm visiting, and spend two or three days with them, during which time I'd like to ask some questions, such as:
This first itinerary is using the exact cities I told the website I wanted to visit: (Note: Though I had to choose the "Cook Islands" in the South Pacific, my specific desire there is to visit Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea while in that area.)

This is a re-mixed suggested trip calculated by the website:

I met Kevin (
av8rdude) and Eric (
innoman) for lunch at Bojangles on 54 at RTP. Crowded.
I met Kevin (
av8rdude) and Eric (
innoman) for dinner at Mo Joe's, where we ate at this exact table (though this is not us in the picture).

We just had to eat somewhere alfresco this evening. What a glorious, glorious day.
From there we walked to:

and had coffee alfresco as well. Kevin (
av8rdude) took a (work) conference call, while we were there. The full moon was beautiful, which reminded me of Robert, and I remembered that tomorrow is the longest day of the year.
I'm interested in a couple of things from the readers here:
- Have you, or anyone you know, done such a thing?
- "You're going to that city in [that county]?" If you think this about one of my destinations, educate me on a better choice for a city in that country.
- Where have I missed that you think I absolutely must go to on such an endeavor?
My current thinking is that this trip will be over the course of six weeks to two months, with an average of 2-4 days in each location. I will stay longer in some places, such as the South Pacific, than others, I'm sure.
I'm also thinking that I'd like to make this a "human-centric" trip as opposed to a "thing-centric" trip. That is, I would like to do something like try to connect with a person (a friend of a friend, perhaps), or a "host family," if something exists for the city/country I'm visiting, and spend two or three days with them, during which time I'd like to ask some questions, such as:
- Tell me all about your family.
- If you have children, what are your dreams for them?
- What do you worry about the most?
- Describe your spirituality to me.
- Will you take me to your most favorite local restaurant tonight or tomorrow? My treat. And tell me how it came to be so.
- Will you take me to your most favorite local place to relax or get re-energized, and tell me how it does that for you?
- Would you tell me what prompted you to be my host?
This first itinerary is using the exact cities I told the website I wanted to visit: (Note: Though I had to choose the "Cook Islands" in the South Pacific, my specific desire there is to visit Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Moorea while in that area.)
This is a re-mixed suggested trip calculated by the website:
I met Kevin (
I met Kevin (
We just had to eat somewhere alfresco this evening. What a glorious, glorious day.
From there we walked to:
and had coffee alfresco as well. Kevin (