Our Amazing Race

We finally settled on most of the destinations for our 6-month trip around the world! Of course, we will only visit a small part of the wonders that these countries have to offer but, during the trip, we will cross all the time zones, so we will consider it a trip around the world 😜

I can already picture us sitting on a beach and going on adventures! But the reality will be closer to the famous show called The Amazing Race where teams of 2 are racing around the world, overcoming challenges (including fighting with your teammate), battling taxi drivers and traffic, getting lost and missing flights.

Taking into consideration a need to be flexible with all the current airport/flight delays and the different Covid-19 requirements still in place in each country, below is the itinerary for our 6-month trip:

-> Leg 0: Europe

o There is a reason why I call it "0". We are planning to visit our families in Porto, Portugal, and Paris, France for 20 days. So there won't be any challenging or new discoveries, but still a very important part for us to see family and friends. It will be a time of rest and personal connections before the adventure begins.

-> Leg 1: Middle East

o We plan to visit Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, in 20 days

o Jordan was a must. We are both fans of Indiana Jones and always dreamt of going to visit Petra and “pass beyond the Great Seal” (I know, I may be disappointed because I won't even be able to enter the temple).

o KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) was not on our plans at all but as we currently have family in Riyadh, we decided to stop by as it was on the way to Asia. While looking at what the country has to offer, we decided to stay a little bit longer and explore other cities – we also read that the country had slightly loosen its strict travel rules in 2019, so we hope we'll have a good time discovering a new culture.

o Dubai (United Arab Emirates) was an obvious choice as it is a major hub between Europe and Asia.

-> Leg 2: South East Asia

o The biggest leg of the trip, lasting three and a half months. We established a central point in Bangkok, Thailand, but we will also visit Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

o We know Indonesia is a country with beautiful sceneries and that we could spend the whole trip there and still not see everything, so our expectations are high. But since we will be there just as the rainy season is about to start, we hope we won't be too disappointed.

o Cambodia is another country that I am happy we're visiting, especially because we are going with my parents. I had always wanted to learn more about my parents origin and (difficult) childhood.

o We wanted to add Myanmar to our list but we feel uncomfortable with the current political unrest in the country, so we will have to find another country to visit for the last 2 weeks.

-> Leg 3: Japan

o Japan is a leg in itself,

o The Japanese culture and history that I know through all the mangas and series I watched make me feel that I already know part of the country, so I am very eager to visit it.

o But this part of the trip is a big unknown at the moment. Japan is still closed to individual tourism (only authorized for organized tours – as of August 2022), so we will have to wait and adapt. But it is the country we were supposed to visit in April 2020 when the first major worldwide Covid-19 lockdowns started. It will also be a little bit colder so a good transition before we fly back to Toronto, where the winter should be coming close to an end.

Voila, voila!