Welcome to ABCD World Travels, which chronicles the overseas adventures of our family from July 2013 to April 2014! Trip Overview
Anita, Bill, Caroline and Daniel
Overview of Our Round the World Travels
We’ve been back in the United States for a few months now, settling into our new home state of Michigan. We found a house, perched on a hill, with a view of the bay. During our travels some of our favorite locations were by the water, so we made that a priority in our home search! We’ve been busy with unpacking and settling in, but every once in a while the trip will come up, and we will recall some of our favorite or memorable experiences, which already seem so far in the past! It was a wonderful experience…one we hope to repeat at some point in the future.
I thought I would conclude this blog with a short wrap up of our trip for our faithful followers, and anyone else who might stumble across it at some point, perhaps when planning a trip of their own!
We traveled from late June 2013 to mid April 2014. We followed the sun, trying to avoid cold weather, which we succeeded at for the most part. We visited 21 countries on 4 continents along the way, staying in 47 different lodgings (hotels, vacation rentals, camp sites, homes, and a cruise ship).
Our journey included stops in Ireland, Scotland, England, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Italy, France, Croatia, Turkey, Jordan, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Ecuador. Some visits were only a day, as a part of our cruise in the Baltic. Generally we spent at least a week in each country, but in some cases we stayed a month or more.
We traveled via plane, train, automobile, camper van, cruise ship, ferry, water taxi and modified fishing boat, with shorter jaunts on camel, pony, subway, bicycles, funicular, bus, raft and horse-drawn carriages.
We traveled as light as possible, which meant 3 large carry-on sized bags, 1 small carry-on suitcase and two back packs. I started the trip with the intention of always keeping our luggage with us, to avoid loss. We quickly realized how much trouble that would be, so we generally checked the larger bags. Fortunately, most of our flights were only one leg, and even when we had multiple legged trips, we never had a problem with our luggage.
I used the Trail Wallet app on my iPhone to track our expenses on the trip. This was a great tool, which I continue to use as a way of tracking day to day expenses at home.
So what did it cost?
- Transportation: Our 18 flights came to around $21,000, plus 190,000 United Airlines frequent flier miles. Both kids were 11 or under, which meant discounted fares for them on most international flights! We had additional travel expenses of around $7,000 (trains, taxis, car rentals, ferry tickets, etc.). I used a San Francisco-based company called Air Treks, which specializes in multiple destination flights, to book some of our longer flights. Others I did myself, generally using the airlines’ websites. http://www.Skyscanner.com was a great resource for finding the best fares on a given route. We accumulated lots of frequent flier points on our credit card while traveling, which got us free flights from Croatia to Turkey and Ecuador to Michigan.
- Lodging: $28,770, or just under $100 per night. We stayed in vacation rentals as much as we could, avoiding the expense and limitations of hotels. Most were booked through homeaway.com. When we did need to stay in a hotel, I found booking.com and Orbitz.com to be my favorite sites for finding a deal.
- Food: $12,700, or around $44 per day
We had entertainment and miscellaneous expenses on top of these, but these are the big three expenses you need to worry about. We were fortunate in our travels, with no theft or loss of note (other than an inexpensive video camera that was left in a seatback pocket on one of our early flights), and no medical expenses.
We are often asked what country was our favorite of those we visited. That’s a tough question, as we had a great time in each location! Bill and I were particularly impressed by Jordan, with its ancient ruins, vast deserts, biblical links, and great food. The kids were happiest when we were in a country where everyone else spoke English, so Ireland and New Zealand were two of their favorites. But again, each location had something great to offer, and left an impression on us. We did our best to pick up the language while we were in a given spot, and experience life as a local. We met some wonderful people along the way, and caught up with some old friends as well. But in the end, we were all excited to return to the United States, and settle in our new home. We look forward to catching up with friends and family in the months ahead.
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End of the Journey
Buying a car, looking at houses, shopping at Target…we are back! We finished up our trip last week, after a great month in Cuenca, Ecuador. Here are a few shots capturing the highlights of our last two weeks.
A parade featuring native dancing groups
The view of Cuenca from the Mirador del Turi lookout point.
A skilled weaver that we visited one day on a tour of the artisan villages near Cuenca
The street market that appeared outside our apartment as a part of the anniversary festivities.
Llamas spotted by the side of the road on our way to Guayaquil, through the Cajas National Park
The drive through the Andes was beautiful!
On the way to Guayaquil, we saw sugar cane, banana plants, cocoa trees, and rice paddies!
After a one night stay in Guayaquil, we flew back to the US, via Panama. Thanks to all the frequent flier points we had earned, we were able to fly in business class, which was a nice treat. We had nice visits with family enroute to Traverse City, our final destination.
Now we are busy starting our new life up north (where it is still freezing! Argh!). We are happy to be back, but had a fabulous time. At some point we’ll do a final post summarizing the trip, covering highs and lows and any helpful hints we can pass on. Stay tuned!
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Cuenca, Ecuador; First Impressions
A pulsating music beat woke us up this morning…looked out front to see the finish line of a running race, with tents, stage, and loud music. Just another day in Cuenca!
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The city of Cuenca is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 m above sea level. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and has four rivers running through it. It is Ecuador’s 3rd largest city, with a population of around 350,000.
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The center of the city is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site because of its many historical buildings, dating back to its days as a colonial city of Spain.
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There are said to be 52 churches in the city, one for every Sunday of the year.
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The Incas were here, back in the day. The beautiful Pumapungo archaeological park, located on the edge of the historic city center, contains ruins of the Incan city Tomebamba, which was built in the 15th century.
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Cuenca may be old, but it is full of youth and energy! There is a university down the road, and several other schools in the neighborhood. Colorful graffiti and artwork brighten many of the walls and walkways.
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We are staying on the Tomebamba River near the Parque de la Madre (Mother’s Park), which at all times of the day is full of mothers with kids, joggers, walkers, and teens making out under the trees. There is a beautiful walkway along the river, and its grassy slopes are another popular hangout spot for locals and visitors alike.
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There’s always something going on. Just the other night the city kicked off an art festival, and lit off a fireworks tower as part of the celebration. We didn’t know what it was until the men standing by the tower rather casually lit it off. No safety cordons like you’d have in the U.S. You could get as close as you wanted to be!
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We’ve been impressed by how clean the city is…sanitation workers are constantly sweeping up the gutters, raking leaves, and picking up trash. It also feels quite safe, with security guards on patrol in the parks and markets. There are gringos (foreigners) everywhere we turn. We haven’t seen this many people from the United States since we left last June. There is a thriving expat community down here; the cost of living attracts a lot of people living on a fixed income. You can live comfortably for a few thousand dollars a month or less.
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We’ve had no complaints about the food here! Fresh produce is available in abundance at the markets. Inexpensive multi-course lunch specials are the norm in the restaurants. We’ve even made several bulk purchases of New York style bagels from an enterprising guy named Richard who makes and sells them out of his home.
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Caroline and I have had a good time shopping for souvenirs. Since this is the last stop of our trip we don’t feel as constrained as we normally have about stocking up on gifts for friends and family back home. Cuenca is known for its baskets, weavings, ceramics, and Panama hats. Despite the name, Panama hats, which are woven from fiber extracted from palm leaves, originated in and are produced in Ecuador.
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In our final two weeks we hope to get out of the city a bit and explore the beautiful countryside and nearby villages. Cuenca will be celebrating the 457th anniversary of its founding on April 12th, so there should be plenty of festivals and entertainment leading up to the big day!
Hasta La Vista Chile
Our time in Chile has drawn to a close. Our last week in Pucon was quiet, with occasional rain and cooler temperatures. We had lots of quality time together at home in our sweet little cabana. Daniel watched the movie “Epic” about ten times; I don’t think any of us were sorry to leave that behind in the DVD drawer!
Amor Del Lagos
A nice father-daughter moment
During most of our travels these past months we have been good about cooking at home, but we were all getting a little stir crazy so we went out for lunch most days for entertainment. Usually we went to the excellent vegetarian restaurant, Ecole, but we did have a great lunch at a nice location just out of town that featured traditional Chilean cuisine. We all loved the pastel de choclo, a pie filled with beef, onion, chicken, hard boiled egg, and an olive, and topped with sweet cornmeal.
Pastel de choclo, a local beer, and one of the several inexpensive, tasty Chilean wines we enjoyed
We enjoyed checking out the various crafts produced in this area. The Mapuches make beautiful wall hangings, and there were several shops in town that sold incredibly realistic looking flowers made out of wood.
The kids enjoyed the park in Pucon, which featured electric ride on toys, and three wheeled bikes that you could rent for a reasonable fee.
Fun in the park
The people we encountered throughout our visit were helpful, friendly and tolerant of our limited Spanish language skills (though Daniel has become quite adept at ordering “agua, por favor” with his meals). The prices were reasonable, even though this was an area catering to tourists. For us, though, the biggest selling point for the area is the incredible beauty of the countryside.
Soaking in the sun after a day of rain
Lots of room to run and play
Just one of the many gorgeous sunsets we enjoyed
After two long days of travel, involving four flights (3 of which were late), and one crazy incident where we ended up on the wrong plane, we arrived safely in Cuenca, Ecuador. We are renting an apartment by a river on the edge of the historic central part of the city. It is huge, and is the least expensive place we’ve rented during our journeys. No wonder so many expats are here from the United States! Cuenca has a lot to offer by way of sights and entertainment…when we arrived there was a Pink Floyd tribute band rocking in the park across the river. Stand by for more updates from this final stop of our trip!
Categories: Chile
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Pucon, Chile
We’ve been here in Pucon, Chile for almost three weeks now. Pucon, a bustling little town in the Lakes District of Chile, is a popular tourist destination for Chileans, as well as international visitors. According to our landlords, the area’s population is normally around 23,500, but it swells to 125,000 in February during the summer holiday season. When we first arrived, the streets were clogged with tourists, and parking was tough to find. It’s gotten better lately.
We are staying about 10 minutes drive out of town, on property owned by an American couple from Washington. They have a lovely home they live in down here about six months out of the year, and a great cabana that they rent out. The cabana has a stunning view of Lake Villarica and the surrounding countryside.
It’s incredibly peaceful here, with sheep grazing in the field below, and no sound but the wind in the trees and the occasional squawks of the birds. There is no TV (other than for playing DVDs) and no Internet access at the house, so we’ve been enjoying a simpler existence. Daniel, Bill and I have a nightly baseball game after dinner in the field by the house, and Caroline enjoys using the bow and arrows she fashioned from tree branches in the yard. The rutted gravel road leading to the property is lined with blackberry bushes, so we help ourselves to those whenever the mood strikes us.
The owners’ dogs come visit us each day, much to the kids’ delight.
On our first venture into town, we found parking on a quiet side road, across from an empanada shop. We gave it a try for lunch, and discovered that they not only had delicious empanadas, but also free wifi. It’s become our favorite place to stop for a snack and to catch up on emails. Our other favorite place to eat us Ecole, an inexpensive vegetarian restaurant with tasty food that also offers free wifi.
We did a fun white water rafting trip last week on the lower Trancura River. All the other participants that we talked to were vacationers from Santiago. The rapids were big enough to give the kids a thrill, but not so bad that we needed to worry about capsizing.
Pucon had a decent beach, with boat rentals, food stands, and a fun water obstacle course.
There are three volcanoes in the area, including the Villarica volcano, which provides such a pretty backdrop for Pucon.
There are numerous thermal baths to chose from in the area surrounding Pucon. We enjoyed out outing to one along the river about 30 minutes east of here.
We’ll see what else we can fit in during our last week here. Then it is off to Ecuador for the last leg of our trip.
Hola from Santiago, Chile
Sickness, shopping and sun about sums up our first week here in Chile. We arrived safely after a 11.5 hour flight from New Zealand, and journeyed via taxi to Las Condes, a fashionable suburb of Santiago. My queasiness from the flight culminated in my vomiting in front of the hotel…discretely into a bag, fortunately! I bounced back after a few hours sleep.
The next day we discovered the Costanera Mall just around the corner from us, with six floors of stores and a huge food court featuring such American delicacies as Cinnabon, McDonalds, and Taco Bell. Naturally we opted for Taco Bell, a family favorite. After that Daniel came down with a bug that wiped him out for the next several days.
Caroline and I got out and explored the neighborhood a bit more, and did some shopping at the wonderful mall. Once Daniel recovered, we journeyed via subway to the city center, where we joined teeming crowds of people in the 90 degree heat, and snapped a few shots of the points of interest.
La Moneda Presidential Palace
Daniel’s favorite site of the day…the animated pedestrian signals, featuring a green figure striding purposefully at the beginning, and then speeding to a sprint by the end. We had to watch several cycles of this. He’s been a fan of pedestrian signals since Berlin, with its distinctive ampleman.
We try not to drag the kids through too many cathedrals, but we were all happy to spend a little time in the cool confines of the beautiful Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral.
We had the best of intentions to study up on our Spanish before we arrived, but that never really happened. Now that we are surrounded by it, we’ve been a bit more diligent in our studies! We’ve been using two great resources: studyspanish.com online and the app Duolingo. I’m not at the point where I could converse by phone in Spanish, but I’m managing to get the gist of things in person, and convey our basic needs. Fortunately, the people we’ve encountered have been friendly, and tolerant of our linguistic shortcomings.
Early tomorrow we fly south for our month long stay in Pucon. Pucon is a popular tourist destination, with a beautiful lake, volcano, thermal springs, and an abundance of adventure activities. We’ll be staying in a cabana out of town, with no internet access. This will help us to unplug from the electronic devices we have used with increasing frequency to entertain ourselves over the course of the trip. We did pick up some Chilean SIM cards for the phones, so we won’t be completely isolated!
Categories: Chile
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New Zealand #3
This will be our last update from the beautiful country of New Zealand, where we have been since mid November. After our relaxing month in Nelson, we got back in sightseeing mode, staying in six places over the last couple of weeks.
After a one night stay in Picton, a quaint little seaside town, we took a car ferry to New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, on the southern tip of the north island. We enjoyed a long day of exploring the waterfront, botanical garden, and the excellent museum of New Zealand, Te Papa.
Next, we drove up to Taupo, a small town on the shores of Lake Taupo, a 238 square mile lake that lies in a caldera created by a volcanic eruption many years ago. The highlight of our visit to this area was a family friendly white water rafting trip on the Tongariro River, a tributary of Lake Taupo. Our guide was a young American woman who was working her way around New Zealand. I can see our Caroline doing her job in 12-15 years or so!
Lake Taupo
Huka Falls
After enjoying the Taupo area, we headed east to Papamoa Beach, in the Bay of Plenty region. We had a relaxing five days enjoying the beach, the motel pool, scenic hikes, and celebrating Bill’s birthday. Caroline gave surfing a try, taking a class with eleven other kids early one morning. She and I also took a fascinating tour of a local kiwi grove, learning about why this area was particularly well suited for growing kiwis and other fruits and vegetables.
Perhaps our favorite spot during our north island travels was Paihia, a relaxed and welcoming town in the Bay of Islands, where we spent a week at a nice resort that we arranged through Armed Forces Vacation Club. We spent hours in the pool each day, luxuriating in the heated water. We had an informative tour of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which were right down the road from Paihia. The Waitangi Treaty, signed by representatives of Great Britain and various Maori chiefs in 1840, was the rather controversial founding document of New Zealand. We also had a wonderful four hour cruise amongst the islands off the coast. The kids were delighted by the dolphins that entertained the boat on our way out.
Cultural performance at Waitangi Treaty Ground
The aptly named “Hole in the Rock”
This was an active week, with a beautiful bike ride through the countryside, and a a day channelling our inner circus performer at Action World. We were all sore and tired by the end of our week, ready for a vacation from our vacation!
This was the only time I won…
Bill goes airborne
I think I can, I think I can
Look mom, no safety harness!
Now we are back in Auckland, spending a few days getting ready for our trip to Chile next week. Having a rental car for two months meant that we acquired more “stuff” than normal, so now we have to figure out what to get rid of, and what to replace for our final months on the road. We are loading the kindles and phones with new music, books, and apps for the 12 hour plane trip.
New Zealand has lived up to the hype…it’s a beautiful, friendly country that everyone should see if they get the chance! We were fortunate to be able to spend such a long time here, exploring all it has to offer.
Categories: New Zealand
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New Zealand #2
Ah, it’s hard to sit inside and blog when the sun is shining. Another beautiful summer day here in Nelson, New Zealand. I appreciate our time here all the more after reading about the cold back in the U.S.! Sending warm thoughts your way!
We’ve had a wonderful month here in Nelson, a town located on the north end of the South Island. We took three days to drive here from Wanaka. Our trip up the west coast was beautiful…lush rain forests, glaciers, fascinating rock formations, glow worms, quaint towns, beautiful coastal views.
Fox Glacier
Hakitika Gorge
Pancake Rocks
Nelson has been great. We have a rental house up in the hills just a few minutes from downtown. Walking and bike trails are minutes away, and the view from the deck is incredible. Our landlord neighbors are wonderful people, and their ten year old daughter has been a great companion for Caroline. We have all the cable channels, including ESPN, so Bill was able to watch all his favorite teams compete in the bowl games.
Nelson has a great beach, with lots of playgrounds and other activities for the kids.
Caroline and Daniel trying out zorbing, which originated here in NZ
We made several day trips to other lovely beaches in the area. Farewell Spit, the northernmost point of land, was notable for the incredible winds that were blowing that day…we are still getting the sand out of our various orifices!
We stayed here for a month so we would have some stability over the holidays. It worked out great. We decorated, baked, shopped, ate lots of treats…we had all the good aspects of the holidays, but without the jam-packed schedule of events and obligations normally associated with them.
Over the last week I’ve been back in trip planning mode, booking hotels, apartments, and flights for our last three months. We’ll be returning to Michigan on April 15. As much as they appreciate the experience, the kids are really excited to get back home and get settled in a place of their own. In the meantime, we are all trying to learn some Spanish in preparation for our final continent…South America! However, we have a few more weeks of adventuring in New Zealand before we go!
Our view for the last month…I’m going to miss this!
Categories: New Zealand
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New Zealand #1
First impressions of New Zealand: friendly, laid-back people; beautiful mountains in the South; lush tropical greenery in the North; very little free wi-fi! I’m wrapping up a few hours in an Internet cafe, where I’ve been catching up on the business of life (at least that part which is conducted on the Internet). So this will be a quick update, with an emphasis on pictures!
After our week in Auckland, we had a great 5 days a bit east of there on the Coromandel Peninsula. We were in a cozy cabin with a view of the bay and beautiful rolling green hills all around us.
The kids enjoyed sea kayaking, 2 on 2 soccer against mom and dad, swimming, and climbing on an old sailboat in the play area. Bill and I enjoyed the serenity and beautiful views. We had a few fun outings in the area, including a trip up into the hills on the Driving Creek Railway and a day at a quirky park called the waterworks.
We celebrated my birthday and Thanksgiving while we were there, indulging in some smoked mussels, which are one of the local specialties.
After this short intro to the North Island, we caught a flight down to Queenstown, and then drove on New Zealand’s highest roadway up to Wanaka, where we have been for the last week. Wanaka is a wonderful little town beside a lake, surrounded by snow-topped mountains.
We have enjoyed hiking in the area (or “tramping” as they call it here), and Caroline and I tried standup paddle boarding for the first time. Loved it, despite the blustery winds and 1-2 foot swells! We have another week here in Wanaka before we head up the West Coast to Nelson, where we have rented a house for a month.
We are officially at the halfway point of our trip, with 5 months down and 5 to go before we return around 1 May. Hard to believe!
Categories: New Zealand
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Melbourne, Australia, November 10-16
After our lovely break in Indonesia, we took an overnight flight to Melbourne, Australia. The change in climate was rather drastic. Singapore and Indonesia, being right near the equator, were consistently hot and muggy. Melbourne, on the other hand, was cool and breezy, and more often than not during our week there, rainy. Normally we can deal with rain and cold, but this was our week to try out a camper van, so it wasn’t much appreciated. We made the best of it, though.
After picking up our lime green Jucy camper van, we headed an hour east of Melbourne to Healesville, a small town surrounded by wineries and forests of towering eucalyptus trees. We spent 3 nights there at a small holiday park (a bit like a KOA park in the US). We were amazed at the birds we encountered in the park. Nothing special for Australians, perhaps, but they were fun for us to see.
There was a creek for the kids to explore, and a large bouncy pillow to jump on. We met two nice homeschooling families (with 8 kids between them) visiting from west of Melbourne. It was nice to be able to send the kids out to play with other kids, with a bit of freedom to roam about on their own.
The highlight of our stay was the afternoon spent at the Healesville Sanctuary, where you can see and interact with native Australian wildlife, including, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, parrots, and dingos.
After Healeville, we headed to Phillips Island, where we found a nice holiday park next to the beach. It was raining at this point, so we decided on a wholesome indoor activity…bowling! This was Daniel’s first time…he enjoyed it for a few frames. I think ultimately he decided Wii bowling is more his style, though he did dig the shoes.
The main event at Phillips Island is the penguin parade, the nightly return of the colony of little penguins from the sea to their burrows on the shore. We bundled up and joined the masses on the bleachers lining the shore. After watching a few groups of penguins scurry across the sand we took to the boardwalks, where you can catch a close up view of the penguins as they make their way home to their nests. We couldn’t take pictures, since that would daze and disturb the penguins, but take my word for it, they were cute!
After an hour or so we returned to our own nest…the camper van. The van we rented had a compartment bolted to the top, accessible via flimsy aluminum ladder, which opened to become a tent-like sleeping compartment for two. Great in theory, but with the rain and cold, and persistent moisture problems in the compartment, we decided we would be better off the last 2 nights if we all squeezed in below on the double bed. It actually worked out pretty well. Just had to alternate head, feet, head, feet.
I think Daniel was the only one of us that was sad to say good bye to the camper can when we took it back. We noticed everyone else returning a van that day was about 25-30 years younger than us. Not sure if that makes us hip or foolish!
We didn’t actually spend any time in Melbourne, other than an hour or so in St. Kilda where we rented the van. However, we did get a good look at the unique Australian wildlife!
We are now wrapping up our first week in Auckland, New Zealand. We’ve had a relaxing week, homeschooling and hanging about. More to follow once we get out of the city and start to see more interesting stuff!
Categories: Australia
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ABCD World Travels 