I have planned this RTW trip since early 2015. In short, I am going to travel to 4 different regions in the world. I pick 4 because it is for my 40th. I could have picked 40 I guess, if I am rich enough. Unfortunately I am not. :) There is always a "Someday". Anyway, I will fly in one direction and make one circle around the world. That is so my kind of trip, you have no idea. It will give me a sense of accomplishment, I can smell it already, even though I have not even started the trip yet. It will be in mid-November to December. The whole trip will take about a little more than 3 weeks. I wish I can go longer, but there are lot of constraints with vacation days from work, and money of course. It is all good though. I cannot be too greedy. All flights and accommodations are already booked, as well as some local tours and rail pass. To me, the planning itself is 1/3 of a trip. I like to have an rough idea where I am going and what I might be interested to see while I am there. That's the control freak side of me speaking.

I will start my trip in Berlin. I have been to Germany before, but have never been to Berlin. Growing up in the eighties, I heard a lot about how Berlin was divided in halves by East and West Germany, and the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall towards the end of 80s made the city even more fascinating. It makes a good first stop, if I want to travel around the world in one circle, each lag should be in a manageable distance. From Boston crossing the Atlantic to Berlin takes about 10 hours or so, definitely doable. In Berlin, aside from the Wall, I particular want to see the Holocaust Memorial. That kind of links to my second stops.

After Berlin, I will travel to Israel. I would like to go to the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem as well, to make a contrast. The Wailing wall was another landmark I have wanted to see for a long time. I guess in my head, my first two stops are somewhat related, but yet they are extremely different. In Israel, aside from Jerusalem, I will also visit Tel Aviv, Haifa, Dead Sea area as well as a little side trip to Petra in Jordan. Paul will join me the first 4 days of this Israel lag in my trip.

After Israel, I will go solo again, and fly via Istanbul to Kathmandu, Napel. I had planned this before the destructive earthquakes occurred in Apr 2015. Many times I want to change my itinerary to go to India instead, but my heart still inclines to stick with Napel. Another destination I have wanted to visit for a long time. Only a short 5 days (extended from the original 4 days because Turkish Airlines changed their schedule) trip. Mt. Everett is what I wanted to see, I am not going to climb or anything like that, but the thoughts of getting near it gives me chills.

Via Hong Kong, though I am not getting out of the airport, I will fly to my last stop Hokkaido, Japan. I thought of going to Hokkaido last year already, and had done a lot of researching about Hokkaido. But at the end, I decided to go to Argentina instead. Not to waste my research and also, it is prefect last stop before I will cross the Pacific to return to Boston. For the Hokkaido lag, I will join with Bryan. We will get the rail pass and travel to some mountain area for a hot spring ryokan experience. I am also looking forward to trying out different type of ramen, and seeing the majestic Japanese cranes.