Of the people I've told so far, the vast majority have requested I take them with me on my travels - I'm currently trying to figure out how to fit 7 people into my (non-existent) backpack.
A few people have said they'd like to fly out and join me for a week, which would be awesome but because of the nature of my plans, I've had to book onto tours - which means I'm only 'free' for a week in New York (May 13-19) and when I head across to Europe in July. Anyone who fancies a European beach hol or city break you're very welcome to join :)
This is what my trip consists of so far.
South America
- Quito, Ecuador & Galapagos Islands tour
- Cusco and Machu Picchu, Peru
- Travelling from the 'Andes to Atlantic' over 24 days - from Bolivia to Brazil. Highlights include the Salt Flats, the Pantanal (tropical wetlands, wildlife, giant lily pads!), Bonito (water and jungle country), Iguassu Falls and Brazilian beaches - and loads more, can't wait!
The States
- New York for a week
- Bum around in LA for a few days - staying in Hollywood Boulevard!
- Join National Parks tour in LA for 3 weeks - San Diego, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Great Basin Desert, Yosemite, San Francisco, Monterey & Big Sur (sea lions and giant redwoods!), Santa Barbara and back to LA - so, so excited!! Although 18 of the 21 nights are spent camping...oh dear.
Anyone who thinks joining guided tours isn't 'real travelling' can quite frankly do one. If it's anything like Spain, being female, petite and - worst of all - blonde in South America is a recipe for disaster!
I really did want to do the States on my own, but because I'm not particularly interested in going to the cities and have instead chosen possibly the most remote and difficult to access locations (see, real travelling!) the trip necessitates a guided tour. Advice for anyone wanting to visit the National Parks in the US: aside from joining a tour group, the best way is to hire a car once you're out there. There are a couple of bus companies which hop from major cities to the National Parks, but after sitting in front of complicated timetables for several hours I'm 99% sure that attempting to organise it yourself is more stress than it's worth.
Europe remains unplanned but I kind of want to keep it that way...we'll see what happens :)
53 days!
