Several months ago I wrote an article about how we planned our around the world trip for 4 1/2 months beginning in September 2003. This article provides some additional insight into the details of that planning exercise.
Here is our first short video from the road of our hike in the Cairngorms National Park near Aviemore.
We spent three days in Fort William enjoying several outdoor activities, including hiking and boat cruising on a lake. We also took a day trip by train and ferry to the Isle of Skye.
Lauren and I are now in Fort William, on the western side of Scotland and a major gateway to the highlands. We spent three days here enjoying the scenery while dodging rain storms.
On June 10th Sandy and Lauren are going to Scotland for 10 days. Our itinerary calls for stops in four cities, where we plan to mix historic sights with the natural beauty of the area.
As we speak to and email with others about our travel experiences, we receive many of the same questions from folks who want to understand how we prepare and stay healthy and safe on the road. Our around the world trip also raises questions about our motivation for taking it, the planning involved and traveling with kids for a long duration.
Feeling bad while on the road and being in a strange place is one of the worst situations one can experience, especially when so much time, money and effort have gone into planning a trip. While I have had my share of feeling “under the weather” during my travels, I have developed techniques for preparing and dealing with food and drink that have helped me.
Well we are on the road again, this time for a 10 day trip to Ecuador. We flew to Miami on Sunday and then took a four hour flight to Quito, Ecuador. It is the second highest country capital in the world at about 9,500 feet.
Cotopaxi National Park is 50 miles south of Quito. We stayed at a wonderful hacienda in the area that contains some original Inca empire walls. We also took a day trip into the park and a short hike.
Since we last wrote, we left the hacienda north of Quito on Wednesday and made our way to Cotopaxi National Park about 50 miles south of Quito. We hired a driver to take us between the two destinations, which included a stop at the equator itself, about 15 miles north of Quito.
