Even more than five years after we took our 4 1/2 month around the world trip with our girls in 2003 to 2004, we still get questions about what the circumstances were leading up to that journey and why we decided to do it. We received our initial inspiration from several sources.
To get to Zambia, we crossed the Zambezi River by public ferry and walked across the border.
Today we are in Livingstone, Zambia, near Victoria Falls. We happened to arrive here on the country’s Independence Day. They are 39 years old today, having gained their independence from Britain in 1964.
After two days on the train, we finally arrived in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We splurged and stayed one night in a very nice Holiday Inn. After that we went to Zanzibar for three days.
As I write this, we are nearing the end of our journey on the Tazara train from Kapiri Mposhi (K.M.), Zambia to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Our train departed two days ago at 3:10pm. The total journey is 1860km (a little more than 1100 miles).
As I write this, our train has stopped in the Bhopal ‘B’ train station. We are traveling on an overnight train from Mumbai (Bombay) to Agra. It is 9:30 in the morning on the second day of our 22-hour journey.
We are currently flying from Ko Sumui to Bangkok. The Ko Sumui archipelago is located in Southern Thailand. We spent three days on Ko Pha-Ngan mostly eating, sleeping, swimming and reflecting on our trip.
We took a 12 hour all night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. From there, we boarded a ferry for a five hour trip to Ko Pha Ngan.
We took a 17 day family trip to Japan in June 2002. It was the first time the girls had been to Asia, so it was a quite different experience for them.
Our first extended bullet train ride to Hiroshima was a great event. Once there, we spent time exploring the beauty of Miyajima Island and also visiting the important and sobering sights associated with the atomic bombing at the end of World War II.
