The Itinerary

a global curriculum that focuses on connection to world cultures and people, environment, volunteerism, craft, art and spirituality.

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Since we are now en route, we wanted to update this page based on the specifics of what we have done as well as the rough draft of future plans :) Many of the country visits bleed from one month to the next, and in a few cases, we’re wandering near or around the destination.

DATE PLACE HIGHLIGHTS
Sept 10th, 2013 Left Seattle headed to Florence, ITALY via Frankfort, GERMANY Long flight…excited for our year long adventure to begin! Highlights of Florence include Art History, day trip to Pisa, great gelato!
Sept 24, 2013 Arrive in Oia, Santorini, GREECE Epic sunrises and sunsets, archaeological sites, greek salad!
Oct 8th, 2013 Arrive Athens, GREECE Parthenon, Greek history, ouzo mojito :)
Oct 12th, 2013 Arrive Pitsidia, Crete, GREECE Hippie hangout Matala, surfing Crete, gorge hiking, greek yogurt
 Oct 25th, 2013 Arrive Barcelona, SPAIN Architecture, sculpture, surfing Barcelona, Iberian ham
Nov 9th, 2013 Arrive Seville, SPAIN Drove to Seville from Barcelona with an overnight in Ubeda, Spain.  Ubeda is worth a trip alone just to visit pottery artists!  Seville highlights included the cathedral, flamenco and tranquil piazzas around every corner
Nov 23rd, 2013 Arrive Lisbon, PORTUGAL Drove to Lisbon from Seville.  Planned to only stay 3 days but our flights were changed by the airline so we ended up staying 5.  Highlights included day trips to Ericeira for surfing and Sintra to visit crazy-cool gardens
Nov 28th, 2013 –Thanksgiving Day Arrive Marrakesh, MOROCCO 3 days late, we arrive to an amazing Moroccan version of American Thanksgiving cooked by the wonderful staff at our Riad!  Highlights include Snickers (the cat), a 3 day/2 night trip to the Sahara desert, Terry & PopPop joining us for 6 weeks, and a weekend in Essaouira to surf…of course :)
Dec 15th, 2013 Arrive Zanzibar, TANZANIA Quite a journey with a 9 hour layover in Dar Es Salaam. Highlights of Zanzibar include pure white sand beaches, aqua blue ocean and spending Christmas with friends and family on a remote tropical island :)
January 2nd, 2014 Arrive Arusha, TANZANIA Flew into Kilimanjaro airport and spent 6 days on safari…AMAZING!  Then rented a super cool house in Arusha and simply “chilled” for another week.  Highlights include seeing “the big 5″, safariing with TeeTee and PopPop, staying in a “tent” in the Serengeti and hanging with Erin, Nayay, Sambi and Kiaka!
 January 19th, 2014 Arrive Bagamoyo, TANZANIA & Dar Es Salaam, TANZANIA Traveled to Bagamoyo, Tanzania to spend a week.  Highlights include Wescott’s Eagle project, meeting everyone at Baobab Home, hanging with Erin, Nayay, Marqus, Sambi and Kiaka. Also learning about Bagamoyo and its historical importance during slave trade days.
 January 27th, 2014 Arrive Hanoi, VIETNAM(and Halong Bay!) Going back to Hanoi felt like returning home! Highlights include a 3 day/2 night excursion to Halong Bay with Mouni, Kim and the Roaming Jones, visiting T&Js orphanage and visiting our favorite places from 2007. Also, eating lots of bun cha!
 February 9th, 2014 Arrive Hoi An, VIETNAM An awesome unplanned side trip because we couldn’t get flights directly to Ho Chi Minh City. Highlights include more QT with Mouni, Kim and The Roaming Jones, getting custom made shoes / clothes and all the beautiful lanterns!
 Feb 12th, 2014 Arrive Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM (and Mui Ne Beach) Stayed 2 days in HCMC, said goodbye to Mouni and Kim who had to head home) and then headed to the beach east of the city with the Roaming Jones in Mui Ne.  Spent zero time at the beach :) Then back to HCMC for another 4 days before leaving.  Was fun to see the cosmopolitan side of Vietnam!
 Feb 23rd, 2014 Arrive Bagan, MYANMAR (via Bangkok) We had to reroute ourselves through Bangkok to get VISAs for Burma so got to experience crazy Bangkok for 2 days.  Then we flew to Mandalay and drove from Mandalay to Bagan in Myanmar.  Bagan is INCREDIBLE! The time to go is ASAP! Highlights include sunrise and sunset over the temples, all the beautiful buddhas, ebiking around and spending the day photographing with a professional!
March 1, 2014 Arrive Chiang Mai, THAILAND Chiang Mai wasn’t on our original itinerary but when Wescott’s good friend Ryan decided to spend a semester there, we decided we had to visit :) Highlights including kidnapping Ryan from his school, all the night markets, elephants and meeting a family from Mercer Island that runs a terrific restaurant there!
 March 9th, 2014 Arrive Koh Tao, THAILAND & Koh Samui Koh Tao is gorgeous! Another place to go back to ASAP!  Highlights include watching sunset from the mat bar, snorkeling at Nang Yuan, trying out SCUBA and, of course, the negative edge pool :)
 March 16th, 2014  Arrive Yangshuo, CHINA Often refered to as the “Yosemite of China” we were excited to spend a month in Yangshuo! Highlights include staying with “Sam’s” family at Fun Sam’s, learning a month of Tai Chi, Yoga and Qigong meditation, eating at Mood Food everyday and visiting Guiping, the town where Yve was born!
 April 12th, 2014  Arrive Beijing, CHINA  A dynamic city with a mix of ancient and modern!  Highlights included 5 days at the Great Wall in the town of Gubeikou, hanging out with Cari and Liz and exploring the hutong neighborhoods!
 April 22th, 2014 Arrive Shanghai, CHINA Ultra cosmopolitan, we couldn’t leave China without visiting Shanghai.  The city lived up to the hype and we had a blast!  Highlights include Fashion Day at the Super Brand Mall, seeing the Oriental Pearl Tower up close and personal and pigging out at Din Tai Fung….three times!
 April 25th, 2014 Arrive Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA A long layover, we decided to stay two nights to at least get a taste of Malaysia!  Highlight was having a picture perfect view of the twin towers from our hotel room :)
 April 27th, 2014 Arrive Bali, INDONESIA Full cultural immersion in the arts and one of the most spiritual places on earth
 July Arrive Cairnes, AUSTRALIA Experience the Great Barrier Reef and Northeastern Australia’s amazing national parks