I am so excited.  It has been 20 years since I left to live in the UK and travel.  I can’t wait to share these travels with Anthony, Amelia and Hamish.  So where are we off too?  Our tickets say around the world… so we are travelling west, around the world.

Our first trip is a mammoth journey with us travelling 30 odd hours from Melbourne through to Copenhagen.  When we arrive we will be catching up with Tine and her family.  Tine stayed with our family during my year 11 year at secondary school.  Sally and I visited her family 20 years ago for Christmas, so a wonderful long lasting friendship.  We can’t wait to chat and see the sights of Copenhagen.

After a few days in Copenhagen, we will train up to Stockholm to another longtime friend.  In 1989 I was an exchange student to Sweden and I spent a marvellous 6 weeks with the Linden family.  Since then we have caught up both here in Australia and in Sweden and France.  Ylva and Margareta attended our wedding in 2002. Ylva and her family stayed with us in 2010 on their Australian adventure.  We are really looking forward to spending a long weekend in Stockholm with the Dishedans.  Sally, Pete, Alastair and Isla will join us in Stockholm.

We fly from Stockholm to Frankfurt to catch up with Fishy-Babe and her family.  Uta was an exchange student with us.  We too have caught up since then, but not for many years.  Through Facebook and email, we have watched our families grow.  We can’t wait to see Uta and meet Ulli, Paul, Greta, Carl and Julie.

From there we fly to Amsterdam for a quick look around.  Amelia has Anne Frank’s house on her list.  We also hope to ride in a canal boat, visit a Museum and a coffee shop – right Anthony?  Just coffee!

We travel to Rome for a jam-packed four days.  Hamish has Pompeii on his list.  So we are doing a day trip – 13 hours on a bus to check out this amazing site.  Rome will be filled with all things Roman (including pizza and pasta).

Our Italian journey then continues up to Florence.  We have the Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and Gelati on our list. Our view from our hotel has the Duomo in the window!  Of course, we WILL get THAT room!  What it does mean is that we are super close!

Next is Venice.  As our front page shows we can’t wait to see Burano and Murano.  We are also heading out to Torcello on this trip.  Our accommodation is beyond belief – there will be pictures.   You can expect photos of us having Coffee and Hot Chocolate in Saint Marks Square.

Off to Lucerne to meet up with the Campbells.  Hamish has pocket money earmarked for a swiss army knife.  I am sure we will be in the stores before the first-day ends.  Megan can’t wait to check out the Christmas Markets.

On to Paris – the Eiffel Tower for dinner, Palace of Versailles, Louvre, and and and … So much to see.

We will need Christmas and New Year at Vence to recuperate!  We will spend 2 weeks exploring the south of France and the wonderful medieval town of Vence.  These two weeks with Mum and Dad is the basis of the whole trip.  Happy 70th Birthday John and Wendy.

Rested and rejuvenated, we head over to London for Harry Potter, Buckingham Palace, Cutty Sark and Megan’s favourite part of London, Covent Garden.

We then say goodbye to Europe and the United Kingdom and head Stateside to New York.  With lots on the list, the time will fly before we train down to Washington DC.  The Smithsonian – Air and Space Museum will capture time, but with more things to see, we will be on the move.

Our last stop is Orlando Florida.  Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral is high on Anthony’s list.  He is hoping to see a launch – finger’s crossed.  Disney World, a Convertible Mustang and Clearwater Aquarium are also on the agenda.

We leave Orlando with a quick change over in LA before the long trip home.

A whole lot of planning has gone into this trip.  Thanks to Rebecca from Echuca Travel for all your work.  We have had family planning sessions on Sundays, and have constructed this trip together with everyone’s lists in mind. We have read travel books, googled and listened to trip advice from other adventurers.    We think we have a great trip planned and can’t wait to get started.

Adventure awaits.