Saturday, September 12, 2009

The Worst Vacation Photo Ever

An article I wrote about the trip that's detailed on this blog appears Sunday in The Washington Post. I'll also be participating in a Post Travel Web chat on Monday. In the meantime, here are some some answers to questions people ask us:

What were your favorite places? Madrid, Hong Kong and Bali. Madrid was spectacular as a return to the first world. Hong Kong was SOOO much better than we ever expected; we want to go back. And Bali? It was Bali. Yes, it's so, so far away. But ... it's Bali.

How about your least favorite? For me, Agra. For my husband, Cairo. We debated this one at some length, and decided to call it a draw.

What was your favorite bar? The Jaya Pub Bali, which featured live karaoke. (Meaning the music was live, not recorded.) Second place? Probably the Irish pub in Wadi Musa, Jordan. Culture clash is so cool.

(Oh, and the photo is me, in the infamous Adventure Pants. I didn't say they were flattering, just practical.)

5 comments:

  1. Great Wash Post article. My husband and I are also interested in RTW trips. What about costs? Would you give us a rough total? or by category?

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  2. Nice trip.

    Too bad Americans don't get many vacations days, two weeks if your lucky. You would see a lot more people traveling on longer trips if we did. I lived in Europe for a couple of years and they all get a month to start out, 8+ weeks after working a while.

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  3. We used OneWorld's Global Explorer ticket, 3 continents. Currently they're quoting that at Economy, USD 3,510; Business, USD 7,740; First USD 10,440. (I also comparison-shopped some consolidators, but this is what worked for us.) I have hesitated to add up the entire cost of the trip; that could just be a real buzz kill. But hotels averaged about $100 a night (if you disregard a couple real splurges). Food was not a big expense (again, disregarding a splurge for our anniversary.) Some transit costs began to add up. For instance, it costs about $100 for a driver from the Amman airport to Petra. A bus would have been significantly cheaper, but didn't work with our schedule. Maryann

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  4. I love the way you wrote about this trip. Very inspiring!

    It seems like you had to fly about every third day, yes? I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But it's great that you really went round the world (almost) in a straight line. Very cool.

    I also like the "no $10-a-night hostels" rule. The older we get, the more we like a good hot shower, I think.

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