PLANNING and MY DAILY ROUTINE
Taking a long trip – for example my 2 years driving around Europe – required a great deal of daily planning and routine. My average day was 16-18 hours long. I almost never took a day off and did nothing. It can be very exhausting, but that is the way I can see and do as much as I do in the limited time I have. At 70 years of age, I may not be able to continue this for much longer, feel a certain amount of personal pressure, and am basically in a “hurry” to see and do as much as I can.
My present goal is to be the #1 traveler of all time in Canada. Secondly, I want to lead the world in the Series portion of Nomad Mania. When I wrote this in September, 2022 I was about 60 on the Masterlist, but #6 on the Series list. I am sure I see more of each country than 99.9% of travelers. I try not to have to return to any country I have seen.
1. Schengen Visa Rules. Non-Europeans are only allowed to be in the 28-country Schengen Visa countries for 90 days at a time, then must be out of the zone for 90 days before returning. This rule has determined my general itinerary for Europe. My 90-days outside the zone have been spent in a. United Kingdom and Ireland b. Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia) c. Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Moldavia and Belarus) and d. Middle East (Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq (Kurdestan) and hopefully Syria).
Practically though, nobody keeps track of this and my passport is confusing to follow. I ended up spending almost 4 months in Schengen in the Baltic, Scandinavian, Poland, Germany and Central European countries.
2. Nomad Mania. Most active world travelers use this travel website to track, suggest and record their travels. Prior to 2018, it was called Best Traveled but then over 43,000 “places” and “things to do” were added and the name was changed appropriately to Nomad Mania. I am the ultimate Nomad maniac. I used to use travel guide books like Lonely Planet or Rough Guide to guide my travels, but now almost exclusively use Nomad Mania.
The website has two parts: a. Masterlist: Composed of 1281 regions in the world (think 50 states in the USA, 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada) and b. Series of over 43,000 “places”: World Heritage Sites, Tentative WHS, Sights, Museums, Borders, Castles, Palaces and Forts, Religious Temples, Villages and Small Towns, Cities organized by continent, Wonders of Nature and many more.
3. For each region, I copy the Nomad Mania web page for the geographical region. As it is listed by series, I reorganize and format the region by city and small town. I then use Google Maps to transcribe this list by bookmarking every region with all the sights. For places not found offline, I then go online and bookmark those. Google Maps has 3 types of bookmarks: Favourites, Want to go and Starred places and I differentiate the sights using the different bookmarks. I use Favourites for places I have a definite address: Want to go includes places I am uncertain of; Starred places are for cities, towns, villages, national parks and general areas with no specific address.
4. The day before, I will go through each area and plan my route, trying to see as many bookmarked sites as I can in the most efficient way. I put them in order in Word on my computer.
5. If I have time and data access on my phone, I like to do some research on each sight and add that.
6. I bring my computer with me and write as much as possible about each site as I see them.
7. At the end of the day, I construct the post using all the information I have obtained that day and use Google search and guidebooks for research. When I have wifi access, I post the region on my website, including the dates of the visit. I like to also add photographs at this time. I then go to Nomad Mania and tick off all the places I have seen. It is important to keep this up on a daily basis and not fall behind. In this way, my web site is usually up to date within the last 2-3 days.
LONG RANGE TRAVEL PLANS and What Really Happened
2019
May – July 2019: Eastern Europe – Romania, Moldavia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Poland.
July – October 2019: Central Europe – North/Central Germany, Eastern France, Switzerland, Southern Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, , Hungary.
October, 2019 – January, 2020: Drive from Hungary and Romania via Bulgaria to Turkish Thrace, trying to see as many sites I missed on my first time through.
Middle East – North and Central Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran Oct 12-24 tour, Turkmenistan Oct 24-29 tour, Syria, North and Central Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan,Kurdistan Iraq, Southern Turkey, Cyprus.
Greece – Dodecanese Islands (Rhodes, Kos, Patmos), North Aegean Islands (Lemnos, Lesbos, Samos, Chios). Mount Athos, Pelogos Islands, Cyclades (Santorini, Mikonos).
Ferry from Greece to Italy. Find long-term parking for my camper van.
January 2020: Return to home in Canada
What I completed: Everything here but Cyprus and Cyclades.
2020
January – March, 2020: Organize trip through Mid West USA to see all the states I have not been to plus Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in Canada. Finish writing “Hiking and Climbing the West Kootenay”, start organization 2021 trip through West Africa.
Mid March – July, 2020: Mid West USA, Caribbean? Newfoundland, Nova Scotia. Backpack Ayuttuk National Park on Baffin Island (10 days). Drive towards home in British Columbia via Great Lake States to finish seeing all 50 US states. Kayak Picture Rocks on Lake Superior.
August, 2020. West Kootenay, British Columbia – Kootenay Mountaineering Club Hiking Camp (1st week August), kayak Slocan Lake (4 days), Silverspray, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park (4 days), Backpack Valhalla Provincial Park (7-9 days).
September – December, 2020: Home. Organize West Africa trip.
December, 2020: On way to West Africa: Isle of Mann, Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey), Azores, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Algeria, Libya? Pick up van wherever I stored it. Drive through Italy (Milan) and Eastern Spain to Gibraltar.
August, 2020. West Kootenay, British Columbia – Kootenay Mountaineering Club Hiking Camp (1st week August), kayak Slocan Lake (4 days), Silverspray, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park (4 days), Backpack Valhalla Provincial Park (7-9 days).
What I completed: Because of COVID, I could not go to Newfoundland, Nova Scotia or Ayuttuk National Park on Baffin Island. I saw all the rest of the US states but had to finish them all in one go and did not kayak Picture Rocks on Lake Superior as it was April when I was there and not great weather.
Hiking Camp was cancelled, Silverspray was closed and I couldn’t find anyone to backpack Valhalla traverse or kayak Slocan Lake.
I returned home in late July to organize my life and finish Hiking and Climbing the West Kootenay. I added at least 50 new posts and hikes including Rail Trails. Almost every post was reworked to improve formatting and consistency. Many parts were reorganized.
October – November 2020. Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Sardinia.
Dec 5-19 – Caribbean cruise MSC Poesia – 8 countries and 5 territories in Lesser Antilles.
Dec 20-25 – get my VW California
None of this happened as the cruise was cancelled, most of Europe closed down and it seemed like a crazy time to travel. Rules and requirements were changing daily and lockdowns possible, a 14-day quarantine requirement on return to Canada and the obvious risk of getting covid (potential complications and long term complications all to be avoided) all prohibited travel. I have decided to not travel until I get the vaccine (hopefully by end of February).
2021
Jan – July, 2021 were spent trip planning
July 15 – Aug 5. Azores, Capo Verde, Madeira, Canary, Mallorca, fly Verona to pick up VW
Aug 5-Sept 30. Sardinia, Drove western Italy, S France, coast Spain, Portugal, France, Guernsey, Jersey, Belgium, Netherlands. Sold VW California for €42,000.
Sept 30 – Dec 31. Rome, Pelagic Islands, Minorca/Santorini, Cyprus, N Egypt, Seychelles, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Trinidad.
2022
Guyana, Surinam, F Guiana, Brazil, Mexico City
March 6-31. Caribbean Cruise. Sint Maarten, Dominica, Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada, BVI, St Kitts, Dominican Republic, Haiti.
El Salvador, Paraquay, Brazil (finished 26 of 27 states)
Sept 9-Nov 13. Libya, Iraq south, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic.
Nov-Dec 31. Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome & Principe, Guinea Bissau, Gambia.
Comoros, Madagascar, Yemen, Bangladesh.
2023
Papua New Guinea, Australia
April/May. Western Pacific (11 countries): Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Niue Nauru, Solomon, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tuvalu, Samoa, Tonga. New Caledonia?
May/June. Home to renew passport and organize life.
June – Dec. Drive Jo’burg to Cairo and back. South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt.
That should bring me to 192 with only St Vincent left.
2024 Finish East Africa. Return to South Africa, sell vehicle.
OTHER DESTINATIONS after 192
St Vincent, Dive Bonaire, Curaco, Aruba.
Drive from Canada to Panama and see all the places in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicauaga, Costa Rica and Panama on my first time through.
India (Ladakh, Kashmir, seven NE states), Afghanistan, Gilgit Pakistan (exit Korakoram Highway to China). Parts of China not seen (Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, NE states), South Korea, Japan (Hokkaido).
Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Argentina (Salto area)
