The Route

So this all started when I found I could combine two trips (a European excursion with my cousin and an Australian trip before my friends' visas expired) into one without a huge cost increase. Virgin Atlantic, New Zealand Air, and Singapore Air offer a round-the-world package called "The Great Escapade".  It's thousands less than similar packages advertised by, for instance, OneWorld or Star Alliance. The main catch is since it's only 3 airlines, the available destinations are slightly limited. South America, probably my favorite continent, is not offered at all and only South Africa (which if India falls through, I could audible to) represents for Africa. The GE also must start and finish in the UK.

Below is the route that's in my head, but much of it is flexible. Most dates can be changed with ease and destinations, well at least theoretically can be switched. As you can see, the route is a bit janky to say the least. Who starts a round-the-world trip going East, but then switches West? There's technically an early halftime to these wanderings of 6 weeks in America (though I'll definitely remain in full vacation mode). The reasons for this are as follows:

1. American summers dominate!
2. I can now attend my cousin's wedding, buddy's bachelor party, etc.
3. My timeline now aligns better to avoid the rainy season for Thailand and Nepal.
4. After the fact, I've realized I'm woefully under-prepared and am lucky to get to recalibrate before leaving LA.

If that's cheating, so be it.

Quick key for the map:

• Blue lines = flights. Dark to light = beginning to end (since there was some confusing overlap).
• Red lines = travel by train, bus, ferry, or hitchhiking w/ Zsombor, the one-eyed Hungarian gypsy.
• Yellow dots = a few possible side trips. ALWAYS up for suggestions on places to see.

View The Route in a larger map