Starting on October 4 and continuing through October 6, I embarked on a travel planning extravaganza that paled anything I'd ever done. Was this the God's of Travel letting me know that I've become an adept in their eyes? I don't know. But the outcome has been amazing and we have put together almost completely our travel plans for 2026.
How did this unfold?
It started innocently enough with Wife and my being so bowled over by happiness at being back in Campello and in this apartment (even as I write this, I imbibe the joy of my 'special spot' for writing in the evenings that overlooks the town and seashore). I casually said maybe we should make sure we could book it again for 2026. To my surprise, Wife agreed. I talked to the owner and he quickly agreed to October 2026 at exactly the same price and terms (which are a great bargain by today's short-term rental standards). Wife was pumped when I told her we had the commitment (Wife usually does not react that strongly to travel related events...it just shows you how much this place resonates with us.)
So we were committed to the Fall of 2026 in the Mediterranean again. That led to a conversation of what else we wanted to do. There was conversation of how long we wanted to travel, weather, and the trade-off between tomatoes in our garden (you really need to be in ABQ in September to enjoy them) and longer travel period. I opted to sacrifice the tomatoes. If we have to stop traveling for age reasons, I can always come back to the tomatoes.
So what else do we want to do? Wife really, REALLY wanted to go back to Cefalu in Sicily. Sadly, it has been 'discovered'. Prices have skyrocketed. The place we rented for $150 a night two years ago is now $400 a night! We thought about where else we might go. How about back to Kalamata, Greece. Yes there were good options available there. I also thought about the Antalya area of Turkyie. We'd planned to go there but got blindsided by Covid. As luck would have it I found this apartment that totally checked off the boxes Wife and I want at a really good price. With free cancellation until a week before we arrive we booked it. We will fill in this trip with a visit to the #3's in Sweden up front, and a visit to Madrid for photo shooting between the Antalya and Campello stays. As this is a year away, I have plenty of time to do serious 'deal' shopping for airfare to and from the United States.
With the Fall of 2026 fleshed out, it was time to finish the big parts of the the Winter, Southeast Asia trip. We have our international air reservations. We will be staying with the #2's in Medan, Indonesia to start. There were three other components to fill in. A stay in either Malaysia or Thailand specifically looking for a place with pool like we had in Krabi in 2024. Also a stay in Johur Bahru, which is in Malaysia next door to Singapore. Plus we needed to book airfare from Kuala Lumpur to Perth, Australia for the trip with the #2's we have planned.
All this was accomplished during the two day October 5 & 6.
So by the end of the day on October 6 the bulk of our 2026 travel planning was completed. We still have our international air travel in the fall, the short-hop trips in SE Asia and Europe to secure, and some overnight stays during transfers between cities. But the bulk of the work is done.
Pretty crazy to get it all done in three days.
2 comments:
I am super impressed by this and it has inspired me to start planning two other trips right now, while I am (in fact) visiting you!
Wow! I am exhaused just reading what you have accomplished.
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