We're planning New Zealand

So we got our "Top 10" card in the mail this week. This is a card that gives us a discount on their campsites and on the ferry ride between the north and south islands of New Zealand. We've ruled out renting a camper van because it no longer fit into our budget since we'll be there during their holiday season. We're renting a teeny compact, bringing the basic camping gear and camping there for about 3 weeks. It looks like we'll be spending most of our time on the south island. It seems to have more nature and hiking. We're going to try to check out a few wineries there too. See if we can't find anything interesting. Also, what we're really excited about is going glacier climbing in the south. It'll be one of our "splurge" items in our budget. Then it'll be on to Australia to see Chris's cousins and aunt, oh, and a bit of the country too. We know our time there will be way, way, way too short, but we'll go back some day. Chris wants to see the Great Barrier Reef and I(Heather) want to see the Sydney Opera House. I usually don't seem to care about the big tourist draws but for some reason I really want to see it in person. Boy that sounded pretentious. Sorry.

Time is ticking down and it's finally starting to feel real. We've been trying to visit with friends and saying our goodbyes to people. Though six months isn't that long, it can sometimes feel like it's forever. When we get back, kids will have grown a ton and some new ones will have been born. It's just crazy how it all works. And exciting!!!!!

I'll try to get Chris in on this blogging thing too. We're hoping to be able to keep it up while we're on the road. We don't know how easily we'll be able to post pictures, but we'll try. We'll also try to check our e-mail regularly. So you can find us there too. You can pretty much e-mail from almost anywhere in the world, or so we've experienced on our other travels. Talk to you later.

One Month To Go

(Us geared up for ziplining in Monteverde Cloud Forrest, Costa Rica) As some of you know we have been planning this trip for a while. It was just a twinkle of an idea in February of this year and some how has grown into reality. I (Heather) had already given my notice at work, thinking we were just moving and Chris had a job interview in Tahoe. During his interview he was asked, "What will you do if you don't get this job?". He replied, " I don't know, travel around the world". When he told me he said that I was all for it. So we thought about it...I mean our stuff was already going to be in boxes to move, so why not? It's the opportunity of a lifetime. And so here we are, with just a month left until we leave and only our first plane ticket bought...oh and our rental car. So the idea is to be out for 6 months, or until the money runs out, which ever comes first. Or if we miss our dog, Piper, so much we can't stand it any longer.

Our tentative route is as follows:
New Zealand
Australia
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
Laos
Jordan
Egypt
Eastern Europe
and go home through Amsterdam

Since we're going just a leg at a time anything could change. We may just decide to stay in one place the whole time, or skip several destinations altogether. It's all based on how we feel at the time. Kinda nice, huh?

So there it is if you didn't know anything yet. Stay tuned for more.