May 7, 2007 by Rick.

And we all can’t wait! A couple entries of our previous BLOG I had set up were reanrranged when I transfered over to wordpress. At least we weren’t part way into the trip when it happened.

We don’t have renters for the house yet, but there are a couple of good prospects. We do however have our plane tickets for the first half (time wise) in hand though, and all of our passports! We have the Spanish school in Costa Rica booked and are pretty excited about the beach school being our first stop. Rick is going to take scuba lessons in Edmonton first and Claudette, Alex & Luke will be taking snorkeling lessons as well.

Claudette & I have decided to not bother with taking a laptop computer. instead we’ll buy a PDA with a fold out full-sized keyboard. This will easily suffice for blog entries and our individual daily logs. Every week or two when we get handy to an internet computer we’ll publish the blog entries and backup picture and journal files.

Several friends and family members have made plans to meet up at various spots along our rough route as well. There’s always room for more though! The latest addition to this list is Rick’s Dad & his wife Dianne who have secured a friends villa in Greece for us to share for a couple weeks in the Spring of 2008.

So plans and bookings are progressing well. Our itinerary is at the list page, (link available from the main http://www.jamesworld.ca website). Any suggestions or comments anyone has for spots to see or places to stay along our route are welcomed by way of the comments section or by email.

Posted in 2007-07 to 2007-08, Pre-Trip and Travel | No Comments »

May 7, 2007 by Claudette.

Originally Posted by Claudette: Thursday, March 29, 2007

Welcome and hello to all our family and friends!

This is my first entry to our family travel blog!

We have started to get down to the little details for our up and coming trip. I can’t believe that it’s also time. The 4 years of talking about it has just flown by, as I’m sure the next few months will as well.

I hope that you will enjoy following our travels starting in early August 2007.

Take care for now, Claudette

Posted in 2005 to 2007, North America on..., Planning up to Depar | No Comments »

May 7, 2007 by Rick.

Originally Posted: Thursday, April 27, 2006

Wow! We finally came up with a first draft of our 50 week trip with dates & countries, and even a hokey bit of a budget… Wow! It’s a wee bit more than I had thought, but what the heck! It’ll still be the trip of a lifetime and after we get back we should still only be about ten to fifteen thousand in debt, (after Claudette’s deferred salary, ING savings and cashing in some of Rick’s RRSP’s). We might change Africa a bit if we can find some politically stable countries to actually visit.

Revision ONE of the list has two sheets (tabs). The first is the original list of countries that all four family members initially wrote down about a year ago. The second is a roughly week by week itinerary of countries, accomodation budget, food budget and any special side trips (and their associated expenses).

Only 14 months away now! I can’t wait!!!

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May 7, 2007 by Rick.

Originally Posted: Monday, April 04, 2005

We are currently in the very early stages of trip planning. Compiling a list of places that the four family members want to visit. Over the next few months we will finalize a preliminary list, start working out directions of travel, and begin more formalized planning. Obviously the the most important stage has begun several months ago. (SAVING MONEY ! ! !)

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