From July 2016 to October 2017, we traveled across the USA and into Mexico, Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Here’s a summary of where we went!

July 2 – August 6, 2016: We spent the month with family in Bay City, MI, preparing for our trip.

August 6 – September 10, 2016: road trip across the USA! We left Bay City on August 6 and spent the night in Chicago, IL. We drove a part of Route 66, saw where the Oregon Trail began, took our pictures with four presidents at Mount Rushmore, slept in the freezing cold temperatures at Yellowstone, stargazed above the Grand Canyon, and spent a week relaxing with Jon’s family in Oklahoma.

September 10 – October 13, 2016: We spent about a month in Mexico! First, a week in Tlaquepaque taking Spanish lessons, a little over a week in Mexico City, a little less than a week in San Cristobal de las Casas, and a little over a week in Palenque. During this time, we got sick twice which severely limited our sightseeing days!

October 13 – November 4, 2016: The original plan for a honeymoon was going to be in Belize. When we decided to have a destination wedding, we put that plan on hold, so this is our opportunity to have a belated honeymoon! We spent 2 weeks on Caye Caulker learning to scuba dive and enjoying Belikin overlooking the water. We then made our way to Palencia where we spent a few days in a beach town before spending our final couple days in Belize City.

November 4 – 22, 2016: A former colleague of mine joined the Peace Corps and served in Ecuador. We spent 2 weeks in Puerto Lopez, a small fishing town on the coast, helping her teach English, read with kids, clean up the yard, and get to know a bit about the Peace Corps.

November 23, 2016 – January 3, 2017: For the holidays, we rented apartments in Peru for longer stays in Lima (over Thanksgiving) and Arequipa (over Christmas and New Year’s). In between the holidays, we traversed the country and made stops in Paracas, Nasca, and Cusco. One of the highlights was touring Machu Picchu!

January 3 – 10, 2017: We only made 2 stops in Chile: La Serena, a beach town where we went on a midnight tour of an observatory, and Valparaiso, a harbor town built around colorful (and steep!) hills.

January 11 – 31, 2017: While in Argentina, we spent a weekend riding bikes and tasting wine in Mendoza, met some cows and had a traditional asado at a friend’s house in Los Quirquinchos, passed a weekend catching up on work in Rosario, took a day trip to Colonia, Uruguay, and then finished our time in South America with a week in Buenos Aires.

February 1 – 13, 2017: Our first 2 weeks in South Africa was spent in Cape Town. We got to know a friend, toured Table Mountain, drank wine in Stellenbosch, and discovered our favorite burgers anywhere at Jerry’s Burgers. We joined a tour with Intrepid that led us on an overland journey through the next few countries.

February 14 – 26, 2017: We made a lot of stops in Namibia, including Fish River Canyon, Dune 45 in the Namib Desert, Deadvlei, Swakopmund (where we rode camels through the desert!), Etosha National Park, and Grootfontein (where we spent a day with the San Bushmen).

February 27 – March 3, 2017: We had 2 adventures in Botswana: 2 nights bush camping in the Okavango Delta and 2 nights exploring Chobe National Park.

March 3 – 7, 2017: Zimbabwe was the last country on our Intrepid tour. We visited Victoria Falls and went ziplining over the gorge before saying goodbye to our crew and friends.

March 7 – 10, 2017: We crossed into Zambia to tour Victoria Falls from the other side and then took a private tour of Mosi-ao-Tunya National Park, where we got to walk next to 2 black rhinoceros!

March 10 – 22, 2017: We flew back to South Africa and picked up a car in Johannesburg. Over the course of a week, we drove across the Garden Route back to Cape Town. Along the way, we stopped at Addo Elephant Park, Jeffrey’s Bay, Stormsriver, The Crags, Knsyna, Wilderness, Simon’s Town, and Cape Point. Back in Cape Town, we reconnected with our friend and toured Robben Island.

March 23 – April 14, 2017: We got over jet lag in Bangkok, Thailand before picking up my sister at the airport for a visit. We spent our two weeks together on the island of Koh Lanta and the northern city of Chiang Mai. We returned to Bangkok to drop her off and then went back to Koh Lanta to celebrate Songkran (Thai New Year).

April 14 – 27, 2017: Siem Reap was our home base in Cambodia. We alternated days of touring the Angkor Complex and staying cool in the many cafes around town. For 3 days, we visited Battambang where the highlight was a tour that ended at a bat cave.

April 27 – June 10, 2017: The final country on the international portion of our trip was Vietnam. Our first week went from Hanoi to Hue, before finding an apartment to rent for a month in Hoi An. We got settled into local life, trying different dishes and taking an overnight trip to the International Fireworks Festival in Da Nang. After that, we had another week of travel to Da Lat (where we tried weasel poop coffee!) and finally Ho Chi Minh City.

June 11 – July 12, 2017: Returning to the USA, we spent a month in Michigan with family, catching up on all the foods we missed while abroad.

July 13 – 29, 2017: We boarded an overnight bus to take us to Alabama to visit family, where we purchased an old car. A drive across the country allowed us stops to see more family in Missouri and Oklahoma.

July 29 – October 23, 2017: The final portion of our big trip was volunteering for the National Park Service at Dinosaur National Monument. We spent almost 3 months living in an off-grid log cabin that was 2 hours from the nearest grocery store. We greeted campers, made friends with the deer, and tried a lot of new zucchini recipes.

October 24 – August 11, 2017: After all of our travel, we needed somewhere to settle down and get jobs. We moved into a family home in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and spent this period working, resting, and preparing for the next adventure. (Oh, and a quick trip for Lana over to France and Germany!)