Hello

I want to welcome you to my 'blog', which is intended to document my Trip Around The World ("the Trip"). For those who are unaware of what a 'blog' is, its a web diary where you can post your thoughts, share links to articles you enjoy, and of course my favorate, share and comment on photos.

During the next few months, I intend on posting items about The Trip. I will send out an email to the list everytime I post a new item. If I post too often and folks don't want to get knowledge of the updates, we can set up a separate list for the updates. Let me know if you have suggestions on how best to do this. Also, if you have tips for how I can enhance the blog since you are a blogger yourself, feel free to let me know as well!


This blog is a two way street. It allows me to post items, and it allows all of you to comment. Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting comments on this site.

Lets begin by laying out the itinerary.

I am going to the following countries, in the following months:

DESTINATIONS

1. HAWAII (FEBRUARY)

I will be starting in Hawaii at the end of January (with a brief stop in LA on the way), then going from Hawaii to Australia

2. AUSTRALIA (FEBRUARY)

Me and 2 friends will be in Australia from February 4 to February 20, visiting the following: Melbourne, the Great Ocean Ride, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Cairns (the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Tropical Rain Forest), and Sydney.

3. NEW ZEALAND (FEBRUARY/MARCH)

I will be joined by some other friends for parts of my New Zealand trip, where we will be until March 10, and we will visit some of the following sites:

Christchurch, Queenstown, Milford Pass, Otego Peninsula, Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, Rotorua, and the spectacular Tongariro Crossing, the best day hike in NZ. We will also be doing a multi-day trek, sort of like backpacking but you sleep in huts at night with running water and gas stoves and latrines, which is a step up from my backpacking trips!

4. FIJI – (MARCH)

Next I will be in Fiji for a few days, to relax before going on to Japan.

5. JAPAN (MARCH)

In Japan, we have a nice group of 6 so far for our Japan trip, between March 13 and March 23 – we might have a few spots left for this – we will be visiting Kyoto most of the trip (as well as day trips around Kyoto) and Tokyo.

6. HONG KONG FOR PURIM! (MARCH)

We will then be going on to Hong Kong and spending shabbat and Purim there, as well as some shopping I suspect!

7. BEIJING (MARCH)

Next we move on to Beijing for 5 days, where we will visit the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and other amazing sites – China is one of the most exciting destinations I am looking forward too…I wish I could spend more time there!

8. THAILAND and ANGKOR WAT (CAMBODIA) (APRIL)

Next we go onto Thailand – we do not intend to go to any of the parts devastated by the Tsunami. For example, Koh Samui, which is on the other side of Thailand from Phuket, was untouched and is comparable to Bali and Phuket and has a Chabad House because of all the Israeli tourists – some of the websites for attractions and accommodations even have Hebrew language versions! We will also go to Bangkok, Chang Mai for Songkran, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia for a few days.

9. ISRAEL FOR PRESACH! (APRIL/MAY)

We will be in Israel for Pesach – if anyone is around, I may be linking up with folks while I am there, to do stuff and for hikes – keep in touch!

10. EUROPE (MAY)

My europe plans are still a bit under development. I am currently planning to be in Italy, Belguim, France and the United Kingdom (London and Scotland). Most of this travel will be just by myself, meeting up with some friends. However, I am looking to plan a 7 to 10 day trip with friends to Scotland, or possibly Spain. I am sending a separate email to my davetrek list on this. If you are interested, please let me know no later than March 15.

Well, this is my first posting. In my next post, I will start detailing the trip. It begins here!