The Itinerary [Or how I learned to stop worrying about seeing every single country]

Deciding to see the world is one thing. Deciding how much of the world to see in what order is the real head scratcher.

I like to travel. I like researching travel. But the thought of trying to cram every possible activity in every possible location makes me want to set my passport on fire and chain my ankle to the bed. I knew building an ideal itinerary for this trip would be a combination of going Full Metal Marie Kondo while leaving an opening for the zen approach of the The Dude from The Big Lebowski (The Dude doesn't go to 5 museums in a day!)

We knew we wanted to spend time in India (its the family), Europe (its the law), Japan (its the future) and Africa (to bless the rains). We also knew we didn't want to spend most of our time running from place to place - more time with people, less time in airports. Lastly, we wanted to leave room for spontaneity. If our plans were so jam packed and we wanted to take advantage of the ANA round the world ticket, we needed to keep some things unplanned. So after making some hard cuts (goodbye New Zealand, adios Ghana) here is what we came up with.

Location	Timing	Current thinking
Japan	Oct 15 - Nov 21	We land in Osaka and fly out of Tokyo. Will definitely hit up Kyoto but still planning out the rest! Either way, you can't go wrong in Japan.
India	Nov 21 - Jan 20	Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai - lots of family time. Hopefully we will squeeze in some sight seeing as well!
Tanzania	Jan 21 - Feb 12	With a safari in the Serengeti, access to the beaches of Zanzibar and a blended culture with anglo and arabic influences, Tanzania was our choice to see the best of east africa
South Africa and Namibia	Feb 12 to Mar 18	South africa is a country I have always wanted to see. A country to with a rich history, stunning landscapes and all the big 5 of wildlife. Safari, exploring, wine country - its all on the docket. Namibia is another location I am excited for - home to some of the most stunning desert landscapes with the least number of people around!
Egypt, Israel, Jordan	Mar 18 to end of April	Our middle east tour hits up the big 3. History, food, culture - we're into it
Continental Europe	May, June, July	Haven't planned this out but plan to play the continent more by ear - its amazing transportation system lends itself to serendipity. Though we will make time to hit up the Olympics in Paris!
London	Early August	We fly back to the US from London and hope to spend some time enjoying time in the city with friends

We did end up buying travel on all the above major legs (save for Middle east to Europe) on the ANA Round the World ticket. We are flying business class on all segments for 145k points plus about $1k in fees each. We are easily saving tens of thousands of dollars. This is truly a remarkable money saver if you can plan for it. You can learn more about how to use this benefit here.

We are pretty happy with this plan. It has an overall arc (some comfort knowing a rough roadmap) but plenty of room to explore without having to plan months in advance. If you are reading this we hope you can make plans to join us somewhere along the way! The best way to travel is with friends!

So itinerary - check. Major airfare - check. Now we just have sell our junk, put the rest in storage and say bye bye to SF. Easy right? More on that later.