Intro to the DEliTOUR

Like all the best plans it is likely to change.

After nearly six weeks of planning it looks quite like this. The itinerary has some pretty fuzzy logic behind it. It has been sculpted by taking into account place we want to go, things we want to do, rough timing and weather, things we can and can't afford, and travel options, including flight packages. 

Helsinki via London to Vancouver and Whistler for some snowboarding. Via Dallas to LA for a drive around the West Coast for a weeks, probably checking out SF, Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Lake Tahoe (maybe for more snowboarding). 

Then ditching the car and going overland to Baja, the rest of Mexico, and on through Central America; Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. 

From San Jose in Costa Rica we fly to Puerto Rico first, and then on to Venezuela, where can check out some Trinidad by boat. From Caracas we fly to Lima in Peru, which sets us up for the big overland leg (a big 'U') via Bolivia, Chile and Argentina to end in Rio. 

We have flights out of South America from Rio via Santiago and taking in Easter Island before heading on to Auckland in New Zealand. We have the opportunity to explore both NZ islands before hitting Melbourne, Ayers Rock and Perth (we have been to the East Coast of Australia before so we want to see some more of it).

After that we fly to Singapore before overlanding in Malaysia, Thailand and perhaps elsewhere in Indochina before flying from Bangkok to Tokyo and then back to Helsinki.

The near-East, mainland Asia and Africa have to wait for another day. And the keen-eyed will have noticed some omissions such as, the Galapagos Islands (due to cost), French Polynesia (cost and connections), Cuba (flight package restrictions) and other Caribbean islands (cost and connections). Though with all these we can see how we are doing with the budget and time. With the flight package we have we have complete freedom with the dates and can even change the route (though that incurs a charge). We have the freedom, resources allowing, to take extra flights, trips or sleigh rides, as we so desire.

MC Delicatessen