World Trip, 1987-88

During the 1985-86 school year, I took a leave of absence from teaching in order to write Facts Plus. That same year, another teacher friend on leave traveled around the world. When he returned and I saw his wonderful slide show, my old dreams of traveling the world were reawakened. Although a lot of progress had been made on the book, everything was in neutral as I submitted it to publishers. After my husband began to express interest in world travel, the decision was made. Life is short. It was time to make the dreams a reality.

I taught for another year and saved money. My husband, a retired teacher, saved and got his affairs in order. We initially discussed just a summer trip to Europe, but the plans and dreams grew and grew. In the end, I got a student pilot license so I could be Dennis' relief pilot and we flew our Cessna 172 around Alaska, then down the Alaska Highway and the "trench" to Idaho. We worked our way across the U.S., visiting friends and relatives, then spent a month in Minnesota before flying to Amsterdam and buying a car. Two months and several countries later, we joined an organized expedition traveling from London to Nairobi. We stayed a full month in Kenya before flying back to Europe for a week of skiing in the Alps. From Italy we traveled to Greece and Israel by ferry, then to Egypt by bus. Most of the stories listed below were written on the ferry as we returned to Greece en route back to Minnesota, where we spent 10 days canoeing in the Boundary Waters before flying the Cessna back to Alaska.

Upon our return, people asked whether I planned to write a book about the trip. Writing is hard work, but I wanted to share at least the high points of the trip with those who were interested. Much more could have been written, but hopefully this will give you a "flavor" of this adventure and perhaps inspire you to take a bold step and realize some of your own dreams of seeing our beautiful world. Traveling need not be expensive, and is not nearly as difficult or dangerous as it might seem at first. This is one of the best and safest times in history to see the world.

If you'd like to read through the whole account, click the first link and use the "Next" links at the top of the page to navigate through the stories in order.

Timeline of the Trip
Hiking the Chilkoot Trail, Southeastern Alaska
Glacier Bay
Snakes
French Visas
The Car
Camping
Berlin
Llechweld Slate Caverns
Fred
The Exodus Expedition Truck, An African "Package Tour"
Moroccan Markets and the Fez Carpet
High Atlas Trek
Learning French
Some Notes on the Sahara
Hogar Mountains Landrover Expedition
Overnight Camel Trek in Tamanrasset, Algeria
South to Niger across the Sahara
Photographs
Sickness
Sidelights
Cacao
Yankari Game Park & Wikki Warm Springs, Poachers
The Jungle and Mosquito Repellent
New Years
Goats
Money
Mbula, the "Ghost City" in Zaire
Thieves
Visiting a Village on the Zaire River
Ituri Rain Forest, Pygmies and Okapi
Mountain Gorillas
Donnez-Moi Quelque Chose (Give Me Something)
Hiking Mount Kenya
The Ugandan Student Scam
An African Bus Ride
Flight to Italy
Italian Trains
Unusual Signs We Saw along the Way
A Few Things We Looked Forward to Back in the U.S.A.
Cairo Traffic
Egyptian Hustlers
Letter from the Holy Land
First Observations on Returning to the United States
List of Essential Gear
A Few Things We Learned, the Hard Way and Otherwise
Canoeing the Boundary Waters, Minnesota and Canada

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