Almost Ready to Hit the Road

I've been planning to take a year off from work to travel for quite some time. Originally, I was going to head off in late spring or early summer, but kept pushing back the date for various reasons, such as enjoying the wonderful summer weather here in Seattle.

But it looks like I finally have a firm date for my last day at work, and will probably be leaving within a week or so after that. Also, I think I now have at least a vague plan for the first stage of my travels. (I know some people have been wondering if I'd ever actually leave, and if so where in the world I'd be heading).

So, currently the plan is that Friday, September 1 will be my last day at work. I'll need a week or so to tie up a few remaining loose ends, then I'll head to Jasper National Park in Canada by train or bus. I'll probably spend several nights exploring the Jasper area, then start slowly working my way south by bicycle. The scenery is supposed to be terrific, the traffic should be fairly light then, and generally the weather is pretty good during that time of year.

At the moment, I'm planning to head towards Banff and then continue on to Glacier National Park in Montana, maybe along the Canadian portion of the Great Divide Route, which mostly follows unpaved roads. Depending on how long that takes, the weather, etc. I'll probably continue meandering south more or less following the continental divide by bike and/or bus to Yellowstone and some other national parks. After all, I have an annual national park pass I bought during my Zion/Bryce Canyon trip in January, so I might as well get my money's worth by visiting various parks in the general vicinity that I've been meaning to get to...

Eventually, I'll most likely head to Mexico to see some areas I haven't made it to yet, maybe stop somewhere interesting to brush up on my Spanish for a few weeks, and then continue on to further explore Central America. Maybe I'll even make it to South America eventually.

But there are plenty of other places I'd like to visit, so my plans might very well change at any time, and I'll probably hit another continent or two at some point during my travels. I'll probably be stopping at least a few places for several weeks at a time to get a chance to explore a bit more in depth, as well as to get a break from continuous motion.

I will be hauling camping gear, and I plan sleep out quite a bit where possible, with a hostel or hotel stay here or there. I'll probably be doing less camping once I get further south, outside of the US and Canada , since accommodation prices tend to be much cheaper.

In any case, I'm planning to at least occasionally update this blog once I actually get underway, maybe some sort of summary once every week or two, with some photos and descriptions of my travels