How and why

For many years we’d intended to travel to Japan, for reasons which will become apparent later on. The intention was to do this without flying, one option being to sail to the USA and cross Canada before sailing to Tokyo. Crossing Canada meant travelling through Winnipeg, home of Helen’s cousin, a wartime bride, so that stop was added to the itinerary. Then we wanted to see Beluga whales in Churchill, so that was added. And British Columbia, Killer Whales off Vancouver island. And Inner Passage. And Alaska. And then we had to get home, fully intending to catch a ferry from Japan to China and travel across China and Russia by train, the Trans-Siberian railway.

And then COVID struck. Our daughter moved to Brisbane in Australia. Putin invaded Ukraine and the combination of COVID and Putin meant the Trans-Siberian route was no longer an option.

So now we have an itinerary, created not by logical thought and planning but by whim and circumstance. Our aims: to travel around the world in 330 days without flying, see family en-route, avoid bankruptcy and try to see as many of the natural wonders of this planet as we can.