My New Year’s resolution in 2024 was to fill more pages in my passport. I made trips each of the previous two winters, single country out-and-backs to Mexico and Costa Rica. But my life circumstances had changed. No longer was I preaching every Sunday. No longer was I teaching history at colleges, or even looking for further work in that area. Instead of managing two farms, I was down to one, having rented out nearly all of my land in Texas. My foreman and crew in California could handle operations while I was gone leaving me windows of a couple of months at a time when I would have work, but nothing that would require me to be in a specific place at a certain time. With that freedom, I could begin to fill more passport pages; to see more of the world. I resolved to acquire at least 10 passport stamps in 2024 – not just to pass through the countries, but to meaningfully visit at least 10 countries outside the U.S. during the year.

I discovered Google Flights, and started fishing around for places to go. I discovered a great deal on a round trip to Madrid during February. As I planned for this trip, it occurred to me that in many of my other hobbies, I get a lot of good information and discover other opportunities by being in clubs with other interested people. The interaction is also fun. I am in clubs with others who fly small airplanes, collect coins, and ride bikes. Perhaps in Lubbock, there was some kind of travelers’ club. I searched around on the internet, and found no such local club. I did discover the Traveler’s Century Club, an international organization of people who have traveled to 100 or more countries. They offer a provisional membership for people who have reached seventy-five. I checked their list of qualifying countries and territories and was at only 13! Spain and Peru would make 15, but this was a club I would never join in my lifetime visiting one country at a time once a year. It was not the membership that was so alluring, but the experience of having seen so much of the world. This was not an impossible dream, a whole club full of people had done it.

There was another club called the Circumnavigators, comprised solely of people who had made round the world trips, crossing every meridian in one direction or the other. It had never occurred to me to make such a trip, and I got to wondering how it could be done and what the costs would be. I got in touch with some members of the Circumnavigators to get a few tips and some ideas. It turns out that the majority of club members are business executives who have been required to do such travel in the course of their careers. They also have some astronauts who accomplished the whole thing in an hour and a half. Others took purpose-built tours via airplanes or cruise ships that guaranteed completion of the trans-meridian requirements often with a price tag in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Organized tour packages have never held much appeal to me, due to my aversion to rigid schedules, and there was no way I was going to shell out a quarter of a million dollars even if that kind of thing was my cup of tea. The Circumnavigators did, however, have a few people who had just set out to accomplish the task on their own in the way I was beginning to consider. I pointed out the possibility of such a trip to my wife and children, still really just dreaming about the possibilities.

As winter became spring, it started to become apparent that such a trip could be made between my second son Andrew’s high school graduation in May and the full onset of the next school year. This would be equivalent in duration to Phileas Fogg’s fictional trip in Jules Verne’s novel, “Around the World in Eighty Days.” At first blush, flights seemed like the most expensive component of my trip. The ground travel from one airport to the next would be comparatively less expensive, at least outside Western Europe. Nevertheless, three factors made air travel a critical component around which my trip would hinge.

Since 70% of the earth’s surface is covered by water, I had some massive oceans to cross. Fogg spent most of his fictitious quest on ships. I could gain time flying over the oceans in order to see the places he could not during his land travel. My voyage would be a true learning experience, whereas the character Fogg had no interest in foreign cultures or places. He was strictly out to scientifically prove that the trip could be made in the time allowed by his bet.

If I was going to meaningfully see a lot of places on my trip, I needed to keep the process smooth by traveling to areas where political relations with the United States were good, and visas could be had with little or no effort. If I was going to traverse over two dozen countries, I could not be making multiple trips to embassies en route. Many areas of the world can be visited with proper caution and planning. It certainly is not impossible for Americans to visit places like Iran or Myanmar, but to do that now with so much more research to be done on the places without those obstacles seemed unwise. I will fly over Iran, Myanmar, and even places like Bhutan that require more advanced planning.

Finally, airfare on regional flights in other parts of the world just is not as expensive as domestic American air travel, or commercial flights to Europe during the summer. A quick perusal of Google Flights revealed that a theoretical series of flights: Toronto-Edinburgh, Baku-Dubai, Muscat-New Delhi, Dhaka-Bangkok, Singapore-Seoul, Tokyo-SFO – would not cost much more than $1,000. The two trans-Atlantic flights would comprise about half of that total.

Stephanie had no interest in being gone the whole summer. I mentioned to her and the adult children that portions of the trip could be joined by those who did not have the time or inclination to travel for months on end. As I began to flesh out plans, though, it was apparent to me that if anything, three months would not be enough to see all of the places that would be of interest. I made a list of places I would like to see along the route, and left enough flexibility in my itinerary to slice sections off if I felt too rushed to see what I wanted to at each stop. I had to constantly remind myself that this would not likely be the last trip I ever took, and that I did not need to see the entire world and all of its contents this summer. I immediately began to rule out places that would take a long time to see the way I wanted to see them. Italy would be worth its own trip. How could I see all of the Roman Imperial ruins, Pompeii, the Vatican, Venice, and all of the other great Italian sites in just a few days? I ruled out places I knew Stephanie would want to visit with me. For years, the Greek islands have been a dream destination for her, so Greece was not a place I would tour without her. I figured that expenses could quickly mount on a trip of this nature if the whole thing was planned as a luxury vacation. So I began to push my trip toward areas where the cost of living and moving would not be as high. When in Europe, I would get to the Eastern side as soon as I could. Even if most air routes involved a stop at Dubai or Doha, I would not spend a long time there. Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, India, and Southeast Asia would be less expensive, so I concentrated more of my journey there.

Our prior foreign exchange students were another factor in my routing. Our most recent visitor, Max, lives in the Netherlands. This could lure Stephanie into at least part of the trip. I found a relatively inexpensive one way ticket from Toronto to Edinburgh. So the first part trip materialized as a leg Stephanie, Kimberly, and Caleb would join. We would drive to Toronto, seeing Niagara Falls and a few other sites along the way. We would spend a few days in Scotland near Stirling to see the castles, cathedrals, and sites associated with the Scottish wars of Independence. We would make our way down to London a few days to see the well known attractions there. This would put us near Normandy at about the time of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing, so a couple of days around Bayeux would let us see the highlights of that site and also the famous tapestry and beautiful physical geography of the region. We could then go to Paris for a few days and see the highlights before taking a high speed train to the north of the Netherlands to visit Max for a few days and see the highlights of that country. From that point, Stephanie and Kimberly could fly from Amsterdam back to Toronto and drive home.

What about Caleb, you ask? Caleb would like to make the rest of the voyage with me. We will see how he does leading up to the three week point before making a final decision on whether he will continue. My second daughter, Audrey, is intrigued by the idea. She is discussing the matter with her husband, who has work obligations that would prevent him from making such a trip.

“You could join us at any point along the way, you don’t have to make the whole trip, Aud,” I offered. Thinking Stephanie might like an adult travel companion driving back to Texas from Toronto, I said, “You could fly with us to Toronto and travel with us to the Netherlands where we visit Max.”

Audrey replied, “I am more interested in all of the exotic places you are going afterward. I want to go see all of the places Cy is not likely to go.” My heart warmed as I heard this.

As of today, April 27, I have only purchased the Toronto-Edinburgh tickets. Stephanie is still deciding how long she wants to be gone. We will part ways in Amsterdam either the 11th or 13th of June. From there, I will use a Eurail pass to quickly make my way to Poland to see Auschwitz, thence head south through the former Eastern Bloc countries toward Istanbul. I can take a train across Turkey and spend some time traveling across Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, thence flying to Dubai. This leg can be chopped if I spend too much time in Eastern Europe. From Dubai, I could fly to Amritsar, India and use trains to get across India and up to Nepal. I would like to visit Bhutan, but the expense and hassle of booking the required organized tour likely mean Bhutan will have to wait for a future trip. There are inexpensive flights from Dhaka to Bangkok. I will spend at least a week in Thailand, where I will visit Vun, another former exchange student. I would like to see Angkor Wat and other sites in Laos and Cambodia if time permits. I will take a train to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and then fly from Singapore to Seoul, South Korea. Three days in Seoul will be followed by three days in Busan, and then the hyrofoil to Japan, where will will pick up a flight from Tokyo to SFO in late August.

I have consulted with the travel clinic on vaccinations and begun the process of making sure those are up to date prior to departure. Right now, it really looks as if Caleb will go. That is where the plan stands, such as it is. I am sure some would be worried about the absence of a concrete itinerary. A concrete itinerary would cause me stress at this point. Barring some kind of family emergency or world crisis, the trip is a go as of 27 April 2024. I invite you, my friends, to join me as I prepare for this epic journey!