A Very Productive Week

Last night we met with our spankin new travel agent, Deb, for the first time.  So far, I like her a lot: super knowledgeable and well-traveled.  Our reason for getting a travel agent wasn't laziness (ask Aaron: I'm so OCD/ADD I've already filled almost an entire notebook with research), but more along the lines of ignorance.  Our trip is so huge and there are so many details, we just wanted to make sure we weren't forgetting anything important.  Plus, travel agents have so many contacts and can get you great deals on flights, accommodations and excursions, at little or not expense to you.  They're really the saints of the travel industry (okay, now I'm putting a little too much butter on it), but I'm pretty sold on the idea so far.  Use a travel agent, save a panda! (Yea, that might be a lie...sorry).

Another thing we did this week was pick our destinations.  It was a combination of super fun and super stressful because it took a lot of thought and we wanted to have it done before we met with Deb.  Drum roll please!  Here it is (although subject to change):
Costa Rica (2 months)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (2 months)
Barcelona, Spain (2 months)
Greece (1 month)
Dublin, Ireland (1 month)
Thailand(1 month)
Another Asia stop (1 month)
Sydney, Australia (2 month)
HOME!
As you can see, instead of backpacking around the world, staying in different places every night, we've decided it would be more our style to pick a handful of places and set-up shop for a month or two.  We recently found out we can only stay 30 days in Thailand, so we're looking for another Asian destination (any ideas?).  We're still in the initial planning stages, so a lot can change from now until takeoff, but this is where we're at, as of now.
Obviously, we're going to venture out once we settle in each place (weekends in neighboring countries/islands), but for the most part we want to immerse ourselves in each culture fully and live almost like locals.  Let's be honest: that's totally Sensible (Frugal) Aaron talking, if it were up to me, we'd be throwing money in the air and making it rain!  No seriously though, I definitely want to see as much as possible without really burning us (and our wallets) out.  Deb gave us a "Bucket List" assignment (pick the places you HAVE to see) and it's so much fun it makes me want to pee from excitement!  I'm trying to pick places that are somewhat geographically near where we'll be, so anyone with ideas, let me know!  So far I have:
Panama Canal
Great Blue Hole in Belize
Machu Picchu in Peru
Eiffel Tower and Louvre in Paris
Colosseum in Rome
Stonehenge in England
Great Wall of China?
Sydney Opera House
Great Barrier Reef in Australia
Wow, that's more than I thought, but hey, you only live once!  My new mantra is:

Especially after this trip, since I'll have no money to collect anything :(

Anyway, along with planning destinations and sights, we also have the pleasure of thinking about other, technical, not-fun-but-grown-up-shit, such as: health insurance (we're both leaving our jobs, so we have to buy individual plans), trip insurance (for gap coverage in our medical and trip incidentals), vaccinations, banking/credit card options with minimal foreign transaction fees, international phone plans-Deb informed me that for iPhone 5 and higher you can get a cheap "burner" SIM card in each country with data and minutes without ever having to notify your phone company (SAY WHAT?? SUCK IT VERIZON!!), global car insurance (maybe), weather (including tsunamis!), Deb's fee, bills while we're away, adding pages to our passports, and tons of other super exciting, stupid-ass shit we have to deal with before we can gallivant around the globe.
Blonde moment of the day: I'm sorry, but I can't even fathom how suicide bombers hijack planes.  I can't even go on vacation without notifying like 50 people I'm leaving, not to mention I can't even bring my lotion because I might pair it with some weird substance in my shoe and make a bomb, and the only bad thing I've ever done is shoplift a key-chain BY ACCIDENT!  Yet these known terrorists manage not only to get on the plane without incident, but to somehow bring a weapon on-board to terrorize people?  Am I the only one confused??  Okay, blonde rant over (sorry blondes, I know that was pretty bad, even by your standards).

Okay, whew!  More to follow soon!  Remember folks: Adventure Is Out There!  That is, after you buy health care, let you credit card company know you'll be travelling, get all your vaccinations, buy a money belt (basically a flat fanny pack), sell your car, tell the Embassy/Consulate you're coming, put everything in storage......aaaand I'm too tired to go anywhere now...I think I'll take a nap.