14 countries, 4 continents, 20 days.
This traveling thing may be becoming an unhealthy addiction.
I realize I’m not normal. While most people stick to one destination, maybe two max, per vacation…I try to cram as many countries into my itinerary as humanly possible.
And while it may seem fun–and for the most part it is–it is immensely challenging.
What makes it the most difficult are the flights. Two reasons why:
Number one, many times (this trip included), we’re dealing with tiny, tiny countries, whose capitals sometimes only have one flight out per week to each destination. We’re used to America…where there are usually several flights a day, if not at least one flight per day, minimum. But try getting a flight from Recife, Brasil to Praia, Cape Verde. You get one…a week! And when you’re trying to see a new country every two days, organizing flights like these with so few options is like putting together the world’s hardest “moving” jigsaw puzzle. It can be mind numbing.
Number two, these small airlines often cancel or change their flights, dramatically and drastically. And when you’re seeing a new country every one to two days, just one flight interruption can turn your entire trip upside down: a domino effect that affects every other flight; or better yet, a game of Jenga, where when one piece gets pulled out from the bottom, all the pieces come toppling down. It’s happened before, and it happened recently for this trip. I think I’ve finally got all the pieces back together again.
The other extremely frustrating, expensive and time consuming factor: you need visas in advance to travel to most of these countries. That means you have to fill out a million forms, get passport photos taken (dozens), make copies of your air and hotel reservations and vaccinations, and then send everything off to a visa service–including your passport. Right now my passport is sitting in the Embassy of Ghana, in Washington DC, waiting to be processed before the visa courier takes it to the next embassy.
I’ve spent dozens of hours arranging and re-arranging the itineraries. Let’s pray for smooth flights. Here’s how it’s going down:
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Wednesday: San Diego to Dallas to São Paulo to Recife, Brasil American Airlines and LATAM Airlines |
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Friday: Recife, Brasil to Praia, Cabo Verde TACV Airlines SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Saturday: Praia, Cabo Verde to Sal, Cabo Verde (TACV Airlines) SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Saturday: Sal, Cabo Verde to Praia, Cabo Verde TACV Airlines SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Sunday: Praia, Cabo Verde to Dakar, Senegal TACV Airlines SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Tuesday: Dakar, Senegal to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (Air Burkina) SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Wednesday: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Bamako, Mali (Air Burkina) SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Thursday: Bamako, Mali to Lomé, Togo (ASKY Airlines) SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Friday: Lomé, Togo to Accra, Ghana (by car) SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Saturday: Accra, Ghana to Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire Emirates SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Monday: Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire to Casablanca, Morocco Royal Air Maroc SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Monday: Casablanca, Morocco to Nouakchott, Mauritania Royal Air Maroc SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Thursday: Nouakchott, Mauritania to Algiers, Algeria Air Algerie SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Saturday: Algiers, Algeria to Tripoli, Libya Libya Airines SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Saturday: Tripoli, Libya to Tunis, Tunisia Libya Airlines SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Sunday: Tunis, Tunisia to Doha Qatar Qatar Airways SEE THE STORY HERE |
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Monday: Doha, Qatar to Miami to San Diego. Qatar Airways |
…whew! That’s one crazy trip. Stay tuned for photos, videos and hopefully great stories!
Wow. That is an insane itinerary no matter which way you look at it! Which of these flight segments are using frequent flier miles? I am just trying to understand why you would fly to the Cape Verde Islands via Brazil of all places. Secondly, what do you consider a “visit” to be again? As I look closely at your itinerary, it appears that there a few flight segments where you have a long layover, like Morocco and Libya.
Dude, GREAT questions, and you are VERY observant, regarding Brasil to Africa. This all started because I have a house in Recife, Brasil and was absolutely intrigued with a new route from Recife to Cape Verde. If you look at the map, you’ll see Recife is South America’s eastern most point, while Cape Verde is Africa’s most western point. So it’s only a 3 hour flight from continent to continent. I was so excited to see this flight being offered and had to snatch it up.
I’m not using any frequent flier miles, as I got a great deal from SAN to REC on AA, without using miles.
Also, a visit for me means anything out of the airport and into town where you can experience the country. So in Casablanca, Morocco, I’ll have over 10 hours to go to town, to market, tour, lunch, etc. It’s not ideal, but definitely “counts.” And these long layovers are great because they don’t cost anything extra to see a new country. Kind of like a “bonus.” I will probably end up spending the night in Libya. We’ll see!
Okay, that completely makes sense then. Well, financially at least if not logistically. LOL! Looking forward to reading more about your trip when it happens. BTW, when are you planning to take this trip?
End of year! Booked!
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