Our 2020 Travel Agenda

Our 2020 travel agenda is the topic of this blog post.

Do you figure out your travel plans far in advance or do you make last minute trips? We do both, but for the really biggies, we are set for this year already.  Some of the agenda is in ink, and a few trips are penciled in because we don’t have specific travel days yet.  Since you know we love our trips, we thought you might like to see where we are headed this year.  First off, there will always be trips to visit Jordan in Charlotte, Cory in Colorado, and my parents who live an eight-hour drive from us in West Virginia.  Today’s post is about the other traveling we will be doing.

Philippines

The annual volunteer vacation that we plan and organize each year with Jordan’s help will be in Angelos City, Philippines in February.  This will be our 20th year, and we are proud of that little statistic.  We will be traveling to the other side of the world to help people who lost their homes last April in an earthquake.  Of course, since we planned this trip,there have been volcanoes and more earthquakes that have also ruined houses.  Those disasters have occurred south of Manilla, and we will be north of Manilla. Sadly, Jordan will not be able to go this year.  As you may recall, she and Little Miss went with us to Peru and Nicaragua.  However, since Google has not yet received his US passport, they can’t go.  Fingers crossed for next year.

 Portugal and Spain

We had so much fun doing the El Camino de Santiago (read about that here and here) that we are doing it again in May.  Last year we hiked on the most popular route in northern Spain.  This year we will start in Porto, Portugal and end up once again in Santiago de Compestella.  All roads lead to Santiago on the El Camino.  We will hike two weeks with one day off in the middle.  Our longest day will be the first day at 25 kilometers, which is about 15.6 miles but who’s counting!!!

Pittsburgh to DC

Two weeks after we return from Spain, we are going to hop on our bicycles and pedal from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington, DC, which is a six-day ride averaging about 55 miles per day.  This is a trip that I have done five times, (read about one of our trips here), and Mike has done it seven times.  We love this trip. The first half will be on old train tracks that have been removed and transformed into bike trails.  Once we get to Cumberland, MD, the trail is on the old C & O Canal tow path used by the donkeys that pulled boats in the old days.

Road Trip to Maine

In August and early September, Mike is going to ride his bicycle from Maine to Florida.  I am going to drive him to Maine and then stop at some of my favorite towns on the way home.  My most anticipated destination is Stockbridge, MA which is my favorite little town in the USA.  I will stay at the quaint Red Lion Inn and go to a concert at Tanglewood.  That one has been on my bucket list for many years.  I love Stockbridge.  It was the home of Norman Rockwell during his later years, and it is pure goodness loaded with views, history, shopping, food, and charm.

Bike and Boat in Europe

Although I have not taken the first step yet in planning this trip, I would like to fly over to Europe while Mike is biking in the US, and do a bike and boat trip.  I love those trips.  We have been doing them every year (sometimes more than one a year) for the past 16 years.  I have taken several without Mike, and it’s all good.

Paris

My friend Missie and I had such a good time in Paris last November (read about that here) that we are going back for an encore.  We traveled very well together and have a lot more to see and do.

Chile and the Easter Island

Mike is scheduled to bicycle from the top to the bottom of Chile from mid-November to mid-December.  God bless him……I will fly down to join him at the end and then we will travel together to Easter Island.  This trip is still in the planning stages as it depends on whether enough people sign up to do the bike tour.

So, that ‘s our travel year.  I am so excited about it and have my passport all shined up and ready to use.  Have you made your plans yet?

Take care.