Itinerary for Last Half of ATW VII and First Half of ATW VIII

Around-the-World Travels Continue

I will be leaving on May 14 to continue my travels for Around-the-World VII which will take me eventually to Bangkok. There, I will buy my new ticket for Around-the-World VIII and continue traveling until I return to San Antonio on Oct. 1. ATW VIII will continue in 2008, but for now, I am posting the itinerary I will be following between May 14 and Oct. 1. In addition, I am making a side trip from Copenhagen using frequent flyer points, so I will include that trip, too.

Monday, May 14, 2007

US 456 Lv. San Antonio 15:00 Arr. Phoenix 15:27
US 130 Lv. Phoenix 19:20 Arr. Anchorage 00:07 (Tuesday)

My friend Wes Petty will meet me there. We will travel by rental car making stops in Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Whittier, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Talkeetna.

Saturday through Monday, May 27-28, 2007

UA 700 Lv. Anchorage 23:55 Arr. Denver 06:55 (Sunday)
UA 869 Lv. Denver 8:34 Arr. San Francisco 10:09
UA 831 Lv. San Francisco 11:40 Arr. Taipei 19:00 (Monday)

I will spend a few days in Taipei. Then I will travel through other parts of Taiwan over the rest of the period of three weeks I will have there.

Monday, June 18, 2007

SQ 27 Lv. Taipei 7:10 Arr. Singapore 11:35
SQ 946 Lv. Singapore 16:40 Arr. Denpasar 19:10

A friend in Singapore will come to the airport to have lunch with me and visit with me between flights. Denpasar is on the island of Bali in Indonesia. I will have 6 weeks to explore parts of the country. Eventually, I will exit by ferry from Medan on the island of Sumatra for the island of Penang in Malaysia.

Monday, July 30, 2007

TG 430 Lv. Penang 8:20 Arr. Bangkok 9:00

I will spend one week in Bangkok organizing my new Around-the-World VIII ticket, seeing my dentist, seeing the foreign films showing there at the time, etc.

Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007

TG 315 Lv. Bangkok 18:05 Arr. Delhi 20:40

I will have about 3 1/2 weeks and will travel northward into the Himalayas visiting such cities as Shimla, Manali, Leh, Srinagar, and Jammu.

Monday, Sept. 3, 2007

LH 763 Lv. Delhi 9:30 Arr. Munich 14:00
LH 228 Lv. Munich 17:25 Arr. Berlin 18:30

I took the flight to Munich rather than the one to Frankfurt because of the nice schedule. Most flights from India leave in the middle of the night. This will be quite a relief to travel during the daytime! I am stopping in Berlin to visit friends I have not seen for a few years.

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007

SK 1576 Lv. Berlin 13:15 Arr. Copenhagen 14:15

I will spend a few days visiting friends in Copenhagen before making a side trip using frequent flier points to go to Estonia and Latvia.

Monday, Sept. 10, 2007

SK 404 Lv. Copenhagen 11:25 Arr. Stockholm 12:35
SK 748 Lv. Stockholm 14:05 Arr. Tallinn 16:05

I will spend a few days in Tallinn and then travel overland making stops between there and Riga.

Monday, Sept. 24, 2007

SK 2760 Lv. Riga 15:55 Arr. Stockholm 16:05
SK 1425 Lv. Stockholm 16:45 Arr. Copenhagen 17:55

This will return me to Copenhagen for a few final days with friends there.

Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007

SK 1637 Lv. Copenhagen 9:25 Arr. Frankfurt 11:00
LH 425 Lv. Frankfurt 13:20 Arr. Philadelphia 16:00
US 4230 Lv. Philadelphia 18:40 Arr. Harrisburg 19:28

I am purposely flying from Copenhagen to Frankfurt to avoid flying across the Atlantic Ocean on SAS airlines which is the only airline in the Star Alliance which has special seating in economy and will not give me a seat there. All the other airlines, if they such a section, accommodate me in their Economy Plus (or whatever name they use for it) section because my ticket is a full-fare one and is flexible, but SAS refuses to do so and I am refusing to fly them! Furthermore, I am flying through Philadelphia to avoid Washington Dulles as my international arrivals point. Their facilities are just too small and too cramped causing chaos and frustration. Going through there last year was the worst experience I have ever had in terms of international arrivals (including all the 3rd world nation airports I have used)! I am stopping in Harrisburg to visit my friends Jack and Drew who have a second home in Lancaster County (the home of the Amish) there.

Monday, Oct. 1, 2007

UA 7391 Lv. Harrisburg 10:34 Arr. Washington Dulles 11:33
UA 7411 Lv. Washington Dulles 13:00 Arr. San Antonio 15:34

That will return me home. Around-the-World VIII will continue in May of 2008 with stops for visiting the following:

Guaymas and Alamos in Mexico
Phoenix
Okinawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Nara, and Takayama in Japan
Cebu and neighboring islands in The Philippines
Beijing through Chengdu in China
Bangkok (Where I will buy a new ticket for ATW IX to continue from there)