Rome, Italy

Rome is the city that used to be the center of the world. In some ways it still has a lot of power in the world, with Vatican City and the Pope, as well as being the capital of Italy. We started out by going into the Vatican. We wanted to go to the Sistine Chapel first. The line was not too bad, and once we went inside, we realized that it is not only the entrance to the Sistine Chapel, but also to the Vatican museum. This was a great museum. It’s amazing actually what the Popes have acquired over the years, especially in Roman and Greek artwork.

Florence, Italy

Florence is my favorite city in the world. I was amazed as soon as we got out of the train station. The buildings are gorgeous. The city is steeped in history and art and beauty.

Cannes and Nice

The shorelines of Cannes, France are beautiful in the morning sun. The mountains rise in the distance, and the yaughts are lined up around the shore. There are hotels and condos on the shore.

Boarding the Norwegian Jade

We flew from Atlanta to Barcelona last night. We left at 5:45 pm and arrived in Barcelona at 9 am. Unfortunately, the time change meant that we didn’t get very much sleep, since we had our dinner, and watched Marley and Me. We could have gotten as much as 4 hours of sleep… but I didn’t sleep very well.

April 28 – Amazon Jungle

Our time in the Amazon is fun. We were a little nervous at first, and we had trouble sleeping, but we are really enjoying it now.

I don’t really know how to describe the jungle. It’s hot and humid, humid to the point of being wet. It is worse in the early afternoon, but we don’t go out then. Instead we have lunch and wait until 3:30 pm before we go out in the afternoon. We usually take a siesta inside on the bed, or in a hammock.

In the Amazon – April 26

Today we went for a hike in the jungle. Our guide, Matthias, showed us different animals and plants. He also showed us how to start a fire in the wild, and set a trap to catch an animal to eat.

Arriving in the Jungle

Today we left our hotel and were with a couple from New York City and a woman from Turkey. We drove to the dock and took a boat to another dock area further down. Then we drove on a paved road and then a dirt road to another dock, and took a boat to the lodge.

We are in the Amazon jungle. It’s very hot. Honestly, I had no concept of the Amazon at all when we planned on coming here.

RTW – Day 1 – Traveling to Brazil

Josh and I are leaving today for our Round the World trip. We are flying Delta from Tulsa to Atlanta to Manaus, Brazil. When we arrive a driver from the tour company is supposed to meet us and take us to our hotel We will be there tomorrow, and leave for our Amazon tour the next day.

We didn’t sleep very well last night. We were excited, plus it was really hot. Welcome to Tulsa summer.

Trip Report – Leg 1

Predeparture: We arrived at Tulsa International Airport (TUL) at around 10:30AM for our 12:25PM flight. That is more than enough time to navigate through Tulsa’s terminal and to allow for any potential delays or rerouting. Once we were out of the car and had said our goodbyes, it was inside to the Delta Ticket Counter to retrieve boarding passes. As of around 2005-2006, Delta’s TUL station is contracted to their regional affiliate ASA, but some of the employees who were previously employed with Delta stayed in Tulsa and transitioned to ASA. As we approached the kiosks, we were met by one of these employees who greeted us and asked our destination. When I replied, “Manaus,” she looked puzzled and asked, “where?” so I said, “Manaus, Brazil.” She informed us that because Brazil requires a visa, the kiosk would not work and she performed our check-in the “old-fashioned” way.

How to Pack for 2 Months

I started writing about this before in: How to Pack for 2 Months of Life.

I’ve been thinking about how to pack for my Round The World trip with Josh for a long time… it’s been on my mind for months, actually. I’ve never gone on a trip of such length before and that intimidated me. I know that when I went to El Salvador for a week and only packed my one carry-on sized bag, it was incredible to the other guys on my crew.