Planning my Round the World Trip

When I was a kid, I remember reading the book "Around the World in 80 Days" written by a French author Jules Vernes. It was fascinating to see how Phileas Fogg made a bet with one of his friends that he would complete a tour around the world within that time frame. The story told how he would make his way with steamers and trains through the Orient and across the Pacific Ocean, returning to London in 1872. Travelling has certainly changed since 1872, and nowadays, people can travel around the world in less than a week. I saw a vlog where this British afficado of aviontary travel did a RTW trip within 72 hours. He left this postbox at the Greenwich Meridan, and made his way via several flights and made it back to Greenwich with minutes to spare. 

Whilst I would probably enjoy doing the trip that Phileas did, working a full time job doesn't give me that luxury of being off for 80 days. I must contend with whatever available time frame I have. For this trip, I begin by flying to Los Angeles on the 4th of June. For me, 72 hours seems extremely tight so I am giving myself ten days to do this trip in a more relaxing pace. 

From what I could see, most typical itinerary would be like Los Angeles -> Tokyo -> Bangkok -> London -> New York -> Los Angeles or something like that. I recall seeing newspaper ads advertising RTW fares with these typical stops. There are agencies that can help you plan your RTW tickets. You can opt for RTW tickets through your miles or your airline alliance, or plan them separately. I did the latter, because I wanted to try and fly on airlines that I had not flown on before. All within reasonable costs, of course. 

With excitement for the idea, I hastened to purchase tickets and have it planned. Here is the original itinerary:

6/5: Los Angeles - Dallas Fort Worth - Buenos Aires with United
6/6: Visiting Buenos Aires
6/7: Buenos Aires - London - Madrid with British Airways
6/8: Arriving in Madrid, side trip for the layover
6/9: late night flight from Madrid to Cairo via Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc
6/10: Visiting Giza/Egypt
6/11: Flying from Cairo to Dubai, overnight in Dubai
6/12: Flight from Dubai to Manila, Philippines on Cebu Pacific
6/13: Visiting Manila
6/14: Flying from Manila to Los Angeles via Singapore on Singapore Airlines.

I thought everything was planned and I was good to go. Several weeks later, I started getting notices from airlines that they changed the schedules. The first notice I got was from Cebu Pacific where it had me land in Manila much later. Of course, this was unacceptable for my itinerary so I canceled the trip and got my refund. Then the Cairo to Dubai leg also had a schedule change so I canceled that as well with full refund.

At this point, I was stuck with my RTW trip without connections between Cairo and Manila. I started rethinking my itinerary and decided that perhaps I should spend more time in Egypt. To bring in the theme of "steamboat" I started considering Nile River cruises from Aswan to Luxor. When I investigated the prices of such cruises, I was surprised that they were quite affordable. I received word from Royal Air Maroc that my flight was shifted two hours later, arriving in Cairo at 7:30 am instead of 5:30 am. I attempted to cancel this leg, however since I booked it through a travel agency, they were wanting a $30 fee to cancel the trip for me. I was not pleased with this travel agency! It is always best to book directly with the airline as it is less hassle for most parts.

At this point, I purchased a ticket from Madrid to Cairo, leaving on the same day I arrive in Madrid. This gives me time to do the four days cruise through the Nile. The current challenge I am working on is trying to get back to Los Angeles in the eastward direction rather than backtracking through Europe to the US. With China closed due to its zero-COVID policy, flights are really limited in the Orient. My ticket for Manila - Singapore - Los Angeles are still there. However, I am kind of struggling at this point finding connections to Manila, so that I can catch those flights back to the US. I will keep searching, and update with you soon. 

Here is the tentative itinerary:

6/5: Los Angeles - Dallas Fort Worth - Buenos Aires with United
6/6: Visiting Buenos Aires
6/7: Buenos Aires - London - Madrid with British Airways
6/8: Arriving in Madrid, evening flight to Cairo, overnight in Cairo
6/9: morning flight to Aswan, join cruise tour, visit Aswan Dam and Philea Temple
6/10: Side trip to Abu Simbel, cruise to Kom Ombo
6/11: Edfu, Temple of Horus, sail to Luxor
6/12: Balloon trip, Valley of the Kings, end of tour
6/13: 
6/14: 

Keep posted, and Happy Wanderings!