globeWith just over  6 weeks to go before we head off on our Dream Trip, it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. First up: Where are we going?

This has been one of the hardest questions to answer.

Just imagine: one year of your life to go wherever you want! Where do you even begin?

The truth is that while there are a few spots in the world that have tugged at our hearts and demanded our attention from the beginning, we’d happily stop in almost every country if we could swing it.

Our limitations are time and money and avoiding winter (you thought I was kidding?).

And so, after a lot of hand- wringing we’ve finally come up with what we think will be the big picture working itinerary for this trip.

We’re expecting that this list may look different when we’re done with it. World events, unexpected weather changes and whimsy will likely send us off in directions we hadn’t banked on. The type-A in me is trying to accept that and we’ve intentionally left a lot of it open and flexible so that we can have some spontaneous experiences if the mood strikes.

But our intentions are these: (drumroll please…)

June 30- July 15 – Western Canada

July 15-20 – Seattle Washington, Portland, Oregon

July /August  –South America

August/ September – China

September/October – Australia/New Zealand

November – Southeast Asia

December/January/February  – Africa

Feb/March  –  Dubai/India

April/May/mid-June – Europe

late June – Eastern Canada

July 2012 — Toronto

In the days and weeks to come we’ll introduce pages detailing the specific countries and cities we’re looking at. Then we’re hoping you’ll help by weighing in with tips from places you’ve been and ideas on where we should go and what we should do. But for now…what do you think?

Would you have planned it differently? What’d we miss?

There’s still time to make changes and we’re all ears.