Saturday, January 08, 2000 8:41 AM Subject: RTWW2K: Coffey update from Seattle Hello again to friends, family, and whoever else may be on the e-mail list due to inadvertant mistakes when typing in e-mail addresses: We are still in the Seattle area, in the last stages of preparation for the big trip. Two days ago, we took a HUGE step and purchased our Star Alliance Round the World (RTW) tickets from the United ticketing office in Bellevue. Aside from selling vehicles (one 96 Plymouth Voyager still to go - bargain priced), ticket purcase was the last major item on our "to do" list. The Star Alliance contains 9 airlines (of them we are using United, Air New Zealand, Lufthansa, Thai air, Singapore air, Scandanavian air and Ansett) that, when used collectively, allow one to piece together a number of RTW iteneraries. Here's ours: Air Travel Date line Start:Seattle -------------- ---- ---------------- 01/15/2000 UA Seattle to LAX (Disney, Legoland, etc) 01/21/2000 NZ LAX to Nadi,Fiji, 02/21/2000 NZ Nadi to Auckland optional RT to Christchurch? 03/21/2000 NZ Auckland to Brisbane 04/20/2000 AN Brisbane to Sydney 05/20/2000 TZ Sidney to Bangkok 05/27/2000 TZ to Surat Thani (ferry to Ko Samui) 06/17/2000 overland to Singapore 07/17/2000 SQ Singapore to Istanbul 08/07/2000 oversea to Greece (ferries) 08/28/2000 LH Athens to Munich optional Europe travel 11/09/2000 SK Munich to Copenhagen optional Europe travel 11/28/2000 SK Copenhagen to Seattle One nice thing about the tickets is that we can change any dates (except the first 2 legs) free of charge, and for a reasonable fee we can change places. So, the further out you go, the less dependable the dates. Our tickets allow travel for only (!) a year, and it is quite possible we'll stretch the trip so we return mid Jan 2001. We essentialy broke the trip into 2 phases, Oceania/SE Asia followed by Europe. Due to mainly to ticketing constraints and weather (winter in Europe?), we currently have only a couple of destinations on the European continent. Our desire is to visit Italy, Lithuania, Finland, possibly Ireland, and probably Spain during the trip. We'll make appropriate changes en route. Should you plan to be in or near any of the locations on our route, we'd love to get together - just e-mail us with details! An update on our godson, Christian Decker: he received a liver transplant in Dec to replace his original, which was ravaged by the effects of Hepatitus. Despite being too large and of the wrong blood type, his body has not rejected it (thank you, Lord!), and he was home in time for Christmas. He's still under very watchful care of parents, doctors, and God, and is taking multiple medications to convince his body not to reject the liver. We are all very grateful he is alive, and look forward to his and his family's life getting back to normal, which appears to be happening slowly, step by step. We're all a bit nervous and very excited about the upcoming year. The days now are filled with e-mails, voraciously reading Lonely Planet guidebooks, surfing the net for advice, contacts, and travel info, taking care of a thousand details to wind down our existense as an American family living in a house in the Northwest and transition into RTW travellers living out of a few backpacks and bags. And of course, with all that going on, spending time with, entertaining, and taking care of our 2 fantastic kids. Here are some of the more challenging things we've had to do to prepare: * Forwarding all mail to a local mailbox: 1420 NW Gilman Blvd, #2355, Issaquah, WA 98027 * Forwarding all bills we'll need to pay while on the road to an internet based bill paying service that we can access from any internet connection: www.paymybills.com * Stripping out house of all personal items and renting it out furnished Some went into storage, and Goodwill benefitted enormously! * Finding a reliable, trustworthy property manager to take care of our rentals: Prudential Property Management in Bellevue. * Securing travel insurance for the family: Medhelp, administered by Wallach and Co. * Figure out how to deal with US federal taxes : Overpay generously with an extension to avoid penalties, and file return after we return. * Determine the trip itenerary. The world is a HUUUGE, interesting place. This was probably the most difficult (and important) thing to do. Typically when travelling, we chose one destination, then work out the details. We settled on 13 destinations, and will be making multiple side trips. And Europe is still to be done! In any case, all is nearly done, and it is likely the next letter you'll get from us will be from Los Angeles or Fiji. I'll close this long letter with some quotes we found encouraging from a Traveler's Tales book called "Gutsy Women, Travel Tips and Wisdom for the Road". The Traveler's Tales seris is an EXCELLENT collection of interesting books with stories about travelling. "A mind that is stretched by a new expeience can never go back to its old dimensions" - Oliver Wendell Homes "Age is no barrier to your dreams and goals" - Helen Thayer, 50, skied solo to the North Pole "Traveling with kids under six is fun. All you have to do is keep them fed and rested" - Rebecca Frank, 47 (Stay tuned to see if we agree with this one in a few months!) and one that speaks to us: "Most people think they have too many responsibilities to travel, especially in the way that appeals to their fantasies. The hungry spouse, children, job, mortgage, school, army, or mother needs them... Honest, folks: the world doesn't end when you decide to do what you want to do, it merely begins" Ed Buryn, Vagabonding in Europe and North America and Bonnie's favorite: "Never trust a culture that doesn't value chocolate." Betsa Marsh Have a great year, and keep those e-mails and updates coming! Ky, Bonnie, Jessica, and Nathan.