Dear friends & family,
Today we leave Christchurch and begin our 6 week journey to England, as part of our 8 month sabbatical! Both our employers have been gracious enough to give us some time off to spend with our families in England, including James' brothers wedding in August, do some travelling, cement our marriage in a new environment and take a mental break!
We have rented out our house, sold both our cars, packed up all our gear, and are left with a backpack and small carry-on case on which we will cope with for the rest of the year! Our travel itinery is quite varied, and exciting - but do pray for our safety:
ChCh to Auckland 22nd April
Auckland to Jakarta - in Indonesia (via Hong Kong) 23rd April
Jakarta to Medan (internal) 24th April
9 days travelling through the Jungle, sleeping under tarps and looking for wildlife like Orangutangs, Tigers, Elephants and all kinds of wonderful crepy crawlies!
Jakarta to Tokyo 3rd May - staying with some of Amy's Japanese friends
Tokyo to Bejing 10th May
Bejing to Hong Kong on 13th May
Hong Kong to Amman on 16th May
Amman to Cairo on 19th May
Cairo to Madrid on 21st May
Madrid to Barcelona on 23rd May
Barcelona to Venice on 25th May
Venice to Bucharest on 28th May
7 days working in an Orphanage
Bucharest to London on Sunday 7th June
We will be then be settling in England for the rest of the year, attending Ian & Jen's wedding in Ireland, and finding work! (it won't be all holiday - we still have mortgages to top-up)
After Christmas and New Year with the family, we will be returning home, via:
London to New York on 3rd January
New York to Las Vegas 6th Jan
Las Vegas to Honolulu 10th Jan
Honolulu to Sydney 17th Jan
Sydney to ChCh on Friday 22nd Jan
It's going to be a wild year, but as we have no little ones tying us down (and don't keep asking us when!!!), and while we still have the energy, we decided to take a few risks and do something a bit different to broaden our horizons!
We're going to miss our NZ friends and family, but we're not away for too long. We're really looking forward to catching up with friends and family in England and Amy's looking forward to learning all the Ridpath-isms! We'll try keep people up to date on how things are going - but won't be spending much time online!
Love & Hugs!
James & Amy ;)
