Journey Around the World
Traveling to all 7 Continents
Welcome to my Journey Around the World! This is my story of how I visited all 7 continents. Where I began, my favorite, and the continent that left me most in awe. Until my Career Break, I traveled fairly often, but hadn't ventured beyond North America & Europe. Even during my Career Break, I started with countries I was more familiar with and comfortable visiting. While I wanted to see more of the World, the amount of time to get there seemed daunting or restrictive. So I started out easy with a direct flight here and a cruise there. Until I knew it, I had visited 5 continents and thought why stop there?? How cool would it be to visit all 7 continents!?
So I set the goal to visit all 7 continents and made it happen! I'm so glad I did! Each trip and visiting each continent was so rewarding in its own way. Setting this goal also prompted me to visit one very special & unique continent I may not have visited otherwise: Antarctica. It is a great privilege to have access, time & resources to be able to travel, let alone visit all 7 continents, that I am very grateful I had the opportunity to experience. I highly recommend seeing more of what this incredibly beautiful & diverse World has to offer, if you can, after all - The World is your Oyster!
North America
North America
My journey to all 7 continents began where I was born and live in North America. I'm fortunate to have visited much of the United States, Canada, Mexico & the Caribbean. While Mexico is one of my favorite countries, have a soft spot for Canada, and enjoy the Caribbean, I have yet to create Getaway Guides on them! That will change! I have Getaway Guides on 17 destinations in the US and am highlighting one of my favorite places to visit in the US a symbol of entry into the US - New York City. Check out my NYC Guide to plan a trip!
Europe is the first continent I visited outside of North America, where I've traveled to the most outside N.A., and easily my favorite continent. I've visited 18 countries & counting in Europe, some many times, and created 9 Getaway Guides on European destinations to date all compiled in the Europe Guide to check out for ideas on where to go, stay, and what to see & do there! Greece, Italy & France are some of my favorites! Iceland was the most unique!
South America
My first trip to South America was on a long cruise all the way from Florida through the Caribbean down to colorful Cartagena, Colombia. The second time visiting South America was my first time to the Southern Hemisphere to Buenos Aires, Argentina as a starting point for another long cruise down to "The End of the World" Ushuaia, Argentina through the Drake Passage to Antarctica. South America has the vibrancy expected with beautiful architecture, culture & landscape worth exploring!
Asia
Asia
Visiting Asia was my first time flying across the Pacific Ocean on a flight from Chicago to Tokyo. After hearing people rave about Japan for so long, I was interested to see it for myself. Japan is definitely unique and has a lot to offer with the most populous city of Tokyo, centuries of history and culture in its temples & shrines in Kyoto, and lots of novelties. My second trip to Asia was to Turkiye, where I crossed from Europe to Asia on the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul and took my first hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia.
Africa
Africa
The only African country I have visited thus far is Morocco, less than 10 miles south of Spain where the Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean Sea meet. Morocco is really magical with incredible architecture & design, landscape, hospitality & culture. It feels like being on a movie set, it's so memorizing, but also authentic! A highlight of visiting Morocco is getting to ride a camel through the Sahara Desert, stay at a luxury desert camp and gaze up at the stars. For more insights to plan a trip to Morocco, check out my Morocco Guide.
Antarctica
Antarctica
Antarctica was surprisingly not my last continent to visit even though it is the most complicated one to visit. It was also the most special one to visit as a result. I visited Antarctica on a cruise from Argentina. Many start at "The End of the World" in Ushuaia, Argentina, but my cruise began further north in Buenos Aires. Getting to see Antarctica was truly a spectacular, special & unique experience that I'm so happy I was able to experience. I covered all my insights on how to visit in my Antarctica Guide to check out.
Australia
Last, but not least was Australia. After the longest 15 hour flight of my life from California, I arrived "down under" in Sydney, Australia. After exploring Sydney, I used my favorite mode of transportation - a cruise ship to see the other main cities along the SE Coast down to Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmania (to see the famous Tasmanian Devil), and even got to visit a place called Kangaroo Island! Australia is the only continent I have yet to create a Getaway Guide on. I hope to return at some point to explore neighboring New Zealand too!