I have always wanted to see Europe, backpack the Himalayas, travel Southeast Asia, visit China, Japan and New Zealand. In the fall of 2001, when I read the school district announcement about sabbaticals I decided to apply and went to the informational meeting.

I really did not expect to be granted a sabbatical the first time I applied and a part of me did not want it either. I am a creature of habit. I go to bed at the same time every night, get up at the same time, have my coffee and granola....etc.. Contemplating a sabbatical travel trip that would involve weeks and months of not knowing where I would sleep each night or how and what I would eat....well, it just seemed way beyond what I could tolerate.

On the other hand....I'm 47 years old and not getting any younger. Though I could travel to my dream destinations during my summer breaks I have been reluctant to do so because: summer is the height of tourist season (especially in Europe), the heat of summer, the cost of separate trip transportation and high season accommodation costs (and competition for bed space in hostels).

If I did it all at once in the low (tourist) season I could minimize all those factors.

And so, after being granted the sabbatical I began making plans - though still not sure if I had the personal fortitude to go through with them.

The first thing I had to determine was, how I would travel and in what direction around the world - if I wanted to see Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and New Zealand.

I eventually decided to spend the fall (the first three months) in Europe and then travel to Southeast Asia for their winter (though it would still be hot for me). I would end up seeing China and Japan in their winter (January and February), but at least it would be their low season. I would finish up with a month in New Zealand.

Initially, I had not even considered visiting Nepal on the way to Southeast Asia, as I knew it would be December and I expected the mountains to be snowbound way before that. However, someone told me to talk to a fellow teacher at school about trekking in Nepal. As it turns out, December is probably one of the best months to go. The weather is good then. It doesn't really snow much in the Himalayas at all and especially in the winter. The skys are the clearest then. And it is just after the height of the tourist season (the fall). This teacher was even planning on doing a 2-3 week trek that January. So I started looking into, and eventually incorporated, Nepal into my schedule. Looking back on the entire trip now - I'm am lucky and glad that I did, as Nepal and the trek I did there was the height of my trip, literally and figuratively.

I also had not considered Hawaii as a stop in my trip, though I have always wanted to go there as well... but when I saw that around-the-world fares were based on mileage and Hawaii is right in the middle of the path from New Zealand to San Francisco...I had it added to my itinerary. If I'd have just been a little smarter I could have added Fiji or Tahiti as well.