Asia 2017

Okay, let’s suppose that I want to go to Asia in about a year. My ideal time would be in January, February, March & April. No, my wife will not be going, even though she will receive an invitation to accompany me on any part of the trip and to any location and I would promise her hotel accommodations as opposed to the beach in Phuket or a dorm room in the Chungking Mansions. It seems that she has stopped going with me to places outside of the U.S. after 38 countries and that last trip where I drug her through Central America for a couple of months. So, how long would I like to be gone? The gone is easy. Ninety-plus days. How would I get there? Easy again, air miles that I already have. Now, the big question - where would I like to go? I have to, finally, go to Australia and New Zealand. After that I need to rack up some more countries. I have a current goal of getting to 150 “countries” as my next travel target. What’s life without goals, even in retirement?  After a stop at the TCC I came up with a list: Bangladesh, Moluka, Myanmar, Papua (Irian Jaya), Sri Lanka, Tasmania and Sulawesi. Nepal looks like it could be an outside possibility with an average high of 75 degrees and an average low of 46 degrees in March. Are Bhutan, Timore Leste, Taiwan, Sikkim, Okinawa, Hainan Island, Jeju Island or South Korea viable? Dare I even think about the Maldives, the Andaman-Nicobar Islands or Tibet? Will I be able to crank more than 10 countries out of this trip (research the Asia 2017 Pacific Ocean Countries)? Oh, for to dream!  Plus, goals aside, I have some fascinations that I can’t seem to overcome: India by train (a must), Tsim Sha Tsui, KL, Bali, Singapore, Ha Long Bay, Chiang Mai, Luang Prabang and others… And that’s just for fun. It’s good to expand horizons. It’s good to go where I’ve never gone before and to re-explore some old haunts.