Overland Expo

Hello Folks,
We are still waiting on Mister Palm to write his first blog I see. So, I thought I would give you a little update. We have just returned from a wonderful Valentines Day/Anniversary Trip to the Florida Keys. It was my first time to the Keys and I enjoyed it immensely. It kind of reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans...probably because of all the debauchery. But it is also beautiful and has a vast array of different cultural groups. I heard so many different languages being spoken. I also enjoyed the fine specimens of trees that they have there. My favorites were a Banyan Tree and a Kapok Tree. We also enjoyed a trip to the Dry Tortugas National Park which is 70 miles off the coast of Key West on an island. You have to either go there by plane or ferry and we took the ferry because it was a little bit cheaper but it was a rough ride...most of the ship was getting to know their wax-lined paper bags very well. I have to admit that I did hold on to one of the bags but was able to keep my complimentary breakfast down. What an amazing place though. It was a great trip all together.

Now, however, we are home and our next step in planning our Overland Adventure is to attend the Overland Expo in Arizona this April. We will be flying to Phoenix, renting an SUV, attending the Expo while camping and possibly squeezing in a hike or something. The expo can be researched at http://www.overlandexpo.com/ The point of attending this is to take some important classes, meet some fellow travelers and learn some invaluable skills for traveling around the world by automobile. The expo is in Amado, Arizona which is near Tuscon. I am very eager to start planning and making decisions.

I think I'll sign off now but I'll be posting more blogs in the upcoming weeks before the expo to discuss hobbies and interests on the adventure.

Cheers,
Marcie

This is the Sunset from Mallory Square in Key West

The Great Kapok Tree

Our Banyan Tree Room

It begins.

So, this is Marcie Palm.  I have never written a blog before and I confess that I am not the type of person who likes to keep a journal either but my husband and I are making plans to travel around the world by Overland Travel.  This is a daunting task considering we don't know anyone who has done this and it is such a massive endeavor.   Therefore we decided to create a blog to record our travels and keep our family and friends abreast of our whereabouts but also to meet other folks who have done some sort of Overland Traveling or would be willing to offer advice to us about our locations or preparations.

We intend to leave the Southern United States in the Fall of 2012.  We will also be attending the Overland Expo this April in Arizona to become acquainted with the tools of the trade.  Everything is quite preliminary right now but the following is our tentative order of countries.

1)        USA 

2)        Mexico

3)        Belize

4)        Guatemala

5)        Honduras

6)        Nicaragua

7)        Costa Rica

8)        Panama

Boat Darien Gap

9)        Columbia

10)     Peru

11)     Bolivia

12)     Chile

13)     Argentina

14)     Uruguay

15)     Brazil

Boat Atlantic

16)     Portugal

17)     Spain

18)     Morocco

19)     France

20)     Italy

21)     Germany?

22)     Slovenia

23)     Croatia

24)     Montenegro

25)     Albania

26)     Macedonia?

27)     Greece

28)     Turkey

29)     Georgia

30)     Azerbaijan?

31)     Russia

32)     Kazakhstan

33)     Uzbekistan

34)     China

35)     Vietnam

36)     Cambodia

37)     Laos

38)     Thailand

39)     Malaysia

Boat Pacific

40)     USA

As you can see we will mainly be driving a vehicle and that vehicle is a Toyota Tacoma extended cab outfitted with a cap which we will be making like a camper.  I'm going to leave that blog for my husband because it is more his department.  We would love any advice from fellow travelers and hope to meet some new folks on the road.  Cheers.