Last year I took a trip to Europe as a graduation gift to myself. Naturally, I created a
section on this site detailing that trip. I later discovered that my tour
operator, Contiki, held an annual
contest for the best website based upon a client's tour. I submitted mine, and lo and behold, I
won third prize!
What to do with my good fortune? Well, as coincidence would have it, I would have two friends on exchange in
Australia during the coming spring, so I think I would be a very good friend indeed if I came for a visit. A trip to the
Land Down Under, to the other side of the world, to a place so far away from home I can't get any further before I start
to come back. Now that sounds like an adventure.
Then came the issue of finding the right time to go. My friends would be in Oz from February through to June, so
anytime during that span should work well. However, the responsibilities of work would show its ugly head and give me
deadlines I could not escape. As time dragged on, my only option was late June. I started to work out detailed times and
then called up a travel agent to make some bookings. "Your flight to Australia includes a free stop in Fiji" she told me.
Memories of my fifth-grade geography project came flooding back. Fiji... an island paradise in the middle of the
ocean, tropical climates, friendly rural people. It's one of those fairytale places you've always heard about but never
really believed existed. I'd be silly not to go.
"OK, I'll stay for a week," I said. "Why not?"
Many scheduling conflicts, rearrangements, and additions later, I had stops in Singapore, Tokyo, and Los Angeles thrown
into the fray, and my three-week Australian trip blossomed into a five-week South Pacific adventure.
I informed my manager that I was taking five weeks off of work instead of three, and then ran away really really
quickly before she could say anything about it.
So, I set off for the journey of a lifetime. Come and explore the South Pacific with us, as Chicken Noodle gives you
the low-down on the fun and adventure, and George the Large-Footed Monkey pops in with some helpful info from time to
time.
The Trip Itinerary
