How to see the Wonders of the World in 15 Days in 2022
It all started with a goal. Not just travel to travel. I wanted to have a purpose for my travels and a goal to accomplish. So I set out to see all 7 Wonders of the World.
16 flights- 84.5 hours of flight time -5 hotels- 5 countries-8 different airlines- 3 continents-4 wonders of the world= one amazing memorable trip
My first Wonder of the World was the Colosseum when I traveled to Europe in 2011. Who knew that my first experience of international travel would be a precursor to what was to come for me in the future?
I decided to visit the 7 Wonders of the World after visiting Madrid and London in 2018 after securing a cheap flight for under $300 to Spain and London to see the London Keys (the tickets were free but a year wait list was in place).
So 2019 hit and I found a cheap flight to China. Bingo! The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and I couldn’t pass it up. This is when I realized I loved to travel during November because of the off-season- fewer crowds, fewer people, colder but tolerable. So I booked my ticket. Mind you it was less than 3 days on the ground and over a 20-hour flight and 15-hour time difference, I was crazy, I know. But hey, you only live once right? However, I saw what I wanted to see, created memories, and was on my way.
My goal for the next year, was to see the last 5 wonders of the world by 2021, and I thought it would be easy to accomplish. My childhood friend was having her wedding in Mexico in March of 2020 and I could knock my 3rd Wonder off my list. Easy peasy right?
Well as you all know…. Covid hit the week we were supposed to travel and so my plans got postponed. Crushed because the world shut down and some much was left unknown…I didn’t know when I could see the rest of the wonders in this unpredictable pandemic world. What I did know was, I didn’t want to travel with masks in my photos, nor worry about getting stuck somewhere if I tested positive, nor quarantine on arrival for 14 days when I didn’t have that much PTO. It was just crazy! Too crazy to do it. So I waited….
I was able to see Chichinitza towards the end of 2020 because Mexico had opened back up, and my friends wedding was back on. #3 in the books! (totally forgot to tI could see Chichinitza towards the end of 2020 because Mexico had opened back up, and my friends’ wedding was back on. #3 in the books! (forgot to take a full-length picture here…). I swear I was there! Hot, sweating, and trying to avoid the mosquitoes! Easy entrance, however, we still had to wear masks outdoors- which was not the best feeling of sweat and heat breathing right back into your face. Even in October, bring sunscreen and water.
Then I waited again…. and waited…and then I decided…. What am I waiting for? I didn’t want to wait anymore. I didn’t want to look back and say I wish I would have, or why didn’t I. I live for each day and this was no different.
So I set upon seeing my last four wonders of the world altogether. No splitting them up, just going for it. And that’s exactly what I did.
BUDGET:
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to have Warren Buffett amounts of money to travel the world. Budgeting each month specifically for travel is and has always been a priority of mine. It’s a hard line in my budget, and I contribute to that travel fund each month. I had also saved up a ton of points and miles during 2021 with credit card sign-up bonuses and online shopping portals, as I knew I wanted to travel on just points and miles. So the first question was, where should I start first? How much PTO did I have to work with? How many points/miles did I need to complete my travels? How long would I stay in each place? Where would I stay? When would I go? I’ve realized I’m great at planning ahead of travel. But when I travel, I love to just go with the flow of things. Because a planned itinerary isn’t the most fun, sometimes it’s good to get lost and explore the city. I didn’t know what it would bring for me during Covid times, but what I did know was this:
I had 168K in AMEX Points
I had 184K in AA Points
I had 150K Hilton Points
I had 80K Marriott Points
I knew where I wanted to go
FLIGHTS: Flight fees for purchasing with points, and a few flights I had to purchase TOTAL: $998.04 (I purchased a few seat upgrades along the way, all less than $100). The most expensive flight fee I had was around $206. Crazy right? Which was on Emirates airlines… business class seats.
HOTELS: Hilton Hotels were all paid for through points. One out of two of the Marriott Hotels was paid for by points. I used 50K points in India, 246.384 JOD ($347.509) in Jordan, 50K points in Egypt, 40K points in Peru, and 60K points in Brazil. I’ll give you a hint later on, on how I got free upgrades for each one of my hotel stays too. TOTAL: $347.50
TRANSPORTATION: I booked my transportation and tours through the hotel- which I felt was the safest doing as a solo traveler. It was transportation to and from the airport, as well as tours I set up within each city. Before this method, I would see if the city had those Big City Tour Buses- Hop On/Hop Off and see the city in that way. I’ve also tried Marriott experiences, which wasn’t bad at all. I very much enjoyed the choices I made when I used them. TOTAL: $431
FOOD: purchased mostly at the hotels, and I ate a lot of food on the airplanes so didn’t need to eat much outside of that, nor couldn’t. As my body was all out of whack with food consumption. I’d say less than $200 for food.
TOURS: I had a private tour guide and driver for all of my trips except for Brazil. That was a group tour, which wasn’t too bad but I prefer individual and private tours more as they took some great photos of me. You don’t have to do this, but I think it was worth it to have tour guides and learn more about the history of each monument and place I visited. TOTAL: $943.37
SOUVENIRS: At your discretion and totally up to you!
APPROXIMATE TOTAL PER PERSON: $2,919.91
TRAVEL TIME:
I had saved up enough time to travel for about two weeks at the time I booked. However, I could get a couple of extra days because of flying out on a Holiday and then had an extra day available by the time I left. I decided to start from the farthest point out and come back. I started in India (Taj Mahal), followed by Jordan (Petra), a pit stop in Egypt (to see the Pyramids, because duh!), Brazil (Christ the Redeemer), and Peru (Machu Picchu). It was possible it could happen. I knew the Tricks to Travel System, so I wanted to implement it the best way I knew how. I thought about the following itinerary: 2 days in India, 3 days in Jordan, 2 days in Egypt, 4 days in Brazil, and 4 days in Peru in 15 days. During this time, I switched my end destination. Instead of ending in Peru, I would end in Brazil for their Carnaval! I had always wanted to go, and it was a bucket list item, so why not hit two birds with one stone? I know I know, I’m crazy! But you only live once! To determine how many points I needed for each leg of the flight and which airlines I could transfer my points to, I used Google flights and The Points Guy system.
This is the final route: Denver-New Delhi, India-Amman, Jordan-Cairo, Egypt-Cusco, Peru-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-Denver. It helped me determine what I needed to use and how far my points and miles would go after combining these points and seeing them laid out on the Points Guy App and Google Flights. To find out which airlines took AMEX points, I checked the AMEX portal. I wanted to fly Emirates and knew that AMEX points transferred to them… luckily, one of the flight legs was on Emirates! When I went to the real airline website to book, I couldn't find the flights that appeared on Google Flights. (Some flights won’t show up if you are booking with miles). Sometimes it was hard to swallow seeing how much the flight fee would be when booking with points. So I had to re-evaluate when booking the flights and making it intentional. The more flights I booked, the more real it became that it was happening.
VISAS AND COVID REQUIREMENTS: For this whole trip I purchased travel insurance from World Nomads, it’s just a good piece of mind to have while traveling during these times.
There is a great guide on The Points Guy's site that helped me greatly during the process. For each country, I wrote down what I needed to do/fill out. Prior to boarding, some required Covid tests, some had to complete a health form, some needed vaccination cards, some needed visas, and some needed all of it.
India- Had changed their requirements right before I was about to take off of not needing a covid test 72 hours prior to departure- however, that didn’t get relayed to the airlines as quickly as I thought, and luckily I had taken one just in case. The Verifly I used for AA flights didn’t seem to matter at all for heading to India. Which was a disappointment as it didn’t help the check in process at all at DEN. They will check all documents needed at your departure airport before you even leave for the first flight so you will need to arrive 3 hours early for this approval. India needed an e-visa prior to arrival- so head to their website to purchase that. According to the U.S. Embassy, as of Feb. 14, 2022 all international passengers age 5 and older must upload a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 72 hours of travel or a vaccination certificate proving full vaccination (India recognizes the CDC vaccination card) to the Air Suvidha portal and submit a self-declaration form detailing their past 14 days of travel 72 hours prior to the start of travel to India. Vaccinated passengers must also upload a copy of their vaccination certificate. My visa cost $10 through the American Airlines portal…. No need to wear masks in public. I was able to pre-schedule my covid testing at the airport upon arrival so that I would have the necessary testing for my arrival in Jordan.
Jordan- All arriving passengers must register online before the flight, but pre-travel and arrival COVID-19 test requirements were dropped as of March 1, 2022. All travelers must, however, have travel health insurance valid in Jordan and must complete their online Gateway2Jordan registration to receive a QR code to be presented upon boarding their flight. No need to wear masks in public. When I arrived in Jordan, it was prior to March 1, so I had to show proof of a negative test and my QR code for registration. You also had to take a test upon arrival at the airport and have that proof of scheduled testing prior to departure. This helped when I was headed to Egypt. I didn’t think I needed a visa, and yet upon arrival, I needed to purchase a visa before I was allowed through customs.
Egypt- Americans will need a tourist visa available on arrival or before arrival via online enrollment. There are no quarantine requirements, although you will need a negative COVID-19 PCR test with a QR code. According to the U.S. Embassy in Egypt, travelers over the age of 6, including Egyptians, must present results of tests taken within 72 hours prior to departure for Egypt, but passengers traveling from Japan, China, Thailand, North America, South America, Canada, London Heathrow, Paris and Frankfurt will be allowed to provide a test certificate performed at a maximum of 96 hours prior to the flight departure. You also have to have the physical (printed/paper) test results. No digital documents are being accepted. (they actually didn’t care about a physical document, I had them and yet they really just looked at proof of vaccination card, your visa, and quick declaration form.) Proof of health insurance valid in Egypt is also required. (no one checked this). I highly advise getting and applying for your visa prior to arrival on their website, as waiting in line when you arrive at the airport was way longer than I thought it would take and totally unnecessary. You will need cash or head to a bank or ATM in the airport to get the needed money for the visa. Pretty chill on wearing masks around the city even though it says you may get fined. No one enforced it around me.
Peru-All passengers age 12 and older must present proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 48 hours of departure for Peru (children under 12 must only be asymptomatic to board) and complete an online electronic Affidavit of Health and Geolocation Authorization administered by Migraciones. Peru instituted regional risk metrics of High, Very High, and Extreme, based on COVID-19 risk, subject to review every 21 days. KN95 or double face masks are now required to enter indoor spaces. They are very strict on wearing masks and have extended their mask mandate through August 28, 2022. Needed to wear double masks or KN95 in public and in private spaces. If you are taking the PeruRail to Machu Picchu, you will need a face shield as well as a mask.
Brazil- Fully vaccinated tourists are currently welcome and while Brazil no longer requires proof of health insurance for entry, since Dec. 30, 2020, all travelers age 12 and older arriving in Brazil by air, both tourists and residents, must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 72 hours prior to boarding or a negative antigen test taken within 24 hours of boarding and complete a health declaration form. Brazil also requires that anyone age 12 and older present proof of full vaccination (electronic or printed, but proof in the form of just a QR code will not be accepted). Masks still need to be worn indoors and in transportation, however, outside and in public areas, it was not needed.
HOTELS:
India: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Gurgaon- New Delhi NCR - 50K Hilton Honors Points
Jordan: Dead Sea Marriott Resort & Spa- 246.384 JOD ($347.509)
Egypt: Marriott Mena House, Cairo- 50K Marriott Points
Peru: Hilton Garden Inn Cusco- 40K Hilton Honors Points
Brazil: Hilton Rio De Janeiro Copacabana- 60K Hilton Honors Points
Check out the tricks to travel system to find out how I received free room upgrades at each of the hotels I stayed at. Every hotel I stayed at provided me with free breakfast and very comfortable beds. Due to the fact that you'll be sleeping on airplanes for the majority of the trip, I made sure to stay at nice hotels where my points would not be wasted. My only regret is that I wish I had stayed longer in some of the hotels because they were worth every penny. In addition, I booked and stayed during the off-season, so my points per day were much cheaper than in the high season. A good tip: make your reservations well in advance.
PACKING:
It's all about carry-on luggage for me. With my carry-on, I was able to pack for 14 days. As a rule, I throw everything I want in the first round before purging that second round of what I actually need. It was my plan to purchase clothing in the countries I visited in order to utilize them when I captured those moments. (I forgot to bring enough socks, so I had to wash in the shower and air dry). I actually didn’t end up purchasing any clothes along the way, I had good self-control and honestly, I didn’t need/want to either. The only clothing purchase I made was a bathing suit in Brazil.
TAJ MAHAL (New Delhi, India):
Using my American Airlines points, I booked business class/first class seats on three flights to New Delhi. After arriving late into New Delhi the night before, I scheduled my Covid test at the airport once I landed for the flight to Jordan. Sadly, I had to begin my journey to Agra, India shortly after 3 AM, which was about three hours' drive from the hotel, which only left me with four hours of sleep before leaving the hotel. I almost made it in time for the sunrise! The view was still breathtaking as you entered through the doors to discover this magnificent monument built entirely out of white marble. A memorial to the king's second wife, the Taj Mahal is known as the "crown of palaces". After seeing the Taj Mahal, we headed to the Agra Fort, the handmade crafts shops, and finished at the Baby Taj Mahal. Sometime during the day, I was able to eat some wonderful Indian food, which satisfied my desire to eat something local. After the time change caught up with me, I took a nap during the three-hour drive back to New Delhi.
My flight to Jordan left from New Delhi Airport at 10:30 AM the following morning on Emirates Airlines (booked with points in business class). It would have been great to have been able to take a long flight on Emirates Airlines to appreciate everything the airline has to offer. It was so beautiful! There was finally a flight I could get on that had two levels and a bar upstairs! The layover in Dubai was a breath of richness and a sea of Americans.
PETRA, JORDAN (Amman, Jordan):
It was around 2 pm when I arrived in Amman, Jordan, and after customs I met my driver around 3 pm. A short drive brought me to the hotel, where I discovered I was at 3,000 feet below sea level (the lowest place on earth), and when I arrived at the hotel I felt so welcome! It was such a beautiful resort. Upon checking into my hotel, I prepared for the next day, when I would visit Petra Jordan. Petra Jordan is a three-hour drive, and it was cloudy when I visited. Fortunately, I had brought a raincoat. For a short while, the sun was shining. It began to pour as I walked back, and by the time I returned to the car, my shoes and clothes were soaked and muddy. Although I wanted to jump into the shower and head back to my hotel room, we stopped for some tea, looked at the Dead Sea, and checked out a historical statue. Upon returning to the hotel, I took a float in the Dead Sea, rubbed some mud all over my body, and admired the sunset. The next morning, I prepared to leave for Egypt. My last stop before leaving for the airport was the place where Moses died. The day after I arrived in Jordan, they switched to Daylight Saving Time. The result is that I lost one hour in addition to being ahead on time haha, great.
A short 1.5-hour flight on EgyptianAir got me to Egypt by 4:30 PM the following day.
PYRAMIDS (Cairo, Egypt):
After arriving in Cairo, I thought I could easily get my visa at the airport, but boy, was I wrong. My visa took an hour to get, since the location where it was requested only took Egyptian pounds. Also, the ATMs at the location weren't working, so I had to wait in line at the bank to get the visa. It took an extremely long time for me to get to the front and for my visa to be issued in only 5 minutes. I'm not sure what the other individuals were asking for before me. Then I proceeded through customs, where I had to turn around once again and fill out a quick declaration form, then return to line to get my stamp. By then, I had hit traffic heading to my hotel. My driver was telling me some history about the city on the way to the hotel, and then... I caught a glimpse of the pyramids. I immediately got goosebumps! I was so excited to see it!! Though it wasn't a Wonder of the World, it was the only standing Wonder of the Ancient World, so how could I miss it when I was so close to it? Due to the size of the hotel grounds, I was taken by golf cart to my room after checking-in. It was amazing. I felt like royalty when I arrived. After breakfast, I met my tour guide to start my Pyramids and Egyptian Museum tour. It was interesting for me to walk within the Great Pyramid to see what it looked like and to see what the people who built these structures hundreds of years ago thought about it. They were amazing…I couldn’t stop staring at them. Building a grave so large for their king must have required the efforts of many people. Having seen the Sphinx and enjoyed a walk amongst the Egyptians, we then headed to the Egyptian Museum to observe the many, many artifacts. Did you know there are over 300 pyramids/tombs throughout Egypt? I saw King Tut’s artifacts and headdress, his throne, sandals, and several other items that were found throughout Egypt. They still don't know why so many were in Egypt, and many remain undiscovered. In 2022, a new Egyptian Museum will open so I definitely want to go back and check it out. As for the tomb of Cleopatra, I hope to see it one day while I'm still alive. Visiting Alexandria and Luxor to see more tombs and artifacts is definitely on the bucket list, as Egypt is one country I need to explore and experience more.
It dawned on me that morning that I needed a covid test for transit back into the USA since the at-home kit I had brought with me wasn't going to work. Seeing as how my flight was leaving at 1:00 AM the next day, or aka that night, I began to panic. Luckily, the hotel had a person come do the covid testing, but only from 5 pm to 8 pm. I had to explain to him that I needed a rapid test before I left for the airport at 10 pm. Prior to my flight out, I ate a quick dinner, got my covid results, and went back to my room to pack.
On my Qatar Airways flight from Cairo to Doha to Miami, I was hoping for an upgrade, but no such luck, and I was not going to pay $1000 for a seat for which I paid only $200. Due to maintenance, the flight from Doha to Miami was actually delayed an hour, which would have caused me to miss my connection in Miami. As luck would have it, the flight from Miami to Lima was also delayed. After clearing customs and security (TSA Precheck and Clear are unbeatable during these times and both are free because of the Amex Platinum and Amex Gold) I had a short amount of time to find a money exchange to change my Egyptian pounds to US dollars. Sadly, I wasn't able to exchange Egyptian pounds in Miami and in Doha they only had Euros - so I ended up with a lot more Egyptian pounds than I needed.
MACHU PICCHU (Cusco, Peru):
In order to get to Cusco, the cheapest and fastest way is by flight from Lima (LATAM Airlines). Having arrived at the Lima airport around midnight, I had to wait awhile before my flight leaving at 5 am though everything was open and people were waiting to leave for flights in the food court too. As I waited for my one-hour flight to Cusco, I ate some food, drank their famous drink (chicha morada), and watched some of my shows. Once I landed and easily made it through customs, I waited for my driver. The driver hadn't yet arrived after an hour, so I called the hotel so they could send another driver. As the hotel was only 20 minutes away, when I arrived earlier than check in, I did not expect my room to be ready that early, but it was ready within 15 minutes. Considering I got to Cusco early in the morning, I had planned to take the Cusco tour a couple of hours after I arrived, but I was so annoyed that my driver didn't show up, that I questioned whether I should take the tour. It seemed like the best idea, since I didn't know when I would be back and I enjoy learning about the cultures I visit. Who knew I would get altitude sickness coming from Colorado? Colorado is about 6,000 feet above sea level, Cusco is about 11,000 feet, so it hit me a bit harder coming from below sea level to sea level (Miami) and going high above sea level.
The Cusco tour included seeing some cathedrals, feeding alpacas, a magnificent view of the city, and some Inca monuments. I ate some guinea pig for dinner that night, a delicacy in Cusco. The next morning, I woke up early to catch a taxi to the bus station so that I could take the bus for about a half hour to the train station, where I would catch the train for about 2 hours to Aguas Calientes. After I met my tour guide, we took another bus for 20 minutes to the beginning of Machu Picchu. It was raining the day before I went on my tour, so I brought my raincoat just in case. However the sun emerged throughout my tour and I could take in the incredible beauty of Machu Picchu built by the Incas. After the amazing tour, I headed back to Aguas Calientes to eat and take in the small city before my train back to Cusco. After arriving back at my hotel around 8 pm that night, I rested my body and prepared myself for the day ahead. It's funny, because it freaked me out when I arrived at the Cusco airport as I scheduled to take the covid test before landing in Rio. The thing I failed to realize quickly was that I scheduled the test in Lima, not Cusco! Wow... I guess that's what you get after three countries of covid testing.
Another quick flight from Cusco back to Lima, then Lima (where I got my covid test for my Rio arrival- tent outside the airport) to Panama where I was sweating while in the airport waiting for my flight to Rio.
CHRIST THE REDEEMER (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil):
By 6:30 am, I had arrived in Rio via Copa Airlines, and then headed to my hotel, which was 30-40 minutes away. The hotel let me check in early, so I took a shower, ate a breakfast buffet, then headed to the beach. By 2pm, I was feeling good thanks to Rio's famous Caipirinha drink. After a very long day, I returned to the hotel to rest and prepare for my final wonder of the world.
As I had only taken private tours up until now, I wasn't that excited when I found out it was a group tour. But since I paid for it in advance, I went anyway. Before I left the hotel, I scheduled my covid test for the following day before I flew home. For our first stop, we went straight to Christ the Redeemer, and frankly, it was a bit overcrowded and underwhelming. It was crazy packed and hella hot up near Jesus with hundreds of people trying to get the perfect shots from the front angle and all the rest of us from the side. The tour guide gave us 20 minutes, but we were all done in 15.
Before lunch, we visited a famous stadium, a beautiful cathedral, and the famous Escadaria Selarón. During lunch, we visited a Brazilian buffet, where I chatted with some of my group members; some were on a girls' trip, others were celebrating birthdays, and another was a solo traveler like me. After the buffet, we headed to Sugarloaf Mountain. By this point, I think we were all ready for the tour to be over. Two cable cars took us up the mountain (which were a bit scary on their own), I took some pictures (I was over it by now.), and we headed back down the mountain to see why it's called Sugarloaf Mountain. I spent a few more hours on the beach before turning in for the night after our tour ended. My flight did not leave until 7:30 PM the next day, so I was able to do a late check-out and head to the beach one more time to purchase a bikini and soak up the sun before I left for cold weather.
On the way to the airport, I realized my driver was taking me to the wrong airport, so I told him to turn around and go to the correct, local airport... in what little Portuguese I knew. My flight from Rio to Sao Paulo was quick, then the flight from Sao Paulo to JFK was delayed about an hour… in which I missed my connection flight back home... I was pissed. I was so close to making it back home, with little to no issues on flights the whole trip! Why now during the last leg of the trip?? Why?? It was unbelievable that I had to wait in JFK for 12 hours before I could leave for Denver at 7:49 pm! Despite my family's suggestion to go into the city, I didn't feel like going outside that day, I was ready to be at home. Luckily, I had my American Express Platinum card, so I could stay in the JFK Centurion Lounge. Surprisingly, the Equinox area was pretty nice, I enjoyed the buffet and snacks they offered and found this nice nook where I stayed until my flight out of JFK.
Remember that flight out of JFK to DEN leaving at 7:49 PM? Well, it was delayed an hour too! Due to a shortage of people, we had to wait on the tarmac for another 30 minutes when I got to Denver, so I wasn't able to get off the plane until well after midnight! It was 2 am when I finally returned to the cold and snow of Colorado, back to the real world.
LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY:
For each one of the countries except for Rio de Janeiro, I had a private tour guide and driver. I felt very special, very well attended to, and very personal with this setup. I liked the one-on-one touches, it made it easier to get in and out of places, my tour guides took bomb-ass pictures for me, and I was able to have great conversations with them. I’m not against group tours, but I’m also not that excited about them either. I really really liked the one-on-one tours, because I felt like the personal tour guides are able to provide you with more details and from their point of view, they are able to provide you with a more insider perspective.
The only time I had to use a tripod was in Rio since I was with a group of people and the place was way more crowded than necessary.
Tours and transportation can be up to your discretion, however, I highly advise booking tours to see most of those majors sites (I’m a sucker for history, so they really hit a button when they get to talking about all the history of the sites). I would research what the standard transportation is for each country. Most, it seemed way easier to have transportation pre-setup. More of the larger cities have uber which is safe to use and cheap. Since I was traveling on my own and a short period of time, I was glad to have my tour guides showing me around. Otherwise, I’m usually all about taking local transportation and getting lost in the city for a bit. It’s the thrill of it all.
Wear compression socks and move your feet a lot while on these flights!! I had Achilles surgery back in July of 2021 and my ankle still wasn’t back to 100% by this trip, however, when I did wear compression socks, it definitely helped my foot coming off the plane. But when I didn’t wear those compression socks, boy did that ankle swell up! So be sure to stretch, rub out your feet/ankles, and keep the feet moving, especially the body for these long haul flights.
I signed up for the STEP program which is set up by the US government to send you alerts of the countries you are staying in and notify the local consulates of your stay. It sends you alerts of what is going on in the country and it is very helpful for my peace of mind and my family.
Before leaving, the one country I was truly the most worried about as far as safety goes-because I got the most alerts from STEP, was Peru. Yet, Peru ended up being the safest in my opinion and the nicest people. I felt pretty safe in most of the countries, and only worried about one (Jordan)- in which I shared my location with my family the whole time for safety reasons. Why was I worried about Jordan? Well, I was very close to the Syria border and Jordan is very desolate… not many people or things going on with the route I took.
I love the opportunity to explore and get lost in a city, I’m sad I didn’t get to do that this go around as much as I wanted to. But…it does give me a great excuse to go back to do just that. I also ended up with a great story to tell. Can’t beat that right?
Each country has their own way of telling their story and boy, do they have an amazing story to tell! So much history in each country I visited and I’m a sucker for a good history lesson.
If you have the Amex Platinum card or Priority Pass Membership don’t forget!!! Especially if you are planning to stay in the airports as much as I did! Use those lounges! They are free! Just check on openings and availability in each airport prior to departure.
I set out to see all the new 7 Wonders of the World as voted on by the world. However, there are so many other Wonders of the World out there that I still need to see and explore! My bucket list keeps growing with the things that I want to see and or do in the world. It’s a big big world people… and I’ve only hit a small fraction of it.