• Whitewater kayaked in Turrialba
• Hiked in Monteverde Cloud Forest
• Learned to surf in Malpais

• Joined mountaineering expedition with Hamilton College Outing Club
• Climbed four peaks over 15,000 feet, summited Cotopaxi (19,342 ft), world’s highest active volcano

• Hiked in national parks around Santiago (El Morado & La Campana)

• Trekked Inca Trail (four-day) to Machu Picchu in the rainy season

• Eco-trekked through caves and jungle around Chiang Mai, slept in Karen village and jungle
• Scuba dived on island of Ko Tao

• Took shallow, flat-bottom speed boat ride down the Mekong
• Spent ten hours on the top of a slow ferry headed to southern islands

• Visited Angkor Wat by moped & bicycle
• Accompanied Phnom Penh moto driver to weddings in his home village
• Returned by overloaded ocean ferry across border to Thailand in very rough seas (scariest travel experience)

• Hired car and driver for tour of Rajasthan
• Camel trekked in Jaisalmer, slept out alone on dunes
• Saw tigers in Ranthambore National Park

• Rode and bathed elephants on a Chitwan Jungle Safari
• Trekked for 21 days around Annapurna range in the Himalayas

• Visited botanical gardens, night zoo & Raffles Hotel

• Scuba dived in Borneo paradise: Sipadan Island, a protected wildlife refuge
• Slept in jungle tree house
• Visited orangutan rehabilitation center
• Summited Mount Kinabalu for dawn

• Scuba dived at Liberty Wreck and Deer Island
• Went dolphin-watching at dawn
• Discovered a mountain garden bungalow paradise

• Visited in-laws (my husband is British) and went hiking in the Peak District

• Explored Cairo (including falling for an obvious scam at the Pyramids!)
• Took the train to Luxor for sightseeing: temples, Valley of the Kings
• Sailed on a felucca down the Nile for sunset
• Seventeen-hour bus ride to Sinai for scuba diving in the Red Sea

• Hiked and toured around Cappadocia’s sandstone cave villages, monasteries, and eight-story underground cities
• Climbed a mountain in Eğirdir and came down in a military compound
• Visited Ephesus & other ancient ruins around Selçuk

• Visited numerous cities/regions, including Barcelona, Granada (the Alhambra), and Madrid

• Visited friends in Naples & toured Pompeii
• Toured Rome intensively on foot and public transportation

Read the e-mail travel reports I sent home along the way,
full of stories and highlights.