Travel Plans for 2020

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We've been working on our 2020 travel plans over the past few months. We rarely use travel agencies so we've been doing quite a bit of trip homework. This means reading travel articles, checking lodging and destination reviews, looking up museum hours, seeking information on private and volunteer local tour guides, making car rental reservations and researching cruise, train and airline schedules. 

Wherever possible, we use frequent flyer points for business class air travel. Thus, our air itinerary is generally not ideal, sometimes requiring additional hours of air travel and an overnight at an airport hotel. The benefits have been worth the trouble as we gain access to comfortable lie-flat seats for long international flights, are able to use airline lounges for layovers and avoid the high dollar costs of an international business class ticket. These frequent flier seats are not without cost as they often come with fees and taxes that can easily run $500 per ticket.   

Egypt and Jordan - MOVED TO 2022
This destination has been on our bucket list for some time. We struggled a bit trying to determine when is the best time for a visit to the Middle East. We continue to keep an eye on weather and political climate.This 17-day trip will start in Cairo, cruise up the Nile River from Luxor to Aswan and continue on to Jordan to visit Petra, Jerash and Amman.

For this trip, we have a both "cancel for any reason" and medical evacuation insurance. The "cancel for any reason" trip insurance is more expensive and is limited to reimbursing only up to 75% of total trip costs.

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Key West, Florida - COMPLETED!!!
Our previous Florida trips were focused on Orlando resort destinations. On this trip, we'll be southern Florida first-timers, visiting the Everglades National Park, Key Largo, Key West, Dry Tortugus National Park, West Palm Beach and South Beach. In keeping with Florida history, we've included a visit to the Flagler Museum - the former Glided Age estate of Henry Flagler, one of the founders of Standard Oil Company.





Mediterranean Cruise - from Civitavecchia to Athens - CANCELLATION PENDING
In the fall, we'll fly to Italy and spend several days in Florence. We've rented an apartment through ItalyPerfect that will serve as our home base. From this central Florence location, we're within walking distance to museums, restaurants, food markets, bus stops and rail station. We rented a Rome apartment a few years ago using ItalyPerfect and were pleased with our accommodations.

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We spent a day in Florence several years ago. This time, we'll have more time to explore the Accademia Gallery and Uffizi Gallery as well as view other city sights.  We've even pre-arranged a tour of Florence and Tuscany via Vespa scooters. 

From Florence, we'll take a train to Civitavecchia and continue on a cruise ship. This two-week cruise itinerary will include stops in Naples, three Greek islands and Israel with a final disembarkation in Athens.

With 2020 travel plans just about complete, we're already starting to schedule 2021 travel which could include Hawaii and Japan.