Planning our Route
We knew planning an adventure like this was going to be a huge undertaking. Every time we sat down to discuss a starting point or try to make a list of must-see places, we (ok…mostly I, Ivy) would become overwhelmed and put it off for a few more days. This trend continued for months until we were cutting it close to the end of 2022 when we needed to make a decision. As you now know, we ended up settling on starting in Tokyo, Japan in early 2023.
One main goal for this trip around the world was to chase the best weather possible. No snow, no monsoon season, preferably a tolerable temperature of less than 100 degrees - were all boxes we were aiming to check off. We also planned on starting this journey within the first month of a new year (2023 ended up working out best for us). Based on our research, all of these points led us to starting in one of two regions: Central & South America or Southeast Asia. Starting off in Southeast Asia was the best choice for us, because this option would get us as far from home as we planned on going FIRST, then we could work our way west around the globe back to the USA.
Yes, I know… this still doesn’t answer the question of why we started in Japan. The answer to that question is simple: flights. After we decided to start in Asia, our flight search began. Most options were looking to be something along the lines of Pittsburgh to a city on the west coast of the USA, then from the west coast of the USA to a large airport hub in SE Asia such as Singapore. To be completely honest, we were hesitant to book an extreme long-haul flight. It is 17 hours from San Francisco to SE Asia and Andrew can barely survive sitting down through a 2-hour movie let alone a flight that long. This is what led us to Japan, a 12.5-hour flight from Chicago seemed more manageable. The only downside to this decision was that Japan does experience winter, but I will write more on this small factor later and how it affected what we packed.
After a few weeks of tracking flight options from Pittsburgh to Japan and not finding any great deals, we decided to hold off and wait because Andrew had an inkling there may be a deal over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. I was skeptical about waiting until the last minute, but it worked in our favor! United Airlines had an incredible deal for an award redemption: 50% off award flights booked with United Miles. This meant that we would be able to fly from Pittsburgh to Tokyo for 17,500 United miles + $5.60 per person (these miles were accumulated through the United Explorer credit card). When used properly, the world of credit card points/miles/rewards is extremely exciting and almost addicting when you find deals that suit you and where you want to travel to. Andrew is great at understanding this and will write a blog on the subject at some point.
As of now, our planned route can be found on our Google Sheet under the “Links” tab above. We are trying to keep up with planning out at least 2 weeks in advance so that we can make a list of activities we want to do while in a new place, foods we want to try, sights we want to see, etc. before arrival. After Japan we will be flying 7 hours to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!
-Ivy&Drew