Hello!! It’s been two and a half years since we returned from our around the world trip and I made my last blog post. During that time we got two new knees (Mike, not me), took two three-month RV tours around the western United States

and three trips to Mexico. We have also logged lots and lots of miles on our bicycles.

What’s next you might ask? We are taking off for a fourteen week European summer so I have decided to reactivate our travel blog to share our adventure. We are breaking out the backpacks and passports to continue our world travels.

We are going to begin our trip with something completely out of the ordinary for us, a Viking River Cruise. Later this month we fly to St. Petersburg Russia for a two-week river cruise to Moscow. We don’t have much experience with cruising so we are not sure exactly what to expect. Viking River Cruises get high reviews so I am sure we will have a great time but it will be quite different from our usual travel experience.

As budget travelers we are used to staying in very moderate hotels and hostels. We like that kind of accommodation because we get to meet local tourists rather than other foreigners. Our cruise ship looks quite grand and is much nicer than we are used to.

We travel with only backpacks so we don’t have many clothes, we just wear the same things over and over (following our blog, I am sure you have noticed). Our theory is if we keep moving nobody knows how few clothes we have. We may be underdressed on the cruise.

One of our least favorite times is getting away from airports. It’s always a crush of people and somewhat confusing. We never know what is a fair price for a taxi or if we are being taken advantage of.  For the start of this trip we will be the ones with someone at the arrival area holding a sign with our names on it.  We will have a car waiting for us.  How luxurious is that!

Our tentative route for the summer is the Russian cruise, a cycling trip in Northern Spain and then Portugal, Morocco, Southern Spain, Southern France, Italy, Greece and then who knows. We are not sure how far we will travel but I hope you will continue to follow along with our blog.