Woo woo...my next adventure is taking shape!
Last summer I was talking with a well traveled friend, and she mentioned boating in the Maldives with a group of friends, whom are also well traveled, adventurous types. I immediately requested info on this trip. After reviewing the website http://www.wavehunters.com/maldives-surfing/maldives_manta.asp, my deposit was made and my 2011 international destination was decided...the Maldives it is! Now time to research the Maldives....and get scuba certified....
Once the Maldives was decided, I knew I needed to add another destination considering I'm flying all that way. My friend mentioned trekking in Nepal prior to boating, however the trek is like a 20 day thing....I don't think that would fly with work and my vacation policy. Nepal will have to wait for a future trip. Then I began thinking about my "travel to do list", which India is up near the top. Considering the fact that the Maldives is an island in the Indian Ocean, a pit stop in India would make sense, right?!? Turns out a few others traveling with us had the same thought.
So now it's time to begin investigating flight options, which should hopefully be booked by the end of this week/early next week. Our thinking is that we will fly through London, play there for a night or two (some members of the trip live or have lived in the UK) and then fly to New Delhi and explore the Golden Triangle (Agra, Jaipur, & New Delhi) for about 4-5 days, then we will fly to Male. Some of this is subject to change depending on the flight options. We may have a flight connection in Sri Lanka and/or Dubai, which will alter how much time we stay at each destination, and possibly taking advantage of the opportunity to explore these connection locations.
While coordinating flight info. with my friend, she alerted me that I might need to renew my passport since it expires within 6 months of our travel time. Who knew some countries have an issue with this....well now you do! That is my top priority for next steps in the planning process. For those of you who need to know how to do this, here is all the information you might need: http://travel.state.gov/passport/forms/ds82/ds82_843.html
Ahhhhh this is actually happening!!!
