Many retirees in Canada become 'snowbirds'. That is to say, they winter somewhere to the immediate south whether it be Florida, Arizona, or points in Mexico. In some ways, this mimics migratory patterns often found in nature.
Since Jay and I retired in 2014, we have also travelled during Vancouver winters to warmer locations. Yet, because we have been explorers during our adult lives, we frequently hit destinations far different than the typical points.
From mid-November 2024 through mid-March 2025, we are planning to venture forth again. Although we have spent years in some of the places included in today's image, we plan to spend most of our time in locations where we've never set foot.
Our active planning for this trip has been ongoing for at least a year. We retired so that we could devote a lot of time to researching about unexplored locations and that can be a lot of work. As a case in point, we've already found it necessary to change options for next winter and undoubtedly will again before our adventure begins. Yet, over the past couple of days, we have ironed out a number of important details, made reservations, and purchased additional tickets. We finally have both our departure and return flights although they're not roundtrip.
We'll have an initial, short stay in Dubai, a city very familiar to us. However, from there, we hope to visit at least four new countries and live for more than a month in two others!