Epic Travels: Summer 2013

Stay tuned for updates on this trip.
Around the world in 93 days.

Here's the back story:

A Mexican cousin of mine studied abroad for a semester in high school, at a school which happened to be a stones throw from my parents' house.  Her parents visited at the beginning and end of the trip to see her off and pick her up, during which our families got a little closer, sharing dinners, shopping at U.S. malls for deals, even seeing a 3D movie together.  Angel, her father, a Spaniard who married into the Mexican side of my family, is damn proud of his Spanish heritage.  So much so that he invited my family of 4 to join his family of 4 on an epic month-long guided tour of the country.  My parents have never been to Europe (except for very recently my mom went to London).  So this will be great - great to know family even better, to perfeccionar mi español, and to have an expert (and architect!) show off Spain to us this July

As this unfolded, my sister was contemplating leaving her corporate job to do something meaningful with her life.  She figured out that a friend of a friend was working on a social entrepreneurship project in India.  So she quit her job and flew to India in January.  She's got a blog.

In December she was thinking of spending an in-between month in Thailand, travelling.  My thoughts were twofold. As a slightly protective older sister: I don't want to you to travel in Thailand alone.  And as a travel-lustful person: I don't want you to travel in Thailand without me!  So we're spending a month in Thailand together.  And since she'll be in India, I also booked the 3 weeks before the month to check out New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Mumbai.

As we were buying tickets back from Spain to Chicago, it was evident that having a layover in Ireland was cheaper than coming directly back to the U.S.  ...So this turned into a 10 day trip that includes my sister's friend meeting us there.

The end.  Or should I say...The beginning.