opushomes

It took the better part two entertaining days to get through this one. Marsha and I agree with your assessment that Knysna is the place to go between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth based upon our limited time in South Africa.

Time for me to buy on your next stop in PDX.

Madone59

What a great TR, it literally has everything!!!! Thank you for sharing, I am supremely jealous of your flight memory map

ExpatSomchai

Fantastic report and given me a few new idea's to contemplate. Thank you

freecia

Thank you for another epic trip report! I enjoyed part of it while eating steak, medium rare, and a good salad. For all that Emirates First offers amazing experiences in the air, well, the SeaPort Skagway to Juneau flight really topped it. That's really something special on an already excellent trip. So glad you didn't bin the trip report before the end.

How's your back doing? Have you considered switching to a spinner suitcase to reduce arm and back strain? It might be worth the reduced packing space.

mosburger

Classic trip reports that would stand their own also as a printed and published travel tale.

Especially love the train segments, something magical about this noble means of travel still, and well put into words.

lamphs

I can't imagine how many hours you have in this report! In the past 2.5 years, I have completed a US->SE ASIA in F; a US->IST & SE ASIA in C/J; and a RTW in F. I have always meant to write post a report as FT has given me so much information, but when I get into it, the time gets the better of me. This is simply a fantastic report!

You have inspired me to pursue a Amtrak trip in the Midwest/west - something I have always considered, but it is a go now. Thanks!

ss278

As always, sir, a masterpiece! Thank you. I look forward to your continued adventures.

lb8001

I join the many others here in thanking you for a hugely entertaining TR - a complete pleasure to read!

Seat 2A

Knysna is quite the gem, isn't it? It makes a good base of operations for a lot of interesting places within 50 miles, so having a car this time was a big plus.

Should you ever make it out across the river to PDX, it'd be nice to catch happy hour at Stanford's sometime. Here's hoping you and Mrs. B. have some great travels to look forward to in 2016.

Thank you, Madone. That flight memory map has benefitted from some great air travel deals back in the 70s and 80s such as Eastern Airlines' Unlimited Mileage Fares as well as my having been a participant in United's 50 State Marathon which allowed me totally free First Class travel within the 50 States system wide.

Thank you, ExpatSomchai. Good luck with the new ideas!

Of course there's no guarantee the pilot will choose the mountain route when flying SGY-JNU but however you go, you'll be in for scenic treat. BTW, the JNU-SGY route is now being operated by Alaska Seaplanes per schedules published on Travelocity.

Thank you, mosburger. As a member of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, I'm all about seeing Amtrak do well. It's gratifying to read that my reports might inspire a few people here to consider a journey by rail. It's a great and relaxing way to SEE the country while meeting some interesting fellow travelers along the way.

Thanks, Steve! I reckon I've got at least 200 hours invested in this trip report. But then as one who works seasonally these days, it's likely I have more time available to me than do many of you.

As for Amtrak, here's a few pictures in a report I published a couple summers ago. The route was Denver to San Francisco to Portland to Havre, Montana.

ALL ABOARD: A Photographic Rail Adventure Through The American West
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...eferrerid=6135

Thank you, kind sir. I hope your health has improved and that you've got some interesting travels to look forward to!

jtav559

Wow. Just wow.

Seat 2A, you have blown me away with the diversity of travel types and destinations, the prose and commentary, and some AWESOME photos!

I feel like I have learned alot from this TR in a practical sense. It is always refreshing to see how other travelers go about it.

Being a California native, I now have a strong desire to take Amtrak along the west coast corridor and enjoy some of the views along the way (I have only taken Amtrak from Fresno to Sacramento in years past, so I think that is a easy benchmark to best when it comes to train travel).

And, with the kit you have, sleeping in an airport may not be that bad.... I might just give it a whirl sometime if the need arises and I must choose between that or a hotel room for a short night.

Both South America and South Africa looked amazing. What wonderful views!

I do agree with you sentiment on how to go about writing a TR. One post and publishing vs incremental updates. As you so accurately described, I too have fallen into the trap of incremental updates only for life to get in the way of finishing the report. So for a trip to Europe in March I will employ your style, hopefully it allows me to craft a better post!

Thanks for taking the time to share your travels and experiences. Very impressive.

Fredrik74

As always a very interesting read. I will fully admit to occasionally losing focus but since the different sections are clearly marked I always find my way back to the report.

I must say reading about your adventure in Kansas City made me think that could have been me. Rather than asking strangers if they are the ones I'm supposed to meet I would just stay quiet and then pretend it was no big deal. I hope you didn't feel disappointed about the whole thing.

ss278

"...Thank you, kind sir. I hope your health has improved and that you've got some interesting travels to look forward to!"

It has, thank you. Just returned from three weeks in Andalucia, my first trip in a long, long time. Looking forward to getting back at it, though I will never come close to matching you!

krazykanuck

Truly a fantastic read, as your previous ones have been. I love the throwback photos and anecdotes, especially for readers like me who weren't alive to fly "back in the day" before deregulation.

Your Emirates F photos only helped whet my appetite for my recently booked EK First class flight (using Alaska miles of course). I used to live in New Orleans so I enjoyed the photos from the trains around there.

For the record, I believe it took me about 6 drinks over 2 nights to get through this TR.

BigEyedFish

Wow - just wow! Haven't been able to do anything else all day but come back to this epic trip report - I'm in awe of your trips!

Seat 2A

Since joining Flyertalk, I’ve submitted seventy-three trip reports totaling over 1.1 million words. It's funny but outside of Flyertalk only a small handful of friends and family claim to have actually read my reports in their entirety and most of them are politely evasive when asked whether they liked them or not.

In Flyertalk I have an audience populated with intelligent, experienced air travelers who not only appreciate a quality premium class experience but – amongst a significant number – are also willing to read or even write specifically about those experiences.

So to all of you who've bothered to muddle your way through most or all of the 70000+ words and 400 pictures that comprise this report, I’d like to extend a big Thank You! to you all! Your readership is extremely gratifying and very much appreciated.


Thank you, all the more so given the amount to read.

Not at all. I've never been at a loss to entertain myself regardless of locale, so I just turned the page and moved on to the next chapter. That said, it would have been nice to have met everyone, so next time I may post what I'm wearing in advance.

Thank you, Mr. Fish! I'm fortunate to have the time to engage in travels of this scope, and grateful to have readers like you who take the time to read about them. ^^