Bird's Eye: Washington, DC

Isn't this an incredible image? We looked out the window on a stop over in Atlanta and spotted the US capitol. I marked some of the sites to make it a bit easier to identify what you're seeing.

Greenland from Above

Several years ago we went to East Greenland, which is probably the most sparsely populated place we've ever visited.

Flying from Iceland to the United States gave us an incredible view of Greenland and its icebergs down below. It also has one of the most stunning airport approaches and landings I've ever experienced. Although the water landings in the Maldives are right up there, too!

I've had a lot of the Singapore Airlines flight crew on my tours and I always love them. Some are from Singapore while others are actually from Malaysia. They have so much fun together and talking with the pilots is always so fascinating. They have funny quotes like, "if it ain't Boeing, I ain't going", because the planes are easier to handle.

According to the pilots one of the most difficult airports to land is in Kathmandu, Nepal. It makes sense since it is tucked into the Himalayan valley, but evidently the pilots have to corkscrew the plane both in and out, which is quite dangerous. Our experience at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu was intense, but only due to the most stringent search we've ever experienced.

Isn't it nice to see the world from above? It's quite beautiful and look at all of those icebergs!

Marrakech Menara

One of the prettiest airports I've ever visited.

Flight to Marrakech

Our flight to Marrakech was through perfect weather, which enabled us to see much of what was down below including:

The exact moments when we cross the Pyrenees mountains (where my family's dogs are from)...

When we left Spanish airspace and crossed onto the African continent.

Beautiful remote villages with very interesting topography. Incredibly this photo has only been color corrected.

The red buildings that are everywhere in Marrakech... and perfectly suited for some tilt-shift photography from the plane

Lufthansa Biergarten

I keep reading about the new biergarten at the Munich airport. It's partnered up with Franziskaner to offer beer and pretzel pre-flight for those traveling business class.

I'll stop by next week and let you know what it's like, because we're going to Paris.

Our home airport was recently even voted the best in Europe and the 4th best world wide. We're very lucky to have it, even if there isn't an express train into the city. I'm glad we live so close to the subway.

Munich to India

I'm not entirely certain how to go about writing the past 4 months... but I will start at the beginning.

We opted away from traveling anywhere that is theoretically accessible for a long weekend, or as a short trip, in favor of further destinations. We could have easily spent 4 months in one country, but our curiosity got the best of us and we wanted to see as much as possible.

There were plenty of things that we had to consider, as well as what to pack, and if we had the proper vaccinations and visas.

We then booked most everything in advance. Since we traveled with the Star Alliance around the world ticket, we were able to easily change dates for free and destinations for a small fee.

This does take some flexibility out of things, but it also provided us with a schedule. After researching the places we would visit we also booked most of our hotels ahead, which ensured us of having nice places to stay and an address to arrive at in each city.

In the end the planning ahead saved us an incredible amount of time and money while providing some extra luxury. After staying in over 35 hotels in the past year we definitely know what we like and what we don't... more about that later.

Since we are largely familiar with the US and Europe we opted to head East, beginning with our first stop in India. The weather during this time of year in Asia is also a key factor. We didn't want to spend our trip in monsoon season or in sweltering temperatures. We figured we would chase the nice weather around the globe and once it cooled off in Japan we'd be heading South of the equator to New Zealand. Mother Nature always has a few tricks up her sleeve, but considering we were spared natural disasters we fared pretty well.

In the days before we left I wrote my preconceived notions of what things would be like in each place, just for comparison when we returned. I was curious how my expectations and ideas would change after visiting. We printed out our confirmations and tickets, laid out everything we'd be taking on our living room floor, checked and double checked, and before we knew it, it was time to leave. Stefan and I constantly looked at each other and stated time and time again, 'This is really happening.'

After our annual visit to Oktoberfest and saying goodbye to friends, family, and co-workers. It was wonderful to have a farewell celebration at the Käfer tent. The very next morning we were on our way.

The meals on the flight were cutely themed - for Oktoberfest and India. Stefan cherished his last Bavarian feast, while I enjoyed the vegetarian Indian option.

We arrived very early the next day (September 23rd) in New Delhi, India and just like that our adventure began.