The craziest trip I’ve ever done.

First, before I start, I need to thank the best friends a guy could have. I was super torn when I started booking this trip, because as I’ve posted before I was really excited to have a few months at home with no travel to work on some things I’ve neglected these past few years of traveling. But the more I worked on the trip, the more awesome award flights I found, to the point that today it turned into the perfect trip. If I had more time (instead of 17 days) I could probably make it more epic, but as it stands I can’t think of a more amazing 17 day trip.

Thanks to all my friends who hammered it out with me, including my waffling if it was worth putting my fitness/etc goals on hold another 17 days. Conclusion reached tonight: IT IS!

So why is this trip so epic? By the numbers:

13 hours in All Nippon first class
10 hours in Thai first class, including 6+ in the A380
7 hours in Singapore Suites class, plus another 3 in Singapore first
13+ hours in Qatar first class on the A380, plus another 3 in regional first
15 hours in Emirates first class on the A380, plus another 6 in regional first
9 hours in Lufthansa first class

All told, that’s 80 hours in international first…and probably 10+ bottles of Dom/Krug/other super fancy champagne consumed.

That doesn’t even count the lounges:

ANA Suites lounge at Tokyo (nothing too fancy)
Thai First lounge at Bangkok (details on booking the spa? I’ve never had time before)
Singapore First lounge in Hong Kong (details? from what I remember it’s nothing special)
Singapore Private Room in Singapore (12 hour connection – I’ll probably go into the city for 6 of it)
Qantas First lounge in Sydney (first time – advice?)
Qatar First lounge in Doha (recommendations? what are the current bubbles on offer?)
Emirates First lounge in Dubai (first time – advice?)
Lufthansa First lounge in Munich (brand new – looking forward to checking it out)

Oh, and if that’s not enough, time in my favourite cities:

Bangkok: 24 hours overnight – was just there 7 weeks ago, so that’s enough
Hong Kong: 48 hours – tempted to go to Macao for a night, hear it’s changed a ton in the last 12 yrs
Sydney: 72 hours – one of my favourite cities in the world. I plan to just relax, drink lots of coffee, and chill
Johannesburg: 2×24 hrs – just lots of hanging out – try and meet up with some friends
Cape Town: 48 hrs – coffee, hike Table Mountain, lots of walking
Dubai: 24 hrs, hoping to see friends
Paris: 24 hrs: if I don’t walk 20+ miles it’ll be surprising.

So yeah, it’s insane, it’s epic, and I absolutely cannot wait! Over 44,000 miles, with nearly 40,000 of them in “real” international First. None of this United or American, or Saudia stuff. Please…I’ve been to all these places before, but definitely not all the lounges. I’d love to hear your recommendations!

Buckle your seatbelts, it’s hardly a week away!