Around the world annually

Many people say they’ve been around the world, but it may have taken them 30 years to do it. I’ve been making a ’round-the-world (RTW) trip almost yearly for decades.

Due to a broken leg suffered in 2009 in Holland, I couldn’t finish my trip that year, and I didn’t do it in 1982 due to a death in the family, but I’ve taken a RTW trip most other years, touring Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Asia… .

Special around-the-world fares save money, and many people don’t know about them. After Delta Air Lines first advertised RTW fares, I dealt with them for several years until American Airlines (A/A) offered the same. I’ve been using A/A as my initial carrier for 20 years; it belongs to One World (New York, NY), an alliance of several international airlines. 

I also use British Air (B/A) and am very fond of their service and planes. Cathay Pacific (C/P) is fine also. 

I get all air directly from A/A’s Round the World desk (800/247-3247). American has given me exceptional service, and for some time I’ve had the same two women help me: Sara Mills and Meredith Titus. (Sara just retired, but I still ask for Meredith or, now, Rebecca Harrison.) I can give them my itinerary and they tell me if it’s possible with the number of stops allowed on each continent.

I refuse to buy an extra ticket, so I confirm up to 16 stops (including the flight home), all in the same direction, unless the airline allows a change.

A sample would be my 2012 trip: Naples to Chicago to New York (3 days, A/A); New York to London to Switzerland (3-4 days, A/A); Switzerland to Cairo and Amman (4 days, B/A); Cairo to Dubai (4 days, B/A); Dubai to Bangkok (5 days, B/A); Bangkok to Hong Kong (6 days, C/P); Hong Kong to Bali (4 days, C/P); Bali to Hong Kong to Tokyo (4 days, C/P); Tokyo to Chicago (4 days, A/A), and Chicago to home (one day, A/A).

I always travel business class, as it’s very comfortable and I have some long flights. (The one from Tokyo to Chicago takes 13 hours.)

When I first started, a RTW trip cost $5,000 to $6,000. In 2013 it cost over $12,000, but if I used segmented travel it would have cost nearly $25,000, which shows what you can do.

Flying in business class internationally also allows you access to the airport lounges, which are great stopover resting spots, and stopovers can sometimes be for hours.

The lounges have lovely snacks and drinks and, of course, restrooms, plus some have showers, which are especially nice for business travelers. (I do have business in New York, Lausanne, Hong Kong and Tokyo, so they are always included in my trips.)

I’m 89 now, as of March. After age 85, I began selecting wheelchair accommodations, given FREELY by all the airlines upon request. I can walk well but can’t stand in Customs lines for what might be an hour or more. In a wheelchair, you are whisked right through and also given help collecting your baggage from the carousel. Then you’re on your own again.

I secure most of the hotels, myself, but there are five that require going through a travel agent, including the Ayodya Resort Bali, the Mövenpick Hotel Lausanne and the InterContinental Cairo Semiramis. For those, I have my travel agent contact Travel Bound (New York, NY; 800/808-9541), which, itself, deals only with travel agents (providing commissions to them).

I’ve used Travel Bound for over 30 years. They usually have good terms, and I like the fact that breakfast is often included in the room rate — so convenient, and usually it’s a lovely buffet that precludes having to stop for lunch. (When traveling, I carry a snack or two for lunchtime and later have a good dinner.)

One thing I learned is “less is better.” I check one bag, a 29-inch Samsonite roller, and have my purse in hand. Traveling this way is quite possible for a 42-day trip, even though I must wash things out as I go.

My travels started with my first flight, going from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Chicago. I was 22 years old, and what a wonder it was — an old DC-3 in which you walked up the aisle at a tremendous incline. But what lovely, squared-off fields below! I was hooked. 

At the places I go around the world, June and July have the very best travel weather. That’s monsoon season in parts of Asia, but it’s very tolerable, and it can be quite hot then in the Middle East (110°F or more).

In well over a million miles, I have had a bag lost only once, for three days.

About 25 years ago in France, I had my wallet stolen from my purse by pickpockets, but I was very agile then and chased them. Luckily, the wallet fell from their pant leg and I got it back. Now I wear a “fanny pack” in the front, and it’s secure.

I do have my favorite spots. Never ever have I tired of Hong Kong. There is always something new to see, so I usually spend the most time there.

Also Dubai. I’ve gone there since the end of the Gulf War in 1991, when there was only ONE hotel, the Hilton on the beach. Now there’s hardly an inch of space not used.

Although I think of all of Switzerland as beautiful, I most enjoy taking the drive from Lausanne to the city of Vevey — all very French, of course. It’s a beautiful drive, looking beyond at France and the snowcapped mountains across the lake. It’s also possible to take a boat down and back — a real treat, especially for people like me who live in flat Florida.

In June 2012 I left Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday before “all hell” broke loose on Friday. I’d walked all over Tahrir Square. The rear of the InterContinental hotel faced the square not far away, and I would sit on my balcony and watch all the horrendous traffic, but it was very quiet during my stay.

In 1969 I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, when racial tensions between Malaysians and ethnic Chinese erupted into violent riots. The Swiss got us out on an old, canvas-covered Fokker plane, taking us almost as far as Singapore. So you can run into exciting experiences, yet I’ve been treated very well everywhere I’ve ever been.

I’ve found that people in most other countries are very curious about Americans, especially in China, where, if I sit along a main street or in a park, I soon have people gathered, looking at me, talking to me and questioning me (if they can) about life in the US.

I returned on July 17, 2014, from my latest RTW trip — six weeks. That’s my 35th RTW trip since 1955, with visits to a total of 110 countries. I have made many friends. I wish everyone was as lucky as I’ve been to see and do all I’ve done.

With all of its problems, what a wonderful world I’ve seen.

VIRGINIA SHANNON

Naples, FL