Later this year marks our 25th Wedding Anniversary, a feat few manage to achieve in this day of less formal living arrangements and seemingly five-year renewal “contracts” between couples. :) But instead of some snazzy party or fancy doodads, we have decided to “cross-off” one of those things on our combined “bucket list”. The itinerary is set (by our favorite luxe/adventure purveyor A2A Journeys), our passports and visas are ready and the wallet is loaded up with savings set aside for special trips like this. My travel notebook of 18+ years still looks and feels great, a thin leather cover folding around paper thin sheets within. This notebook has recorded notes from trips through France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Japan, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and all sorts of places in between. I have just cleared it of previous notes to make way for this trip…
I have NEVER had to deliberate and vacillate about what to put in my luggage before a vacation as much as this trip. I actually packed 3 days ahead and it took SEVERAL hours. The problem? Temperatures that range from -5C to +30C. Altitudes from sea level to some 12,000 feet. From cosmopolitan settings to the most remote of places and circling back to this centuries version of a modern hacienda. Dinners in markets or globally recognized star restaurants. Add on to that a wedding in traditional piña barong on the way home, a necessary stop in one of my favorite cities in the whole world, New York, and through it all, size 11.5 hiking boots that weigh more than my suitcase. :) So from down, to water-proof pants, long underwear, sweaters at the one end, and formal wear elsewhere in the maletas.
So where are we headed? South America… Peru and Chile in particular on this trip. Stay tuned for more on the trip. Follow progress on instagram or @therealmarketman for snippets of the trip, and I will hopefully take enough notes and photos for future posts on this blog.
21 Responses
Mr and Mrs MM, a very happy and blissful 25th wedding anniversary to you! Wishing you all the best that this life can offer! Can’t wait to read your exciting posts! And the photos of course! Wishing you a very happy trip!
Congratulations on the 25th anniversary Mr and Mrs MM! Many more foodtrips and vacations to come.
Reminds me of a business trip I took some years ago where I had to spend 1 month in Florida at the client site (office clothes, December, 20C to 27C temperatures) and 1 month at our office in Utah (casual clothes, January, -5C to 5C).
Happy 25th wedding anniversary to you and Mrs. MM!!!
Have a safe and enjoyable trip!
Happy 25th Anniversary Mr. & Mrs. MM
My wife and I are also celebrating our postponed 20th Anniversary two week vacation in Europe.We postponed it last year due to work schedules.
We’re going to Barcelona, Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Monaco, Marseilles, Paris and London.
oh my. i’m excited
South America is totally in my bucket list too. <3 A very happy anniversary to you and Mrs. MM! :) Take care and enjoy every minute of it!
For your silver wedding anniversary, it would be felicitous if a layover in Potosí were part of your itinerary. Now a Unesco World Heritage Centre, that’s where they mined and minted the legendary silver coins made famous to young readers of Treasure Island where the parrot was always screeching, “Pieces of eight… pieces of eight…” shipped to Spain in vast quantities triggering galloping inflation, flowed into China through Manila destabilizing the Ming dynasty.
Llama steak looks and tastes like the meat of any other ruminant but I dare either of you to have a go at cuy.
Happy 25th Anniversary! Wishing you more years of wedded bliss, peace of mind, good health and gustatory delights always! :-)
Happy Silver Anniversary MM and Mrs. MM. Drink lots of coca tea to help cope with the altitude.
Hi Joel – here’s wishing you and your wife a most wonderful 25th year celebration in South America! May you have enough memories of a wonderful adventure for the next 25 years for your golden wedding anniversary! :). Take care and God bless!
Hope they get you acclimatized enough before your ascent to Machu Picchu or get your doctor to prescribe something for altitude sickness. A vice grip headache can be such a downer if not a very unpleasant experience.
A wonderful trip and happy 25th!
Finally took a couple of friends to the Megamall Zubuchon. The lechon has so much more flesh and crispy skin to savor than the cuy. We all loved it!
Happy 25th to you and the Mrs. We’ll be celebrating ours too in January.
Can’t wait to read about your trip!
Never miss the ceviches, cuy, and cherimoyas in Lima. Add Argentina to the list!!! The best steaks, pizzas, and dulce de leches.
Happy 25th Anniversary!
Hi Marketman! Happy 25th. I am diverting a bit from your post. I’ve read your post a few years back about lotus flowers. I was wondering if you could help me find them somewhere around Manila or in the surrounding suburbs. I’ve been trying to find flowers for my wedding, but to no avail. Your help could definitely help as the lotus holds a special meaning for me and my fiance. Thanks in advance.
Congrats Mr and Mrs MM. Safe travels.
Happy silver wedding anniversary, MM and Mrs. MM! Wishing you more happy ones and more awesome trips to come! ??
Happy Anniversary !
Happy Anniversary!!
Have a wonderful trip!
wow!!! the trips you take are simply amazing! thanks for sharing.
Hi MM, I hoped you had a great adventure in Peru and Chile. Funny, I saw the Columbia logo on the jacket and you mentioned hiking boots, thought you must be on a trip up high in the mountains.
Belated greetings on your 25th wedding anniversary. And may you have many more years of happiness together.