For what it's worth, since I've been planning this trip for longer than most you have been alive; knowing where you are going and why, what you want to see, and what you want to avoid should make the ride more enjoyable. Having said that I also have to state firmly that when we begin there will be no real timetable except to avoid winter, and that if we decide to miss "A" and instead go see "B" there is no trouble in that. We have read everything we can find on each country, learned languages (even knowing that we can get along without them) and using other guides chosen those monuments, gardens, natural wonders, etc., that would be nice, but not vital to making the trip worthwhile. Sure it is great to say "Let's go on a really long ride and just see what comes up," but you might just ride right by something that had you known about it, would have been the highlight of the trip. In 1965, I rode right by the exit for an Airplane museum in Arizona right off what is now called I-40. For me, it was a cruel disappointment to know that I missed seeing it. Had I done just a bit of research, I would have known about it and gone there. By doing research I DID find the RAF Air Museum just a bit out of London and was there (planned for) on the day that visitors were allowed to sit in or tour some of the planes from WWII. Now THAT was a highlight. We know where Iquazu Falls is in SA, where the undergound churches carved in rock are in Ethiopia, and so on. Research and planning should let us die in our old age still looking at and sharing the photos and memories.

Joe