After a six months break back in the Pacific Northwest to have total knee replacement and recovery, it’s time to get back on the road. We are excited to finish year ten of our Grand Adventure with a busy, but interesting itinerary that includes both some old favorites and some new to us destinations. Away We Go! 103 Days of Travel!

Ten Years

As we head out to finish our 2026 travels, we also are completing our tenth year of travel in retirement. Oh the places we have seen! If you have been following along…thank you. As we finish 2026 we also will be saying farewell to this blog. I have been writing this blog for FOURTEEN YEARS! It’s time to say goodbye at the end of 2026. However it’s not the end of our travels! We will continue to travel and share our adventures on Instagram. But for this upcoming 3.5 month itinerary…we will still be here sharing weekly travel posts every Friday.

What’s Next

To peak your interest and answer the most often question I get (Where are you going next?), here is our plans from August – December 2026 – 103 Days of Travel ;

New York City

7 Days Hotel

First stop a week in New York City to spend some time with our youngest son and his wife. On this visit we will try to see some of the hidden gems of the city, some places most tourists don’t go.

Greenland

8 Days, Partially Guided, Two Hotels

Long on my bucket list we will finally make it to Greenland. We have eight days and lots of wonderful things planned including iceberg spotting, kayaking and much more.

Denmark

4 Days, Apartment

From Greenland we head to Coppenhagen Denmark for a very brief visit with our cousins there as we regroup and head off to one of the most remote places we have ever been.

Svalbard

4 Days, Hotel, Two Guided Tours

I have been following a woman on Instagram for the past couple of years who lives on the tiny remote island of Svalbard near the North Pole. And I have been infatuated. Time to go see what we can see on a very brief visit.

Finland

Lapland 5 days, Hotel, Multiple Guided Tours

Helsinki 4 days, Hotel

Six years ago when we had to abandon our itinerary because of COVID, Finland (and the next three countries) were very highly anticipated destinations. Now we finally have them back on the schedule. We will spend ten days in Finland in Lapland and a few days in Helsinki.

Estonia

5 days, Hotel

We will cross the Baltic Sea on a ferry from Helsinki to spend five days in Tallin Estonia and the surrounding area.

Latvia

4 days, Hotel

It’s about five hours by bus from Tallin to Riga Latvia, where we will spend another five days exploring this beautiful area.

Lithuania

4 days, Hotel

Another bus takes us on to Vilnius Lithuania. We hear this area is stunning and fall is spectacular.

The Netherlands

Ten days, Airbnb, Day Trips by Train

Next we fly to Amsterdam. We have visited Amsterdam three times, but each time was on an overnight layover from the USA. Finally we are going to see it properly with a ten day stay. Our visit will include multiple day trips to cities in the surrounding region.

Egypt

6 days, two hotels, fully guided

Now this may seem odd to fly all the way to Egypt from Amsterdam BUT for ten years we have been hoping to visit the Grand Egyptian Museum. When we were in Egypt about 8 years ago, they said it would open the following year. Well, after more than twenty years in the making, this fantastic museum opened in late 2025. And we must go. We have a few other things we want to do while we are in the area, so stay tuned for more on all of that!

Switzerland

2 Days, Hotel

A quick two days in Zurich, a new to us city, as we leave Cairo and head to Portugal

Azores (Portugal)

28 days, Airbnb

We LOVED our month in Portugal in 2018, and have always wanted to see more. But this time we are headed to the Azores, an island group off the coast of Morocco that is part of Portugal. We will have an entire month to both relax and explore.

Back to NYC

9 days, Hotel, Thanksgiving with family

Then it’s homeward bound for the Christmas holidays. But before we do that, we stop back in The Big Apple for Thanksgiving and more with our son and his wife. New York during the holiday season has always been on my wishlist. Finally.

Come Along For the Ride Will You?

Will you come along for the ride? This trip is three and half months, mostly in cool or cold climates, and covers a wide range of natural, historical and delicious destinations. Four of these countries are new to us, and the rest we have visited before. I’ll be covering it all right here in the final few months of this MY FAB FIFTIES LIFE blog AND with daily posts on our series 103 Days of Travel on Instagram. Please follow our Instagram page.

Away We Go! 103 Days of Travel.

Thanks for reading my post Away We Go 103 Days of Travel and for following The Grand Adventure all these years. Let’s go out with a bang shall we? We are so appreciative when you comment, share and pin our posts. Thank you.

See last week’s post Walla Walla Washington to Hood River Oregon Road Trip