兩個家之間的風景／李明熙
還記得 5 年前隻身從德國騎 7 個月單車回港後，不少記者問我下一個夢想是甚麼？我沒有回答，不過我心中一直有答案。
夢想是一件非常個人的事，在我的定義上是「遙不可及，卻又在能力之內」，有時並不熱血，遑論改變世界這麼偉大。當年回來後的夢想，是要在下一趟長旅行跟我喜歡的人並肩而行，在路上有講有笑，分享所有感受。這個夢，從找一個熱愛旅遊的伴侶開始，到今天再次上路，用了 5 年時間去籌備。
Kim 是美國人，我來自香港，我們以想看兩個家之間的風景為藉口，去計劃這個旅程。我們會從費城出發，坐郵輪到英國，南下非洲，過南美，入古巴，再折返歐洲，坐西伯利亞鐵路回中國，以香港為終點。2017 年 9 月 1 日出發，2018 年 5 月底回港，歷時 9 個月，預計穿越 23 個國家。
一如既往，我們希望邊旅行邊賺旅費，所以一早寫下計劃書，四出找贊助，跟客戶討論後，分配各人在路上的工作量及時間表，寫文章、拍片、定時出 Post 分享，每週的工作量不比在家中少，但我們樂於在玩和工作之間取得平衡。
籌備中最困難的是簽證，持美國護照到巴西、古巴、俄羅斯等地都要簽證，申請方法朝更暮改，但不能在入境前過早申請，只能到時去領事館碰運氣。而持特區護照的，雖有不少國家免簽證，但要跟關員解釋「Hong Kong is not China」時，又要搬出一大堆歷史故事，費一番唇舌去說明。
不過，我們從不在路上看重順利，只在乎安全與否，所以早在 3 月已到旅遊健康中心注射疫苗，為冒險之旅打下強「身」針。
Home to Home Travel／Kimberlogic
#HometoHomeTravel will be a nine month adventure starting from my original home in Philadelphia, USA on 1 September 2017 and eventually finishing in Ming Hay’s original home in Hong Kong in May 2018. We want to see what is in between these places that we have come to know so well.
We will depart the USA from Brooklyn, New York aboard the Queen Mary II, on a transatlantic cruise. For two backpackers, we may stick out on this cruise as it is a very formal, elegant experience, but we are used to sticking out in a crowd and we both clean up quite nicely.
After the cruise, we will spend time in England, Scotland and Ireland. We are looking forward to self-driving in Ireland and if its not too cold, doing some hiking in Scotland. The last few days of our UK leg will be spent in London before we fly with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
From my months of research, I have fallen in love with Ethiopia. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to see the entire country, so we will just be spending time in the north, where the hottest place in the world is located and Erta Ale which is a volcano with an active lava lake.
We will then go to Egypt to see the rich history and the great pyramid, as well as the famous Nile river. From there, we will travel to Tanzania for a safari and try to attempt a land border crossing into Zambia to see Victoria Falls. After almost two months in Africa, we will head down to Cape Town, South Africa before flying to the continent of South America.
We start our South American leg in Sao Paulo, Brazil which is the biggest city in the Americas. We will stop a few other places in Brazil before crossing the Argentina border at Iguazu Falls. Argentina is a giant country with such diversity, we will spend a lot of our time here, going from one extreme to the next.
Next, we will cross into Bolivia, where the terrain looks like nowhere else on earth and we start climbing in altitude. At Lake Titicaca, the largest lake in South America, we will cross into Peru. In Peru, we will visit Machu Picchu and a few other places before ending our South American leg in Lima.
From Lima, we plan to go to Cuba before jumping the Atlantic Ocean again to Europe. A couple of months in Europe will take us to many destinations before stopping in Germany. We will hop over to Moscow, Russia and board the Trans-Siberian Rail. This train will take us through Russia and Mongolia and will drop us in Beijing, China. From Beijing, we will work our way through China and eventually end our journey at Hong Kong in May 2018.
This adventure has taken a lot of time and effort to plan. I have learned so much through my research and yet I still feel every place we go will surprise me. The best part about travelling is that you can’t plan for everything, whether it is good or bad, it is part of the adventure and we are so excited to experience and explore the world.
