Where do you plan to go in your life time?

I, Christian Bellingrath, have a lot of places where I want to go during my life time. When I turned 60, I started to work on this list. Please note, this list is not complete, I am still working on it.
I am 71 now and still have a lot of places I want to see. I moved to a 55+ community, where I do not have to worry about my pool and lawn. I had planned a lot of travel in 2020, but then Covid came and gave a stop to my plans.

River Cruises
I was on a half-day cruise on the nicest part of the Rhine river, from Koblez to Bingen last year. this is the part where most of the nice castles are. I still would like to go on a longer river cruise, on the rivers Rhone and Donube. i booked my first river cruise now, but it is different than planned. I will take a trip on the steps of Lewis and Clark on the snake river. More information in December as I will go in the middle of November, I know it will be rather cold for someone living in Florida, but it is a wine-themed cruise and was offered at a good price, so I took it.

Transatlantic Cruise

I travelled transatlantic in February of 2011 on the Southern Hemisphere on the Queen Mary 2 from South America to Capetown, but still I plan to go on the Northern route also. I am flying to London on September 25th and will sail on September 29th on Queen Mary 2 to New York. I decided to stay a couple of days in London as I have not been there for about 25/30 years. When I am back, you will read about my experience. The first crossing from Montevideo to Cape Town was a great experience and AM2 was very stable. Really relaxing.
I can check this off now, in summer of 2012 my wife and I went on this trip. It was great.

Cruise around the British Isles
I know Southern England, but I have never been in Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. In less than two weeks I can get a good overview and know then, where I want to spend more time.
I can check this off now too, in May of 2015, my wife and I went on Queen Mary 2 for Cunard's 175th anniversary. This was a great trip and I am working on a separate page about this. The British Isles is a great place to go with a lot of variety.

Western Mediterranean Cruise
I have been already on the Eastern part (where I had a change to see Rome, Rhodes, the pyramids in Egypt, and more. I will be back in October on Queen Victoria with a group from Venice to Rome, but I habe never been on the Western side.

Holy Land
I had originally wanted to go to Israel for my 50th birthday, and I went a couple in 2009 on Queen Elizabeth on a cruise that stayed for two days in Israel. I always wanted to see the area, where Jesus lived and preached and follow his footsteps. But, I plan to go boack.

South America
I have seen Brazil and and Uruguay (Montivideo) on QM2 on the first segment of the World Cruise in 2011, but I want to see more, esspecially Argentina and to go around Cape Horn. But before I take a cruise around Cape Horn, my wife and I will fly to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. We love Montevideo and we have heard so many good things about the Ricoletta and Palermo areas of Buenos Aires. We are travelling with friends in October 2012 for two weeks.

South Africa
From South Africa I have seen Capetown, when we stayed for two days on QM2 as part of the World Cruise. My wife wanted to fly back soon to see more, but I hated the flight back, it took us over 28 hours back home, first to Amsterdam, then to New York and then back to Tampa. The Shanty Towns along the interstates for miles and miles were not the best impression, but the wine country was nice and the Table Mountain was really impressive.

Asia
I want to see China, Japan, India, and Thailand. Maybe some other countries also. I have not decided yet.

Australia (again)
Ten years ago I went for a BBQ contest to Australia for a week. It was really great, only the flight is really long. At that time my Delta miles did not help me as Delta was not flying there. I plan to save miles to go business class the next time.

Southern Pacific Islands (Bora Bora, etc.)
Originally I had planned to go for my 60th birthday with my wife to this destination. Then I changed my mind, I invited my children and my mother to a cruise on the new Epic from NCL, I believe we will have a great time there - I will go there later.

Southern France / Northern Spain (Basque Country)
I have been in the Spanish Basque Country on business trips several times 25 to 35 years ago. This is an area of great food and an interesting landscape - but it rains there quite often. My wife knows the French side well, she spent a lot of time as a teenager there, as she had a pen friend, she has not seen for over 35 years now. My wife and I will go now this October with friends who speak Spanish to the Basque Country and Galitia - but also go to Southern France.

Go where Martin Luther lived, Wartburg and more
This is the famous castle, where Martin Luther was hiding from his enemies. Although I am from Germany and lived in Germany until 22 years ago, I never went there as it was located at that time in the Eastern part of Germany, and travel to the East was only possible in the last two years I lived in Germany, when the communist regime relaxed travel to tourist from the free Western Germany. I never took the time to go, I spent most of my vacations in Florida or went to Italy.
I am planning to organize a trip to Germany for this and may combine it with going to the places where Bach lived. Interested? Send me an e-mail or call me at (813) 992 - 0502.

A Queens Grill Suite on the Queen Mary II, my favorite ship
I have been three times on the famos QM2 in a balcony cabin. I just booked an interior cabin for the first segment of the world cruise next year. Of course I would have loved to travel in a suite, but the Queens Grill was out of my price range. For a shorter cruise at a time, when not too many people want to book, I will find a great deal again. I found two transatlantic crossings where the deal for Queens Grill was great, but I could not go. So I wait for another opportunity.

Cruise on the Yachts of Seabourn
I really want to go on one of these small luxury cruise ships. They offer from time to time cruises in the low two thousands, which is not cheap, but they offer great food and more is included than on other cruise lines.

Cruise on Regent Seven Seas
This is the really "All-Inclusive-Cruise", even shore excursions (with few exeptions) are included, also most wine, beer, etc. Of course a hot-stone massage or the money you loose at the Casino is extra.

Cruise around Cape Horn
I do not want a too small cruise ship for that as the waters around the cape can be pretty rough. I went to the cape as the final port of the first segment of the world cruise on QM2 in 2011, but not any further. I plan to do that at a later date.

I will work on this list soon and talk about more areas I plan to go to, not just cruises.

Christian Bellingrath

Just sit down with a pen and a sheet of paper and try to figure out, where you want to go.

You can reach Cruise Planner Christian Bellingrath at 813-992-0502 or by e-mail at