We have a public Google calendar up with the rough itinerary for our trip, and lodging plans. This is subject to change on the road of course, but it helps to visualize the trip.

I’ve been up past midnight every night these last few weeks planning, e-mailing, researching, and I’ve thought a lot about how a trip like this comes together. This is our second or third time booking an international adventure.  It seems like every time, at first the dates and itinerary look impossible, you’re overwhelmed by the options, the distance, the blizzard of information on the net.  You have no idea how you’ll fit together the puzzle pieces of the days, weeks, and destinations you want to see, and match it to budget, safety, and flexibility.  But then, gradually, with enough work and discussion and consideration, a plan emerges and starts to lock into place.

It’s still hard to figure out how much to book in advance, and how much to leave to the last minute.  On the one hand, we want some flexibility in the itinerary, and the ability to extend a stay we’re enjoying, or shorten a dud.  But on the other hand, it might be better to do the research and make the bookings up front. I will not have these research tools at hand once I’m on the road. The Lonely Planet guide, good as it is, just does not compare to the power of Google and the Trip Advisor forums.

So we’re erring in favor of a lot of pre-booking.  Fortunately in Kenya and Tanzania most places are willing to take an e-mail booking with no exchange of funds, so last-minute changes or cancellations are still possible (though unfortunately, a flip side of this is the oddity that most places charge a per-person, not a per-room rate).

Links to a lot of the places we’re staying are in the details of the entries on our Google calendar.

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