Looking for the next big trip

Hi.  My name is Julie and I'm addicted to traveling.  It's been 14 months since my last major trip and I'm itching for another.  Unfortunately graduate school doesn't provides much time for length vacations.  I'm at a point where 4 days off in a row is a big deal.

My new goal is to take six months off after I graduate and escape to far away lands.  Six months is a little long compared to the post-graduation breaks most people take.  The way I see it, opportunities to take a couple of months off between when I graduate and retire will be few and far between.  Also research has monopolized my school "vacations" for years and I just want so time off.

The itinerary for this adventure is still up in the air.  The top destination contender is language school in Mexico so I can pass the C2 mastery D.E.L.E. exam.  I'll settle for an intermediate fluency certificate but I'm shooting for mastery.  The school I'm looking into has campuses in several cities.  I'm planning to spend the first third of my course at the school in Playa del Carmen before completing the course in Guanajauto.  By splitting up the course a little I'll be able to experience beaches and mountains and the distinct cultures that accompany the two climates.

Ideally I want to include a 6 week trip to Australia in this 6 month odyssey.  The Australian tour I have planned crisscrosses the country/continent and will be one of the greatest organizational feats I've attempted.  I would start on the west coast before flying from Perth to Darwin.  From Darwin I would make my way south passed Uluru to Melbourne/Tasmania before working my way north again to Cairns.  This portion is highly dependent of the amount of money I can save between now and then.

If Australia doesn't come together, I will continue heading south, from Mexico, into Central and South America.  I would be a little sad to postpone Australia but I will have just finished a fluency certification in Spanish so the language barrier should be at an all time low.  I definitely have more potential contacts in the Americas than Oceania which has its own set of perks when traveling.


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Since I'm planning this trip to begin in a mere 20 months and have a substantial amount of money to save I am restricting myself on most forms of nonessential spending including: clothes, shoes, make-up, entertainment, etc.

My friends, please be understanding as my favorite Friday night activity becomes watching DVDs at someone's house.  I promise to send postcards from far-away places as thank-you's!