Leaving tomorrow for a month-long European tour

My bucket list includes travelling to at least 200 countries all over the world, from Australia to Zimbabwe, and to all the 50 states of the USA from Alaska to Wyoming, from Hawaii in the west to Maine and Massachusetts in the east, and from Washington in the north to Florida in the south. I'm lucky to have friends, relatives, and clients always ready to fund my annual peregrinations. Travelling is a lot of excitement, and highly educational. For those who have the means, I highly recommend travelling. I have already traveled across the Philippines, from Batanes to Tawi-tawi. It’s high time that I visit Europe again. Twenty-one countries in 30 days is hectic but fun.

Last year, it was a US tour from San Francisco to New York, Florida, Las Vegas and Seattle. This year it is a European tour, 21 countries in 30 days. My wife and children will travel to Portugal for the Fatima pilgrimage and to France for the Lourdes religious visit, then to the Vatican to see the Pope and look again at Michelangelo's famous paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. We shall visit Assisi, the place of St. Francis, and see the Leaning Tower of Pisa again. Albeit destroyed by fire, the Notre Dame Cathedral has been restored. And we shall climb up to the middle of the Eifel Tower in Paris.

It will be a long land trip from Lisbon, Portugal, to either go south through Seville, or to go north through Porto but either way we will end up in Madrid, Spain. Then we cross the border to France where we shall linger for some days, before travelling to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. But of course, not before we visit the triumvirate tiny nations of Benelux or Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. For a week, we shall go to Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, very cold but worth all the efforts. Then we go to London, the heart of the United Kingdom, where we shall visit Buckingham Palace where Queen Elizabeth resides, with Filipino members of the royal staff.

Then we go Western Europe, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine, then tiny Belarus with the smaller Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The kids are excited to see the royal palaces, the majestic castles and the historic cathedrals, churches, and museums. But actually, I have some work to do in the sideline. I need to meet the first wife of Sheik Abdul, the multi-billionaire who asked me to settle his estate before he succumbs to stage-4 prostate cancer, in four to five months. I need to meet some European lawyers and accountants who are trustees of Abdul's properties, so that I could make a proper inventory of all his assets.

I have to work while we travel because Abdul is picking up the tab and is funding this journey. I am not a rich man but I have rich friends who make me travel and work at the same time. My bucket list is full of many exciting things to accomplish and discover. I shall keep you posted and will share with you the fun and discoveries.