A Dream Vacation

This past week was school vacation throughout most of New England. With a bizarro snowfall Tuesday and Wednesday it gave the kids some fun outdoor time to play. As a teacher, vacation week is a double-edged sword. While it's great to get away, many of the places one might go are often crawling with children also on vacation, as well as the fact that it's much more expensive to travel during these weeks. I haven't been on a winter vacation since I was diagnosed with cancer seven years ago, nor any kind of flying vacation at any time of year, either. With no immune system an airplane or a cruise ship is the worst place to be with all the recycled air. But I can dream of where I'd like to go, and as a geography teacher I've gotten to know about all sorts of places, I may not be exposed to any other way.
The T-Shirt Lady, one of my etsy blogger team colleagues has asked us to write about a dream vacation, so I'm really going to dream! If money, time and health were of no concern, I'd love to take a cruise around the world! I love the water, so I'd rather cruise leisurely than fly to all the places I'd want to see, although day-hops and helicopters are not out of the question.

I'd travel from New York down the east coast, through the Caribbean and around Cape Horn, then up the west coast of South America, through the Panama Canal and over to Europe via the Atlantic and North Sea to visit Finland and the other northern European countries along the Baltic. Heading back toward the United Kingdom I'd go through the English Channel and around the Iberian Peninsula into the Mediterranean, with excursions into the Adriatic and Black Seas. We could take the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and along the eastern coast of Africa, loop around Madagascar and then travel through the island countries of the Indian Ocean on to Australia. To return home it would be a big loop around Australia, along the western coast of Africa and straight across the Atlantic back to New York or Boston. Of course this trip doesn't go everywhere, but it sure would be fun and give me all the water travel I could want!
So, who's with me? What would be your favorite stop on our trip? If I had to pick one it would be Italy.