BOSTON TO LONDON
Q. I turned 60 this year and am determined to go on a special journey with my husband. We want to travel to Boston in May next year to see our son graduate from Harvard and also tour London and visit family in Liverpool.
We are not sure which route would be best to take, how much this journey will cost and how long we should plan to stay at each place, but we are eager to experience the best of the places we do want to visit. Your and advice will be most welcome. - Jenny PillayA. This has the makings of a wonderful adventure. New York and London are two of the world's most exciting cities - small wonder they are both eternally popular tourist destinations as well as places that anybody with even only a spark of romance and vigour would love to try to spend real time in - remember Samuel Johnson's famous if overused remark, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."
Boston and Liverpool are also vibrant, exciting cities - the latter especially so as it continues to reinvent itself after decades of decline as one of Britain's coolest places. (And I don't mean the weather, which, unfortunately, is often lousy.)As the transport is the most complex part of your question, I will focus on that. I would suggest doing the US leg of your journey first, starting with Boston for your son's graduation then moving on to New York and finally setting off for London and Liverpool.
Your first hurdle, however, will be the cost of your air tickets.
Since you will be flying to and departing from different destinations, buying a pair of return air tickets is not possible. One-way fares are almost always more expensive than return tickets - and you will be buying at least three each.
Delta Airlines and SAA fly directly to the US from Johannesburg. A one-way fare on SAA for departure on May 1 2018 will be around R14,000 per person.
If you are happy to make the long trek via the Gulf, you can get there for just R5,400 on Etihad Airways.To get between New York and Boston, I recommend using the Amtrak rail service. In both cities, use the subways - or Uber - to get around.You will then have to fly one-way from New York or Boston to London.
Welcome to the age of the really cheap long-haul flight - you can get to London Gatwick from New York for as little as R2,500 on Norwegian.
Go by train from London to Liverpool - advance fares are exceptionally good value. See The Man In Seat 61.
Finally, you will need to fly from London back home. The cheapest one-way fare is on Qatar at around R10,000.
These fares are just a guideline - use a travel agent for the best deal.To be doubly sure, though, I put your question to Flight Centre which confirmed that you would not require a transit visa.On another bureaucratic note, however, you may consider getting a valid yellow fever certificate and taking it with you.
While the certificate is not required for transit stays of 12 hours or less - a fact confirmed in this column in May - I usually advise caution when dealing with the whims of immigration and airport authorities.
Having had to jump through hoops in Tanzania recently over a discrepancy in my yellow fever certificate, I have since made it my policy to travel with too much paperwork rather than too little.Got a question for one of our experts? 
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