Since it seems that the routes of the past few seasons are marked by vague ~themes~ (islands in 25, ridiculous flights in 26, SPOILERS for 27) I figure why not have a fun one for 28.
START - Treasure Island, San Francisco, CAWith the first clue being video footage of the sprint to Fort Baker in TAR 2 a la 25.
Leg 1 - US to Ba Province, FijiSo I like 25's premiere being vaguely Survivor-like BUT I think we can do better - FIRE making, drinking coconuts, etc.
Leg 2 - Fiji to Melbourne, AustraliaI feel like this is a fairly reasonable hop, skip and jump ignoring the fact that it's an obvious destination. Bonus points for it likely being the first 'modern' Australia leg since Sydney 26 seasons prior; we've just hit a beach and we'll hit a desert eventually (spoiler)
Leg 3 - Australia to Chengdu, ChinaI want pandas and teams racing in darkness. Legs have been made with less.
Leg 4 - Chengdu to Muyu, ChinaI've found that, typically, the best structured (read: tasks, locations, transport, not dramas) Chinese legs are the more "traditional" ones - Guilin, Lijiang, and Kunming - so accordingly here's a random city in China you're welcome. ^_^
Leg 5 - China to Bukhara, UzbekistanThere's no travel advisory so I'm gonna allow it especially since the main component of the leg is a train ride-turned-bartering RB.
Leg 6 - Uzbekistan to Athens, GreeceI'm kinda hesitant about this leg since the Rome leg in That One Season is awful but I'd love a modern leg in Greece.
Leg 7 - Uzbekistan to Kisoro, UgandaWith pandas spoken for I figure it's time for gorillas and the traditional agricultural leg.
Leg 8 - Kisoro to Jinja, UgandaLogical next step I suppose.
Leg 9 - Uganda to Dublin, IrelandI seem to recall Ireland legs being like, really good so how about another? A Guinness or Bailey's Detour would be fun though it would probably prevent TAR from returning to Ireland lol
Leg 10 - Ireland to Milan, Italy to Lugano, SwitzerlandWhatever handwaving is required to get us to
here is appreciated. I envision them attempting to drive across the Italian / Swiss border though trains could be fun as well.
Leg 11 - Switzerland to San Juan, Puerto Rico, USBecause the leg in 7 with the golf and abandoned sugar factories with hours of operation (
) and all was really terrible and since then, Latin American endgame legs have been great. Also the idea of an island sandwich is great because it leads to
Leg 12 - Puerto Rico to Napa Valley, CA...a San Francisco sandwich lol. There's definitely a task involving wine, probably one about ballooning, cryptic clues and a final challenge involving an eating tour of the world (Sausalito cookies, Fiji water, vegemite, hot pot, Chinese tea, plov, baklava, coffee, honey, Guinness, chocolate, seafood salad, and wine). <3