it's countdown time

december 31st.. while most people are getting ready for the new year's countdown, i honestly didn't realize it was already new year's eve!

i do have a countdown of my own, though... exactly a month from today i'll be heading to fiji for my first stop on this RTW trip..

so it's "Tminus31" day for me..

here's a little (meaning long!) text i translated from portuguese..
i always read it when i need help through hard times and it actually motivated me to be where i am right now (and where i'm gonna be in the future):

--

change,
but begin slowly,
because direction
is more important than speed.
sit on another chair,
on the other side of the table.
later on, switch tables.

when you go out,
try to walk on the other side of the street.
later on, change the path,
walk other streets, take it easy,
paying attention to the places
you pass by.

take another bus.
change for a while your dressing style.
give away your old shoes.
try to walk barefoot a few days.
take a whole afternoon to wander around
free on the beach, or in the park,
and listen to the birds sing.
see the world through other perspectives
open and close the drawers and doors
with the left hand.

sleep on the other side of the bed...
then, try to sleep on other beds.

watch other tv shows,
buy other newspapers...
read other books,
live other romances.

do not make the habit a lifestyle.
love what is new.
go to bed later.
go to bed earlier.
learn a new word every day
in another language.
fix your posture.
eat a little less,
choose different foods,
new seasonings, new colors,
new delights.

try the new every day.
the new side,
the new method,
the new flavor,
the new way,
the new pleasure,
the new love,
the new life.

try,
find new friends.
try new loves,
begin new relationships.

have lunch in other places,
go to other restaurants,
drink other drinks,
buy bread in another bakery.
have lunch earlier,
have dinner later or vice-versa.
choose another market...
another soap brand,
another toothpaste..
take a shower at different times.

use different color pens.
go for a walk in other places.
love a lot,
more and more
in different ways.
switch your purse,
your wallet,
your luggage,
switch your car,
buy new glasses,
write new poetry.

dump the old watches,
gently break
these horrible alarm clocks.
open an account in another bank.
go to other movie theaters,
other hair dressers,
other theaters,
visit new museums.

change.
remember you only live once.
and seriously think about getting another job,
a new occupation,
a lighter work,
more pleasant,
more deserving,
more humane.

if you can't find reasons to be free,
make them up
be creative.

go ahead and take a relaxing trip,
a long one, if possible to an unknown destination.
try new things.
then switch again,
change again,
try again.

you will certainly find better things
and worse things than what you already know,
but it doesn't matter.
what matters is the change,
the movement,
the dynamic,
the energy,
only what is dead never changes!

i will repeat it for pure joy in life:
there is only salvation through risks,
and without it, life isn't worth living!

love is only a feeling

the darkness is (was) a great band from the uk, and i love them no matter how gay they sound.. (or look).

check this video out:







i first saw this video when i started planning for the RTW trip, and back then i did some research to find out where it was shot..

guess what? the blue mountains, a few miles west of sydney, and i'm *so* gonna go there!

point of no return

and i've done it.

for my christmas gift (but not really), i finally booked the flights for the 1st and 2nd legs of the trip..

and i made some (literally) last minute changes, basically changing the departure date from feb 2nd to jan 31st, and skipping auckland (new zealand) on the itinerary, so i have the whole week on the south island...

i'm planning on booking the 3rd leg flights on the 1st week of january..

happy ho ho ho!

oh, the aussies

so i was bored out of my mind 2 hours after i woke up on my day off, and i decided to try and call the australian embassy to find out what the hell was going on with my visa processing. i thought they were just gonna say they can't give me any information, but they actually can verify the status of the application and give you updates...

turns out they thought i was applying for a short stay business visa (god only knows why, since they're completely different forms and document requirements), and haven't come to a decision about it yet.. now it's fixed, but now it's christmas week and i'm assuming they'll just be lazy and won't pick this up until next year..

bad news is with other 5 visas waiting, i did not have any margins for delays, and this problem messed up all my visa schedule. i don't know what i'm gonna do now. i just don't.

what i do know is that i'm gonna stick to the plans and make this work out...

let the worries begin

it's been over a month since i sent the papers for the australian visa.. and i need them back so i can send them to the other embassies..
but i haven't heard back from them yet..

bad, bad timing, aussies..

i'm thinking i'm going to get the 3 visas for SE asia (laos, cambodia and vietnam) on their borders, since i'm not going to have time to apply for them here..

*awesome*

packing is a pain

i obviously haven't started packing yet, but i started looking for the ideal backpack, and little did i know that before i decide how i'm gonna carry all my stuff, i have to decide what stuff i'm gonna carry... duh.

apparently i'll need a whole new set of clothes and accessories, head to toes (literally).. i'm a planner and i'm a neat freak, so i want and i will pack light and as efficiently as possible without having to sell a kidney for it..

i was gonna get a huge backpack and have it checked in for every flight, but after a few hours of study i realized i'm better with a backpack about half the size, so i can carry it with me, saving time and worries (not so much money, though..)

research, research, research... i'm getting stressed.

ok, now it's for real

15 countries, 4 continents, 30+ thousand miles (50+ thousand km), at least 7 time zones, too many cities to count now, god knows how many people, tons of pictures...

about 6 months from now, that's what i'll have added under my belt...

rough planning is done, itinerary is decided, 'to do', 'to buy', 'to sell' and 'to ship' lists are made, documents and passport are on the mail to get the 1st out of 6 visas (australia, laos, cambodia, vietnam, india and egypt)...

here's the itinerary:

leg 1 (4 weeks):
LA - Nadi (Fiji)
to Auckland (NZ)
to Christchurch (NZ)
to Sidney (Australia)

leg 2 (6 weeks):
Brisbane (Australia) - Singapore
by train through Malaysia and into Bangkok (Thailand)
by land to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam
Hanoi (Vietnam) - Hong Kong

leg 3 (4 weeks):
to Delhi (India)
to Capetown (South Africa)
to Cairo (Egypt)
to Athens (Greece)
to Madrid (Spain)

it begins on february 2nd and it ends (or begins again?) on may 18th...
roughly a week for each country, except for australia (2 weeks), hong kong (4-5 days) and india (9-10 days)...

this is it, baby!

training wheels

i'm a little behind schedule with the planning and the preparations for the trip, but all for a good cause..

last couple of months, instead of working on the RTWT, i was kinda training for it..
i went to see pearl jam play in seattle (their hometown, tour opening), salt lake city, la (2 shows) and philly (halloween, tour closing), and since i was in philly, i went for a week in nyc as well..

of course seeing the band was the main reason for all the traveling, but i took the opportunity to do some couchsurfing, meet people from all over the globe, practice packing efficiently and learn to be less neat-freak and more spontaneous with the planning...

this set me back a little with everything i have to get done for the trip, but it was a little experience that's going to be worth a lot later, and now i'm all focused on it, 100%...

more to come...

back in the saddle

i haven't had a lot of available time lately, but this week i started going after more detailed information on the visas i'll need..

i emailed the embassies and checked some requirements, so i can start applying next month..

it's all i have for now..

just maybe

the (flight) itinerary plans are finished, with the cities, dates and all, but now the quotes i have are a little bit over what i expected...

so i'm trying to figure something out with the agency... if it doesn't work out, i might have to skip a flight, change a couple of countries, or just find a job that pays me really well...

news soon, hopefully!

it's almost too much

this past week i've been gathering more in depth information for the trip.. the large scale itinerary (countries and length of stay for each one) is 90% defined, and the other 10% depends on the detailed itineraries for each country..

so what i'm doing now is studying each country: weather, high and low seasons, currency, average daily costs, visa requirements, regions to (or not to) visit, itineraries and other useful info.. it's a HUGE amount of information, so i'm trying to do a country each couple of days...

this is how i'm organizing it:
leg 1 (4 weeks): fiji, new zealand, australia
leg 2 (6 weeks): singapore + malaysia, thailand + laos + cambodia + vietnam, hong kong
leg 3 (4 weeks): india, south africa, egypt, greece

i'm not counting la or madrid, as i don't need plans for them!

there's a lot of work to be done with leg 2... today i had the idea of going to singapore, then take a train through malaysia into thailand... this in a week.. staying and exploring for a few days on each stopover... as far as i could see, the train it's pretty cheap, safe and comfortable..

i haven't planned from thailand on yet..

and as you can see, it seems i'll be traveling a couple of weeks more than i first planned..

dude, i'm tired..

hands on the dough

i'm finally in denver, part of the chaos is gone and another part is still to come, but after some three weeks away from the RTWT planning, i'm back on it, and getting closer to the final decisions..

not much news here..
i'm pretty close to having the "final" itinerary, and i've been studying itineraries for each country, to decide how long i'm going to stay in each one...
it's looking like two weeks in australia, three weeks between malaysia, thailand, laos, cambodia and vietnam and one week everywhere else..

the three week / five country part is the one i still have a lot of doubt. i know for sure southern asia is the cheapest place i'll be the whole trip, so it's definitely worth it..
i gotta pretty much plan this whole leg of the trip at once.. it's like one planning for the whole RTWT and one separate just for this three weeks.. tough job.

i'm waiting on some info from the travel agency and i may have news soon..

yup.

ps: hands on the dough = back to work.

changes: keep 'em coming!

todd is not my contact on sta anymore. keponi is the new person, and he's been doing a great job so far..

with that being said, we've been working on the itinerary, and of course, some changes were made and there are some more to come:

1. colombo (sri lanka) is out;
2. instead of a week in bangkok (thailand), i'll probably end up extending the stay for about 10 days more, so i can visit the neighbor countries. it's one of the cheapest places to travel in the world;
3. nairobi (kenya) is just about out. i'm waiting on some quotes, but chances are it's going to be replaced by south africa (either capetown or johannesburg);
4. there might be a prague (czech republic) stop before athens (greece).

and there's a couple other small changes, i'll show them when i have this ones figured out.

i feel like the plans are getting more solid.. sweet!

couchsurfing.org

now let me tell you about this amazing little organization i heard of once before, and now that i decided to check on it, i just can't get enough of.. and "little" was only a figure of speech..

i'm talking about couchsurfing.org, and i can't find better words than their own to describe what they are: "CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."

that is their mission statement, by the way. but there's more:
"As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing isn't about the furniture- it's not just about finding free accommodations around the world- it's about participating in creating a better world. We strive to make a better world by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world! "

ok, so what does all that mean? well, it means they have over 1.2 million members from every corner of the world, willing to meet new people from other places, either by offering them a place to stay while visiting their town, or just meeting up for a coffee or a drink, or by traveling and being guests. and by "meeting", i mean exchanging experiences, cultures; introducing friends and places; and sometimes (why not?), just being a nice host or visitor.

i'm talking about them because i plan to use this community as much as i can on my 'round the world trip (which from now on will be referred to as RTWT, it's easier). just studying the site changed my whole perspective on how and why i should travel..

it's just crazy how this things happen..

first itinerary changes

i've been studying and i made some changes to the itinerary...

1. as i mentioned i was plnanning to do, kuwait city (kuwait) and doha (qatar) are out.
2. then instead of adding beijing (china), i added hong kong (china) after thailand.
3. from hong kong, i'm going to colombo (sri lanka) - i know nothing about this country, but i like the name, the flag, and oddly enough, i always wanted to go there!
4. from colombo (sri lanka), to mumbai (india) instead of dehli (india).

the rest is the same..

i've been researching on the visas and costs of each country.. as far as i've found out, i'll need visas for fiji, australia, sri lanka, india, kenya and egypt. not too bad...

also, i have to do some more research on nairobi (kenya). the little i read so far said it will be raining season by the time i'm planning to be there, and that means animals hiding and mudd everywhere... i might have to find another africa destination...

then again, so far, the itinerary is (without dates):

LA to Nadi (Fiji)
to Auckland (New Zealand)
to Sydney (Australia)
to Bangkok (Thailand)
to Hong Kong (China)
to Colombo (Sri Lanka)
to Mumbai (India)
to Nairobi (Kenya)
to Cairo (Egypt)
to Athens (Greece)
to Madrid (Spain) -> meet my sistah!

and it all starts in about 7 months. damn!

sta travel

after reading a little bit about matt harding and drawing some inspiration for my own 'round the world trip, i found out the agency he used to book his flights (and maybe the hotels/hostels too): sta travel.

they are an agency with over 30 years of experience, and specialize in helping young people in world wide adventures. they're huge, they're everywhere, and they seem to be pretty helpful.

i just called them yesterday for the first time, told my agent (todd) about my plans and itinerary ideas, and he's working on it right now, so i can have some more in depth info on everything...

once i have the itinerary figured out, i have to check on the visa requirements for all the countries; then work on dates (it's gonna take a lot of research to decide on the length of stay for each country, 'cause that's gonna depend on how much i'll be willing to get to know them, the costs of accommodation, eating and traveling there, etc); then decide where to stay, if hostels, hotels or couch surfing (more on that later)...

gosh, it seems i'm already running out of time...
this is getting more exciting by the day!

where the hell is matt?

here's the video i wrote about on the last post.. the one that started it all..
i found out later that this is actually his second video (out of his three big trips)...
if you want to read about matt, or check his other videos (which i definitely recommend), click here.



talk about inspiration, huh?

blogging with a purpose

i was living without a goal for a while.
sometimes, i thought i had a goal, but nah, just some short-lived idea.

some two or three months ago, i was talking to my friend daniel about taking chances or something like that, and i told him about this video i had seen a while ago, where this dude is doing a silly dance apparently in every corner of the world...

we got back home and watched the video.. and then the two other videos that followed. then we visited the guy's website and learned about him. at that moment, we decided we would travel the world and just gain experience in life, you know, have stories to tell.

i finally had a goal.

he ended up changing his plans, but i stuck with mine. but i was also stuck here for a while, at least until some issues were resolved, and that was supposed to take maybe a couple of years...

then, last week, i got a big surprise.. some good news on my email: the issue that was holding me here had pretty much been resolved, and i was about to be free to go..

funny how timing works, because just a couple of weeks before that, i had decided to move to denver, to take up new challenges, and have a better quality of life (meaning some peace of mind) until it was the right time to go for the big adventure..

when i got the news, the first thing i thought was "hey, so now i don't have to move to denver, maybe i should stay here in la and focus on the trip..", but just a second after, i realized i could focus just as well in denver.. that would be my first big step towards the big change...

so, all of a sudden, it's all here... it *really* starts now.. well, it started about a week ago, but you get the picture...

that's why i decided to reactivate the blog... not to write about what i'm thinking, or what i'm doing.. well, actually, that's exactly why i did it. but i'm blogging with a purpose here, i want to be able to look back years from now and follow how my plans have changed, how my ideas were right or wrong, and how i've grown up after all that.

my family still doesn't know about it. i'm sure they have enough excitement/worries with me moving out to denver, but they will find out soon, after i email them with the link to the blog. god, i can already see some of them just freaking the hell out! (hi, mom!)

so, to begin with, here's the first very rough itinerary plan, just so we can all follow how much it will change. it all starts early february, next year:

From LA to Nadi (Fiji)
Date: 2/2/2010

From Nadi (Fiji) to Auckland (New Zealand)
Date: 9/2/2010

From Auckland (New Zealand) to Sydney (Australia)
Date: 16/2/2010

From Sydney (Australia) to Bangkok (Thailand)
Date: 2/3/2010

From Bangkok (Thailand) to Delhi (India)
Date: 9/3/2010

From Delhi (India) to Kuwait City (Kuwait)
Date: 16/3/2010

From Kuwait City (Kuwait) to Doha (Qatar)
Date: 20/3/2010

From Doha (Qatar) to Nairobi (Kenya)
Date: 23/3/2010

From Nairobi (Kenya) to Cairo (Egypt)
Date: 30/3/2010

From Cairo (Egypt) to Athens (Greece)
Date: 6/4/2010

From Athens (Greece) to Madrid (Spain)
13/4/2010

two and a half months, eleven countries. first changes i might make are:
- remove doha (qatar) and maybe kuwait city (kuwait), and add beijing (china).
- maybe sub nairobi (kenya) for capetown (south africa), or just add the second one.
- dates, for sure!

the idea is to meet my sister in spain and stay there for a while, until i make enough money to travel europe.. then, see what the next step will be. i might have to go to england instead, 'cause it might be easier to find a job, get a visa, you know, the works...

i'll post some links and write some more about thoughts and ideas soon... and believe me, there's a lot of them...

well, be free to freak out know, or just be excited for me. i know i'm both! it's *panda no more* time.

out with the old

let me tell you about pandas..
they live with their mom until they're around 2, then they're on their on.
they are not social, don't live in groups, don't make friends.
they only have social encounters during the breeding season, and after mating, they're on their on again.
they live in the bamboo forests, they play with bamboo, and 99% of their diet is bamboo.

for a while, in my low times, i used to say i wanted to be a panda...
i wouldn't need or miss other people, even family; i wouldn't have to deal with social pressure; and all i would need to live a perfectly happy life would be around me: bamboo.

well, all i will say for now is that i have changed. i changed a lot. from little details to how i see the world, and i decided to revive and restyle this blog to document the biggest step yet on this new take on life.

sounds deep?
i'll explain later...