Nov 18, 2009

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.

Nov 16, 2009

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...