new zealand

new zealand was great, but quite different than i expected.. i mean, not nz, but the plans..

as soon as i landed in christchurch, i called the tour bus company to make sure everything was ok with my pass. everything wasn't ok. they told me i booked my tour to begin only a week later.. well, a week later i wouldn't be in nz anymore! they said the best they could do would be cancel the pass and refund me half the money..

i headed to the hostel, checked my receipts and found out it wasn't my mistake, so next morning i call them and, since it was too late for any changes, i cancelled the pass and (at least) got a full refund..

with no plan b, i hopped on a bus to queenstown an hour later, and decided to stay there the whole week, which later (and again, too late) i realized wasn't the best idea... i could've spent a couple of days in some nearby town, like wanaka.. well, shoulda coulda woulda.. no problem, it was fun anyway..

now, about new zealand:

- possum: the aussies brought the cute furry friends to nz, but with no natural predators, their population grew to a ridiculous number (70 million = 20 per person!) and they are eating away the forest faster than it can regenerate.

well, long story short, kiwis hate the possums and even in the tour books, they actually suggest you "eat some possum pies", "buy some possum goodies", "go possum hunting with a friendly local farmer" and even run the fuckers over (no quotation marks there)!

- turquoise water rivers/lakes: nz has many, many lakes, and at least in the south island, the color of the water is nothing like anything i've ever seen.. it's a lite green/blue/turquoise, but if you just get a glass out of them, it's perfectly clear and potable..

the reason for that is because a long time ago, when the glaciers were making their way down there, they were grinding on the rocks on the bottom, turning them into this really, really fine powder they call "rock flour" (that's how thin it is)..

after the glaciers melted, they left this huge "footprints"  that were filled with rain water and melted snow, becoming the lakes (like tekapo, wanaka, pukaki).. the rock flour particles float on the water and when sunlight hits them, that's the color they refract.. pretty cool, huh?

- extreme sports: nz is the adventure capital of the world, specially queenstown. if you're coming to nz, chances are you're gonna be jumping off of something (skydive, canyon swing, bungy), or getting wet (rafting, rappelling waterfalls) or exploring the landscape (glacier walks, hikes)..

according to the plan (the only part that went accordingly), i did the canyon swing and white water rafting.. the swing is a short 3 second free fall and then a swing at some 150kph.. it's a great adrenaline rush.. the rafting isn't very intense (not the one i did, anyway), but there's great views and some quite nice rapids..

i was gonna go skydiving, but the weather didn't help and all the jumps were cancelled on the 2 days i tried to go.. so i guess jumping from 12000 feet is gonna have to wait...

sweet.

lake wanaka and the blue water

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i jumped from that little structure on the right!

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shotover river, where i did the rafting

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sunset in queenstown

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the vips =)

-- pt --

nova zelandia foi otimo, mas bem diferente do que eu esperava.. tipo, nao a nz, mas os planos..

logo que eu cheguei em christchurch, eu liguei pra agencia de turismo pra confirmar que tava tudo certo com o meu passe. mas nao estava tudo certo. eles me disseram que eu marquei a data errada pra comecar a viagem, e que o melhor que eles poderiam fazer seria cancelar meu passe e me devolver metade do dinheiro..

eu fui pro albergue, dei uma olhada nos recibos e descobri que o erro nao foi meu, entao na manha seguinte eu liguei pra eles e, ja que era tarde demais pra tentar corrigir o erro deles, eu cancelei o passe e (pelo menos) recebi o dinheiro de volta..

sem plano b, eu peguei um onibus pra queenstown uma hora depois, e decidi ficar la a semana toda.. mais tarde (e tarde demais) eu percebi que nao foi a melhor das ideias.. eu poderia ter passado uns dois dias em alguma cidade proxima, como wanaka.. bom, ja era.. mas sem problemas, foi bom de qualquer jeito..

sobre a nova zelandia:

- possum: e' um marsupial australiano.. parece um pouco com um gamba.. os australianos trouxeram esses bichinhos pra nz, mas sem predadores naturais, a populacao cresceu ridiculamente (70 milhoes = 20 por pessoa!) e eles estao devorando as florestas mais rapido do que elas conseguem se regenerar.

bom, resumindo, os kiwis (neozelandeses) odeiam os possums e ate' nos livros de turismo, eles incentivam que voce "coma umas tortas de possum", "compre produtos feitos de possum", "va cacar possum com um amigavel fazendeiro local" e ate' atropela esses fi di puta (sem aspas aqui)!

- rios e lagos de aguas azuis: a nz tem varios, varios lagos, e pelo menos na ilha sul, a agua e' de uma cor que eu nunca tinha visto antes.. e' um verde azulado bem claro, mas se voce enche um copo de agua dos lagos, ela vai ser cristalina (e potavel)..

isso acontece porque muito tempo atras, quando as geleiras estavam se movendo pela area, elas foram moendo as rochas no fundo, fazendo com que elas ficassem tao finas que eles chamam de "rock flour" (farinha de rochas)..

depois que as geleiras derreteram, elas deixaram esses enormes buracos, que foram preenchidos com agua da chuva ou neve derretida, se tornando lagos como o tekapo, wanaka, pukaki.. as particulas da farinha de rochas refletem a luz do sol, resultando nessa cor unica..

- esportes radicais: nz e' a capital mundial da aventura, principalmente queenstown. se voce vem visitar a nz, e' bem provavel que voce vai pular de algum lugar (paraquedas, canyon swing, bungy), ou se molhar (rafting, rapel nas cachoeiras), or explorar o terreno (caminhadas nas geleirass, trilhas)..

assim como o plano (e a unica parte que foi como o planejado), eu fiz o canyon swing e o rafting.. o swing sao so' 3 segundos de queda livre, depois um swing a 150km/h.. o rafting nao e' tao intenso (pelo menos nao o que eu fiz), mas tem vistas otimas e umas corredeiras legais..

eu ia pular de paraquedas, mas o tempo nao ajudou e todas as sessoes foram canceladas nos 2 dias que eu tentei ir.. acho que pular de 12 mil pes vai ter que esperar..

(foto 1)
o lago wanaka e as aguas azuis
(foto 2)
eu pulei daquela casinha no lado direito!
(foto 3)
o rio shotover, onde eu fiz o rafting
(foto 4)
por do sol em queenstown
(foto 5)
dando uma de vip =)

ps: minha mae falou que eu to esquecendo o portugues.. depois de mais 5 anos pensando em ingles, tem coisas que me confundem.. entao paciencia, e pode me corrigir nos comments que talvez eu conserte os erros... =P

fiji

fiji was a great first week of traveling...

i learned a lot about the fijian culture, went to beautiful places, met some wicked people and interacted with the locals...

some of the highlights were:

- drinking kava: it's a traditional fijian drink, made out of powdered kava root.. looks and tastes like muddy water and makes your mouth go numb.. they say is good for the livers, kidneys, blood pressure, stress, diabetes and sleep disorders.

fijians drink kava for everything (and apparently everyday): to celebrate, mourn, socialize, and during the cannibalism times, before eating an enemy.

the best part of the kava drinking is the (simplified) ceremony: we all sit around the big kava bowl, where one person mixes the powder with water. when the bowl is handed to you, you clap once, accept the bowl, say "bula!", chug it, and clap 3 times while saying "mada" .. everybody drinks until the big bowl is empty.

then you mouth goes a little numb and you give a nice "bula smile" =)

- meeting locals: we visited villages and a school. 8o% of the fijian land is still owned by fijians and the traditions are still very strong, specially in the villages.

we attended to a village's chief funeral ceremony and hung out with the villagers for a while after (the rain was pouring like a small cyclone and we couldn't leave anyway).

part of their tradition is to make sure visitors feel welcome and they did just that, showing interest in us and being receptive to our curiosities, talking to us, feeding us and making sure there was enough kava for everybody until we decided to leave!

sunset at the mango bay resort (coral coast)

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having some stew, kasava and tea with the locals in one of the villages

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visiting a school.. salome (in red) and wesley (in blue) were my guides..

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view from beachcomber island.. treasure island in the background..

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the people on the feejee experience (german, canadians, australian, norwegian and brisith. can you find the brazilian?)

--- pt ---

fiji foi uma otima primeira semana de viagem..

eu aprendi bastante sobre a cultura deles, fui a lugares maravilhosos, conheci muita gente interessante e interagi com os locais..

algumas das melhores partes foram:

- tomar kava: kava e' uma bebida traditional de fiji, feita do po' da raiz de kava.. tem gosto e aparencia de agua barrenta, e faz a sua boca ficar dormente.. eles dizem que e' bom para os rins, figados, pressao, stress, diabetes e insonia.

os locais tomam kava pra tudo (e ao que parece, todo dia): pra celebrar, socializar, quando estao de luto e na epoca do canibalismo, antes de comer um inimigo (canibalismo, gente... inclusive a uma coisa que teoricamente kava nao ajuda e' impotencia, ja que ele relaxa seu corpo e deixa algumas partes dormente..).

a melhor parte e' a cerimonia (simplificada): nos sentamos ao redor de um cumbucao, onde o po' e' misturado com agua. quando te passam sua cumbuca, voce pate uma palma, diz "bula", recebe a cumbuca, toma tudo num gole, e bate 3 palmas enquanto diz "mada".. todo mundo bebe ate' o cumbucao ficar vazio..

entao sua boca fica meio dormente e voce da um belo "bula smile" (sorriso bula?) =)

- encontrando os locais: nos visitamos vilas e uma escola. 80% da terra de fiji ainda pertence aos locais, e as tradicoes ainda sao bem mantidas, especialmente nas vilas.

nos fomos a cerimonia de funeral do chefe de uma das vilas, e depois ficamos por la por um tempo (ja que o ceu estava desabando, como um pequeno ciclone, e a gente nao tinha como ir embora mesmo).

parte da tradicao deles e' fazer com que os visitantes se sintam em casa e foi o que eles fizeram, mostrando interesse na gente e sendo receptivos as nossas curiosidades, conversando com a gente, nos alimentando e misturando kava suficiente pra todo mundo ate' quando a gente decidisse ir embora!

(foto1)
por do sol em mango bay resort (costa dos corais)

(foto 2)
sopa, macaxeira e cha com os locais em uma das vilas

(foto 3)
visitando uma escola.. salome (de vermelho) e wesley (de azul) foram minhas guias

(foto 4)
beachcomber island.. ao fundo, treasure island

(foto 5)
grupo da feejee experience (alema, canadenses, australiana, norueguesa, inglesa.. tente achar o brasileiro!)

final itinerary breakdown

usa to fiji: january 31st
to new zealand: february 9th
to australia: february 16th
to singapore: march 2nd
to malaysia: march 6th*
to thailand: march 12th*
to laos: march 20th*
to cambodia: march 29th*
to vietnam: april 3rd*
to hong kong: april 12th
to indonesia: april 17th
to south africa: april 27th
to egypt: may 5th
to greece: may 13th
to spain: may 19th

*approximate dates

the good, the bad (many times)

the good: even with the substantial delay with the australian visa, i was happy to find out i'd still have time to get me the indian visa, since their website says it takes 5 days to process it

the bad: after i mailed the application, my passport and the fees to san francisco, they told me it would actually take 10 to 15 days to process the visa and then return my passport. it would be way too late and i can't leave the country without my passport

the good: after losing the money i already paid, and paying yet an extra fee, i arranged so they will send me my passport back in time for me to leave the country

the bad: i'll get my passport, but no indian visa in it

the good: i did some extra research and realized there's no visa on arrival for india. it was gonna suck to get there and then find out i can't get in

the bad: without the visa or a possibility to get one, i can't go to india

the good: after freaking out for 5 minutes, i contemplated my options and decided to go to bali (indonesia) instead of india. the airfares are around the same as if i went to india

the bad: i had to cancel 2 flights and pay a fine for them

the good: indonesia is cheaper than india, and the money i'm going to save staying there should be enough to cover the cost of the fines i'll have to pay for the canceled flights

the good: from indonesia to south africa, i won't have to waste a whole day at the airport for my connection flight, which would happen from india to south africa

the good: indonesia is a paradise

the good: beaches

the good: i'm slightly crazy, so i can go from worried to upset to desperate to calm to focused to excited in a matter of minutes!

ps: a couple of hours after i changed the plans, canceled the flights and booked new ones, i got word from the indians saying my visa was granted and it's been mailed to me already. bummer. maybe i'll try to visit them later, before the visa expires..

here's a little bali for you:

the monkey forest (just in case you're tired of beach pictures)

--- pt ---

o bom, o ruim (varias vezes)

o bom: mesmo com o atraso do o visto australiano, eu estava feliz de saber que eu ainda teria tempo de pegar o visto indiano, ja que o site deles diz que o processo demora 5 dias

o ruim: depois que eu mandei os documentos, meu passaporte e as taxas pra san francisco, eles me disseram que levaria de 10 a 15 dias para processar o visto e depois disso, retornarem meu passaporte. seria muito tarde e eu nao posso sair do pais sem meu passaporte

o bom: depois de perder o dinheiro que eu ja havia pago, e ainda pagar outra taxa, eu consegui fazer com que eles me mandassem meu passaporte antes que eu saisse do pais

o ruim: eu vou ter meu passaporte. mas sem o visto indiano

o bom: eu pesquisei um pouco mais e descobri que a india nao da vistos no aeroporto. ia ser pessimo chegar la e descobrir que eu nao posso entrar no pais

o ruim: sem o visto e sem a possibilidade de pegar um, eu nao posso ir pra india

o bom: depois de enlouquecer por 5 minutos, eu estudei minhas opcoes e decidi ir a bali (indonesia) ao inves da india. as passagens sao mais ou menos o mesmo preco

o ruim: eu tive que cancelar 2 voos e pagar uma multa por causa disso

o bom: indonesia e' mais barato que a india, e o dinheiro que eu vou economizar ficando la' deve ser o suficiente pra cobrir os gastos com as multas que vou ter que pagar por causa dos voos cancelados

o bom: da indonesia pra africa do sul, eu nao vou ter que desperdicar um dia inteiro no aeroporto esperando pela minha conexao, o que iria acontecer saindo da india

o bom: a indonesia e' um paraiso

o bom: praias

o bom: eu sou meio louco, entao eu passo de preocupado pra triste pra desesperado pra calmo pra concentrado pra animado numa questao de minutos!

obs: algumas horas depois que eu mudei os planos, cancelei os voos e reservei os novos, eu recebi noticias dos indianos dizendo que eles ja tinham me dado o visto e que o passaporte estava a caminho. bummer. talvez eu tente ir pra la mais pra frente, antes de o visto vencer...

um exemplo de bali:
(foto)
a floresta dos macacos (no caso de voce ja estar cansado de fotos de praias)

(kinda) done planning

i'm finished with the planning! it's Tminus17 and i'm ready to go... as soon as i get my passport back (it's on the way to get the indian visa now)..

just to keep the flow, here's some more images:

victoria peak, hong kong.. great view of the island.. i'll try and get a nice nightshot just like this..

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the taj mahal, in agra (india).. duh!

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the big five (leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino, elephant).. it's a hunting reference, and to me, it means "safari in south africa"!

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the pyramids of giza, egypt... duh! (part II).

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the temple of poseidon (sounion, greece)... my last stop before spain.. and then what?

--- pt ---

acabei o planejamento! faltam 17 dias e eu to pronto pra partir... assim que eu receber meu passaporte de volta (esta no caminho pra conseguir o visto da india)...

so' pra manter o ritmo, mains algumas imagens:

(foto 1)
victoria peak, hong kong.. otima vista da ilha.. eu vou tentar uma foto noturna como essa...

(foto 2)
o taj mahal, em agra (india).. duh!

(foto 3)
os "cinco grandes" (leopardo, leao, bufalo, rinoceronte, elefante).. o nome e' uma referencia de caça, e pra mim, quer dizer "safari na africa do sul"!

(foto 4)
as piramides de giza, egito... duh (parte II).

(foto 5)
o templo de poseidon (sounion, grecia)... minha ultima parada antes da espanha.. e depois, o que mais?

more hardcore planning

11 more hours of study and i have the outlines for another 40 days/6 countries: singapore, malaysia, thailand, laos, cambodia and vietnam.

i'm not going to be doing any organized tour (like i will in fiji, nz and oz), so it's even harder to decide where to and not to go.. but i think i made good choices..

here's a little taste:

the sri veerama kaliamman (in singapore), is a funky looking, brightly colored temple..

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in kuala lumpur (malaysia), the petronas towers.. they where the tallest buildings in the world for a few years..

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koh samui (koh = island), in thailand.. recommended by a friend who lived there.. sounds like a good idea to me!

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near vang vieng, laos.. this is a lagoon by the phu kham cave.. reached by bicycle..

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angkor wat (cambodia).. the temple is so important it's on the cambodian flag..

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halong bay, vietnam.. 3 day, 2 night cruise aboard one of this weird boats called junks (their design dates from 200 bc).. caves and kayaking included!

--- pt ---

mais 11 horas de estudo e eu tenho o planejamento para mais 40 dias/6 paises: singapura, malasia, tailandia, laos, cambodia e vietnam.

eu nao vou fazer nenhuma turne organizada (como eu vou fazer na oceania), entao fica mais dificil ainda decidir onde ir ou nao ir... mas eu acho que fiz boas escolhas...

so' um aperitivo:

(foto 1)
o sri veerama kaliamman (em singapura), um templo meio estranho e bem colorido..

(foto 2)
em kuala lumpur (malasia), as petronas towers.. elas foram os predios mais altos do mundo por alguns anos..

(foto 3)
koh samui (koh = ilha), na tailandia.. recomendada por um amigo que morou la'... me parece uma otima ideia!


(foto 4)
perto de vang vieng, laos.. essa e' uma lagoa perto da phu kham cave (caverna).. a gente chega la' de bicicleta..

(foto 5)
angkor wat (cambodia).. o tempo e' tao importante que ele ta' na bandeira do pais..

(foto 6)
halong bay, vietnam.. eu vou fazer um "cruzeiro" de 3 dias, 2 noites em um desses barcos estranhos chamados de junks (que em ingles quer dizer entulho, e existem desde 200 a.c.).. cavernas e kaiaks estao incluidos!

--

rock!

@sapotb twitter

.sapo. travel blog is now on twitter.. you know, for those quick updates..
if you don't have twitter, you can always just check the side bar, right there to your right.. it will always show the three most recent tweets..

--- pt ---

.sapo. travel blog agora esta no twitter.. pra atualizacoes rapidas, sabe?
se voce nao tem twitter, voce pode checar a barra ali do lado direito.. ela sempre vai mostrar as tres entradas mais recentes..

fiji / nz / oz + portugues

for the last 2 days, i accumulated about 20 hours studying a little bit of my first three destinations: fiji, new zealand and australia.. it will take me a month to go through them, and as far as i planned, i'll be sleeping in at least 20 different places over this 30 days.. crazy huh?

the reason is i'm gonna be traveling with the feejee experience, the kiwi experience and the oz experience for this three countries.. they are hop-on/hop-off style backpacker buses, they have a variety of passes you can choose and usually you can travel up to a year with each pass.. but i only have a week in fiji, one in new zealand and two in australia, so i'm gonna do the best i can and visit some awesome places..

here's some examples:



this is beachcomber island, in fiji. is only 30 minutes off the northwestern coast and it takes only 10 minutes to walk around the island.. it's where the party happens!

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i'm planning on doing some canyon swing in queenstown, new zealand (the adventure capital of the world). you see that little white spot on the left? that will be me!

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and like i said, the blue mountains, in australia.. the plan is to do some abseiling (rappelling) there...

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...and from now on, i'll try to translate the posts to portuguese as well.. here we go:

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nos 2 ultimos dias, eu acumulei por volta de 20 horas estudando um pouco das minhas tres primeiras paradas na viagem: fiji, nova zelandia e australia.. eu vou passar um mes viajando por esses tres paises, e pelo que estou planejando, eu vou dormir em pelo menos 20 lugares diferentes ao longo desses 30 dias.. coisa de doido ne'?

isso porque eu vou viajar com a feejee experience, a kiwi experience e a oz experience nesses tres paises.. eles sao onibus para mochileiros, que voce pode entrar e sair em qualquer das paradas, eles tem uma viariedade de passes e voce geralmente pode viajar ate' um ano com cada passe.. mas eu so' tenho uma semana em fiji, uma na nova zelandia e duas na australia, entao eu vou tentar o possivel pra ver alguns lugares maravilhosos..

por exemplo:
(foto 1)
ilha de beachcomber, em fiji. fica a apenas meia hora da costa noroeste e em 10 minutos voce percorre a ilha toda a pe'.. e' onde a festa acontece!

(foto 2)
eu estou planejando fazer um cayon swing em queenstown, nova zelandia (a capital mundial dos esportes radicais). ta vendo aquele pontinho branco no canto esquerdo? vai ser eu!

(foto 3)
e como eu disse antes, as blue mountains, na australia.. o plano e' fazer rapel la'..

e e' isso!

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.