Damn, it is TIME CONSUMING to plan something like this! I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed just by figuring out the plan for Australia alone! Of course, with mom always on my back about 'Have we got this? Have you booked that?' it's more pressure than I've ever put on myself, anyway. I don't think mom would be able to stand traveling with me for longer than 2 weeks, especially since our ideas of a "budget hotel" seem to be drastically different, and I rarely book mine in advance.
Some of my preparations:
--Check on visa requirements in each country
--Buy equipment/supplies I don't already have
--Copy travel guides from the library so I don't have to buy them
--Compare rental cars, flights, and cars for sale in Australia
--Book hotel rooms in Tasmania and Sydney
--Find CouchSurfers willing to host mom and me and then just me on my own
--Clean out my room and meet with the agent to do inspections
--Finish preparing resources for next history teacher at school
--Clean school desk
--Write cards for teachers and friends
--Download any movies and music I want, back up my school and home laptop to external hard drive
--Communicate with Vital Co. about receipts and other finance issues
--Ship home things don't need on my trip and submit receipts to MOE
--Write letter to MOE officers about why I'm leaving and why I only know 1 foreign teacher interested in staying
--PACK!!!
Okay, I'm cutting it off here, but this is a little over half of the items on my to-do list. :(
And just to give you a peek into my bags, here's part of my packing list:
--Chain and padlock, small padlocks for zippers
--Mosquito net
--PADI diving manual and diving log
--Laptop, point and shoot camera, DSLR camera and chargers and computer cables for all
--Pack of cards, books on my computer
--Various medicine including cold/sinus relief, anti-nausea, anti-diarrhea, Immodium, rehydration salts, allergy tablets, pain killers, etc.
--Water purifying tablets
--Clothing that I don't mind getting wet/dirty/sweaty/ripped/lost/stolen/etc
--Southeast Asia on a Shoestring guide book, notebook and pens
--Rain cover for bags and a poncho
--Adapters
--Sunglasses, bandanas, scarves, shawls, a little bit of jewelry, etc.
--Waterless laundry detergant
--iPod and headphones
--Bikini and beach towel (of course!)
I can't wait to show you all a picture of my pack--it's quite cool looking when it's all put together. I am, however, quite certain that I'm going to get reallllly tired of wearing the same clothes for 7 months straight...
Monday, November 1, 2010
To Do/To Pack
Friday, October 15, 2010
"The Big One", version 2.0
All right, so I have definitely conceded the fact that I am not going to make it to all of the countries on my original itinerary (which is, in turn, an edited version of my original version of going from Singapore across Asia, Australia, and Europe, but that was when I thought I would buy my own ticket home so I would have all of July). I think it will be quite a long time before I return to this part of the world, if ever, so I want to do it right. I’m going to slow down my pace and see a bit more of each country in Southeast Asia rather than push on so hard to get over to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka. In fact, I’m so confident I won’t make it to those places that I’ve packed my travel guides already.
But whatever, I can see myself finding someone interested in joining me for two months on a trip to India, no matter where I end up living. That will definitely happen so I’m not worried. Bring on more of Borneo!
New and Improved Itinerary:
December: Malaysia and Australia
January: Australia, East Timor, Indonesia
February: Indonesia, Singapore (for a wedding), Borneo
March: Borneo and Philippines
April: Philippines and Vietnam
May: Cambodia and Laos
June: Laos, Thailand, possibly Nepal? I do NOT want to go to Myanmar, I know that.
FLIGHT HOME FROM SINGAPORE=JUNE 30
Monday, June 14, 2010
One final comment for the day
As it turns out, the manager at the hotel had forgotten that I need a taxi service tomorrow, so thank god I reminded him. But that's only where the fun begins.
Now, I understand that "there's a different pace here" and "you can't be in a hurry" and "if you're on-time you're actually an hour early" etc., but why is it to much to ask for just to get some up-front information about the situation? Don't tell me the bus will leave in 5 minutes when you know it will leave in 20, drive a mile, then sit for another 20 minutes. Don't show me a picture of one bus then push me into the tiny smoking section of another bus since mine 'has problem'. Don't 'forget' to tell me that there actually isn't a boat to Iboih so we'll have to walk and that the taxi taking me, my 70 liter pack and regular backpack to the port that is a 40-minute ride over the hills of the island is, in fact, a motorbike driven by your friend from the village. Just be honest with me and tell me in advance so that I can be prepared; 9 times out of 10 I'll be cool with it, I just don't like the dishonesty used to get my business. And it just makes me angrier that I can't do anything about it. Don't like the arrangement? Too bad, you already paid. Police? Don't speak English, don't care. You're going to write Lonely Planet? So maybe in the edition 2 years from now they leave out one adjective in their description.
I hate feeling this helpless. And used. And worked over.
Damn it.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Okay, it is technically June 3rd
OMFG I M 2 TIREDZZZZ
It’s 1:30am in Jakarta and over the last 3 nights I think I’ve gotten about ten hours of sleep.
Last night (if you can call it that): flew from Singapore to Jakarta and it just didn’t make any sense to go through the hassle of going to a hotel when I had to be back at the airport in 6 hours. Why, yes, I am a lazy and cheap bastard, thank you for noticing. My thanks go out to a very sweet couple who saw I looked a little lost and gave me a ride from the international to the domestic terminal, which turned out to be a few miles apart from each other. Looking back, though, I would have gotten a room if I’d known staying at the airport meant I’d have to sleep outside in 90% humidity on a bench already occupied by 3 other people and a clutch of cockroaches (attracted to the food and wrappers people stuffed between the slats of the bench) while the only food available to eat is Dunkin Donuts (Seriously? Here? WTH?). So now I find myself preparing to stand near a deserted ticket counter all night, but in one small way I’m lucky: the air con is still on in there and cool air is pouring out the hole in the window you talk through. It feels great...until I realize I can’t even get into the airport for another 4 hours.........................
Night before this: We had a goodbye dinner for Lauren Hammond on Arab Street from which I didn’t get home until 10, and of course my main objective was to set up the netbook I bought earlier that day. I set-up profiles, changed settings, learned about new programs, AND I even used Skype for the first time!! I did manage to pack, but only after I had checked on my favorite webcomics and updated my Facebook profile among other things. This was my own idiotic decision and I take full responsibility for the mere 3 hours of sleep I got.
Night before the night before: Had a 6am flight from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and got exactly 2 hours of sleep, including what I snuck in during the flight. I had taken the last shuttle bus to the airport at 10pm so I could skip paying for a hotel for a night or worrying about getting up at 3:45am and finding a taxi. I sat in the 24-hour Starbucks with a French guy from my guest house and I might have been able to doze off for a few hours, but he was sick so rather than trade off sleeping and watching our bags I just let him snooze. That lasted until about 3am when I couldn’t take it anymore and asked him just to let me be the one to sleep for an hour. Oh, and then I took the train straight in to work. Blechhhh.
The nights before these, though, I did quite well; I got to bed plenty early when I was staying in Melaka and KL and I even had the luxury of actual beds to sleep in. My plan for recovery: drop my bags at the hotel in Padang then sleep on the beach for a few hours before dragging myself down to the old harbor to eat fresh grilled fish while I watch the boats return from their day’s work then back to the beach to have drinks on the pier and watch the sun go down. Oh, my god, I’m drooling onto my new laptop.
But that will have to wait, since I’ve got 3 hours to go and I’m so tired I’m having periodic hallucinations. Grandma, if you’re reading this I’m sorry, but I would sell you for a 6’ square room with a dirty mattress on the floor. But as it is right now, you still couldn’t pay me enough to lay down with the cockroaches on those benches. Asia has helped me get over a lot of phobias, but nothing will get rid of the awful feeling of little legs scurrying all over you. So instead I’m going to bogard that little plastic stool over there and the patch of wall behind it and wrap my arms around my bags. Sweet dreams, I’m sure.
The toughest parts of traveling alone (female edition):
1. Dealing with the stares. Men, women, children, no one understands why there’s a single white female at the bus station.
2. Not being able to relax when you’re in public. There’s no one to watch your back or your stuff so you’re on guard 24/7. Also, you have to keep an eye out for danger AND ward off the relentless touts that just want to sell you cheap/grey-market goods and services.
3. To go along with number 2, 'Eve teasing’. This is the Indian term for sexual harassment against women. Not necessarily condoned in most countries, but certainly tolerated in a fair few of them.
4. Dealing with all of the questions about where your husband/boyfriend/partner is and why you’re traveling alone. Is he in the US? Why didn’t your friends come with you? Who takes care of you?
5. Guys (and very rarely women) wanting photos with you or just taking photos of you. This one I just don’t get. Yes, you saw a white woman, maybe even in a bathing suit, but hey! Look over there! Four more of us! WHY ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES OF ME?????????????? Sometimes, though, I do feel like I should let them when they ask because, hey, at least they showed some manners.
6. Fuckit i’m too tired. Going to lay down with the cockroaches now. Ooh, maybe I can sleep on a luggage trolley!