Taking off on a long term journey!

Here’s the link to my latest article on the Indie Travel Podcast!  Go check it out and peruse the whole site; it’s a wealth of information for the independent traveler!

Do you have what it takes to become a vagabond master? Complete this four-week training regime to prepare your body, mind and suitcase for the realities of life on the road.

http://www.indietravelpodcast.com/article/become-a-vagabond-master/

The view over Central Park

One year and fifty weeks ago I was in the same place.  Sitting in a plane preparing to leave US soil for an unknown amount of time. The last few days I have bounced between feeling scared, sad, excited, and mad. I don’t know what to expect on my own, I’m terribly sad to say goodbye to friends yet again, I’m thrilled to be chasing a dream, and I’m mad because I’m on this roller coaster of tears when I should be excited beyond belief. This just once again reminds me that nothing comes without a price.

My various suitcases

I’ve spent the last 5 days running around trying to prepare to leave. For those of you who pack the night before a trip, you probably think that 5 days of prep and packing is absurd. Well, then you’ve never been on a long term trip. Just try to imagine trip prep for a journey duration of one to two years. I am not simply talking about packing a suitcase; I’m talking about administrative stuff such as taxes, voting, insurance, banking, medical files, phone numbers, and getting all of the items that I won’t have access to in developing countries that I may need/want. To top is off, imagine doing all of this when you don’t really have access to your stuff or your home (mine is all in storage). I felt like a raving bitch most days, but I was perplexed when my friends kept telling me how amazed they were that I was so calm and in control. I was completely paranoid when they told me this as if it were their way of making fun of me. I was positive I was the embodiment of Cybil this last week no matter what they said to me.

NYC Skyline over Central Park...Goodbye..

I find it disturbing that tears are in my eyes now as I depart the skyline of NYC fading into the distance and trying to squeak in one last cell phone call with friends before retiring my US phone number yet again. It’s disturbing because 8 months ago I was in tears when I was flying back to the US after being gone for 16 months. I was scared to come back to NYC, sad that my journey had ended, intimidated to see my friends again after I had been so self sufficient for so long. I don’t consider myself an emotional person, but if I’m crying leaving and crying coming back; maybe I just need to come to grips with the fact that I am an emotional mess. No wonder why I’m single…this is everything men hate about women…crying, for no good reason.

There’s something surreal about seeing your bed wheeled down the streets of NYC on a dolly. Really – a sobering situation.

There I was, walking down the street with friends after dinner seeing my life possessions being carted down the street – God…this isn’t happening…is it?

My friends have been amazing – and have benefited quite a lot from my liquidation of my life. Many of them have taken/borrowed furniture, art, and electronics. This is all great as is means that it’s less stuff to put into storage…however in another weird way it is terribly painful. I realized just how painful it was when I saw my mattress being wheeled down the street past the Museum of Natural History…which may be quite fitting for my mattress!

Photo: Me working my ‘home office’…what’s left of it.
Slowly – every day more is taken away…I’m left with a beach chair - my only piece of furniture to sit on, paper plates, and plastic silverware as I’ve sold all the rest.

Sure, it’s great to have the money from selling things…but it goes so fast. It’s strange thinking that your bed is the same value as a dinner and a nice bottle of wine in NYC.

I’d like to sit here and say that I liquidated my life with ease and confidence, that I was the model of composure; but I can’t lie. There have been a few tears shed about the loss of my possessions. As it gets closer to nothingness, more tears seem to come, but that is more about me wanting this whole process to be over – I’m just tired of it. I’m tired of living like this slowly watching things disappear and crumble around me. The rub is that as bad as it feels – it feel equally good and freeing. Sometimes I think that tears are necessary though…it’s a mourning process that we have to let our bodies go through….and mine has been working overtime.

Photo: My dear friends doing some ‘Sherry Shopping’ - at least I know it goes to a good home!

Seeing my bed on the street…well, that was a whole new level. I was already a bit apprehensive about selling my bed, seeing it on the street made it even harder. Your bed is precious. Just think for a moment…think about your bed….and then think about never sleeping in it again. But not because you are replacing it with a new fluffier bed, instead it is because you are choosing to give up normalcy. From this point forward for the next few years you will be sleeping in multiple beds - some good, some bad. But never the same bed for long; and it’s never YOUR bed. That is the challenge of traveling.

It’s weird to be going through this again – leaving again. I have this ‘here we go again’ feeling as I pack up my suitcase full of rolled clothes – my dresser on wheels. It’s easier since I know what to expect, but harder also because this time it’s for real….there’s nothing but friends and a small storage space in Manhattan to come back to.

A friend recently asked me if I ever felt an overwhelming social pressure to get married and have kids.
My answer, “Not really.”
Sure, there’s pressure from a social norm standpoint, but I seldom let it get to me. However, recently I have felt a great deal of social pressure with my current life decision; to not go back to my corporate career and instead sell 90% of what I own to go make slightly over $15000 a year. I am truly going back to square one, the square I was in when I graduated from college.

Today there are an increasing number of women not getting married or having a family. But I don’t know many other people who have decided willingly to go from the making of an extremely comfortable lifestyle with a 6 figure salary to practically nothing. No home, and few possessions. Sure, when I used to have really terrible days at work I’d fantasize about giving it all up and living a simpler life – but deep down I didn’t think it would actually happen.

When I refer to social pressure, I’m not saying that people are specifically putting pressure on me telling me not to do it. In fact my friends and family have been very supportive through my struggles, indecision, and tears. The pressure is coming from myself and what I see around me. Ever since I graduated from college I have been on a quest; a quest to be ‘grown up’ and successful. A quest to own furniture that doesn’t come with assembly instructions.

I still remember the first piece of furniture I ever purchased; a couch from Sears. Then came a bed, some side tables, kitchen appliances, works of art, pottery, clothes, more clothes, handbags, and a shitload of shoes. Some how I moved from my apartment in Omaha, NE, which was furnished with furniture from garage sales and posters that I put in a plastic frames to a beautiful loft in Manhattan with real wood furniture and actual art on my walls. I had a real ‘grown-up’ life I purchased for myself.

Now I look around at all the stuff I have acquired through the years and realize that it’s really my enemy. It’s holding me hostage. But who at 38 yrs old in their right mind gives it all up?

Me

The progression of my disappearance of ’stuff’…from every angle…click on the picture to enlarge.

I had to make this weighty decision while I was away from my stuff – it’s too hard to do while you are sitting on your perfectly good couch that you are deciding whether to give up or not. I’d like to say that my time back in NY since January has been fun and carefree – but it hasn’t. I’ve been weighted down with big decisions – what do I do next, how will I live, how do I avoid corporate America, where will I live, how will I make money to live? This constant bombardment of difficult questions that I submit myself to has been a slow torture. Coupled that with being in NY where you tend to bleed money – it has really sucked.

In order to not lose my mind I’ve had to make some decisions and my first step is to cut free of the shackles of my stuff and rent payments.

Selling my ‘stuff’ off to my family, friends, neighbors, and strangers creates a weird feeling. It’s certainly not a comfortable situation. As I hand over the items that I worked so hard to acquire I try to think of it as if I’m getting rid of a disease and now it’s someone else weighty shackles. They will have to house it for years and be tied down to it. By looking at it as buying my freedom, it doesn’t feel as pathetic.

As I look around my comfortable apartment, I wonder for a moment just how much my stuff defines me. It’s a fact that stuff doesn’t make you happy, so why not cut free? As I watch my things march out of my life I have to change my mindset. My stuff and my apartment doesn’t define me. Instead, it’s my writing and this blog that defines me. I don’t need stuff…I feel lighter already.

sniff, sniff...

Photo: Since I’m in the process of selling off all of my posessions, my friend Linda sent this photo to me as a joke!

I used to say that my cat, Palucci, had love for only one person; that person used to be me. However, when I decided to do my long term travel last year I knew I had to come up with a new home for her. This task was not as easy as one might think. Sure, she’s cute, well kept, soft, playful, loving, cuddly…but only to me; everyone else she hates. Not only hates, but uses her good looks and fuzziness to lure people in and then bite them. I keep the Neosporin on hand as blood has been drawn many times. Her feisty attitude never really bothered me, in fact I kind of liked the fact that I was the only one in the world that she loved. She protected me…from everyone. She hated men that I dated, kids, friends; except she did have a bit of a soft spot for my mom, but who doesn’t?

I had an equal amount of love for her, I had her since she was a kitten 9 years ago. After 7 years, I became allergic to her; but even then I opted to take a myriad of allergy medicine every day instead of getting rid of her.

My good friend Linda was witness to my emotional melt down two years ago; no one could take my cat while I traveled and I was completely distraught trying to figure out what to do with Palucci. I was leaving in 3 months for my journey and needed a solution. I couldn’t just leave Palucci behind; she was my family. Linda took pity on me saying “I’ll take your cat if you want; I was going to get one anyway. I wanted a nice cat, but that’s ok, it’s only for a year.” Problem solved!

I took Palucci to Linda’s home in Storrs, Connecticut a few weeks before I left the country. It was a tearful parting, but I knew she was in good hands…Linda that is. I knew that my cat only had love for one person and soon she would forget me, and start loving Linda. She’d be adorable, cuddly, talkative, playful…all for the sole attention of Linda.

Photo: Linda and Palucci
Sure enough, I was right. As I traveled the world (allergy pill free), I had updates from Linda. She and the cat were getting along amazingly well. Linda loved the cat, the cat loved Linda…a perfect match. So when I came back to the US after 16 months of traveling, I had a big decision to make yet again. Do I take my cat back?

I knew what the answer had to be…it could be nothing else than “no”. I was still deathly allergic to her, I had no idea how long I was staying in the US, nor where I was going to live; and the cat was perfectly happy. I had to give her up for ‘adoption’ to Linda. She was Linda’s cat now. However, I had lifetime visitation rights.

When I arrived in Storrs, it had been 20 months since I had seen Palucci. I wondered if her little pea brain would remember me, but mostly I wondered if she would hate me. When Linda and I walked in her door, Palucci was there, just like old times, purring and looking for attention. Yet after the normal minute of rolling around she stopped, stared, and ran away to hide. I got my answer, she definitely remembered me. In the past when she would run and hide it was because she was scared; normally associated with me moving her across the country to a new apartment. She would go find a little nook and stay there for hours until she realized that we weren’t leaving this new place.

I believe she was definitely scared when she heard my voice and smelled my scent, she ran and hid because she thought I was going to take her away again. Eventually she came out of her hiding place, and slowly checked me out more. I think the whole experience confused her. This cat that had love for one person, now had a dilemma. She would come to me and cautiously check me out and let me pet her, then she would go run to Linda. Eventually, as we sat on the couch, she came and sat between us not really able to resolve who her loyalty should go to; the past or the present.

After two days at Linda’s playing with Palucci and hanging out, I was able to steal away a few precious moments and memories. I was relieved that she didn’t treat me like other people, she didn’t bite me, she wasn’t bitchy, she didn’t hiss. Instead she fell into old habits with me, cuddling, playing, and sleeping with me. I was also able to see how much Palucci loved her new owner and home; Linda provided her more attention and love that I ever could have. I was also able to realize just how allergic I still was to Palucci as I wheezed with asthma and my eyes watered. In the end, it was clear that she (and Linda!) had been very happy with the last 20 months, and that they would continue to be going forward. I was thrilled that everything had worked out so well. I was also thrilled that Palucci remembered me; she not only remembered me, but she still had saved a little unconditional love for me – the person that gave her away. I had been wrong; she was able to love more than one person.

Which way should I go?

Many people have asked me how in the world I come up with some of my itineraries and if I had this all planned out when I left the US over a year ago. Granted – my previous profession was all about planning – budgets, resources, tasks – but I’m not THAT good at planning. There’s no way I could have planned my 1 ½ years of travel itineraries prior to me leaving! Instead – I do most of my planning ‘on the fly’. Sure – it sounds carefree and fun…but I must admit – it’s my most hated part of the vagabond life – mainly because it takes a lot of work. It consumes my mind until I can’t think of anything else but figuring out where I’m going, how I’m getting there, what I’m doing, and where I will stay – add to that the myriad of internet research (I don’t use books – I would have gone broke just buying all of them!), the hundreds of emails to hotels, travel agents, tour companies, and don’t forget all of the research on climate, travel warnings, conversion rates, and reviews. I normally go about planning 2 months at a time which means I am bogged down trying to find flights, hotels, transportation, the best way to get from here to there, and where I need to go to get a visa. I normally can’t rest easy until I at least have a plan. The old project mangaer in me just won’t die.

The review sites alone are mind boggling but strangely addicting. One of my favorite sites to use is Trip Advisor. It offers some good reviews by people who traveled there – not advertisers or travel agents. Plus it provides information on the type of people that did the review so you can know if you are reading a review from a honeymoon couple, a solo traveler, a backpacker, a business traveler – all these things matter. The addicting part is that when you do start narrowing in on a hotel or tout that you want to choose, then you start to read the reviews on the internet about it. You will find as many good reviews as bad reviews – your mind starts to swim – seldom is there a clear choice. You start to Google search randomly on the hotel to find out if more information exists. Unfortunately more information ALWAYS exists. You get so fed up with the fact that you wasted the last 2 hours reading conflicting reviews and clicking through to worthless websites - finally I’ve had enough! I’ve learned that I waste too much time trying to make the ‘right decision’, and instead I need to trust my gut and make the best out of any situation.

For illustrative purposes, here’s how I went about planning my trip back to the US:
First I flirted with the idea of flying to S. America and sailing with an organized group to Antarctica. I started searching the net for sailing trip to Antarctica in December – I quickly was brought into reality when I saw the price tag and then looked at my dwindling bank account…that adventure will have to be saved for another time…but I will absolutely take it one day.

Next I looked at splurging on a Singapore Airlines ticket with a direct flight to the US – also – too expensive.

So – I stepped back into reality and did searches on Expedia.com for the cheapest tickets to the US. I noticed that I would have layovers that were quite long. That’s when I decided to think about laying over for a few days in a city that I hadn’t been to on the way home. It seemed like it might be a good way to ease my way back into the concept that I was going home. One last solo adventure for 2007 in a new place sounded like a great idea, delving me further into denial of going back to the US. Based on my ticket research, I made a list of cities that are typical layovers from Singapore to San Francisco (Dubai, Paris, London,Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Tokyo). Two stuck out to me as places that I’d love to see – Dubai and Tokyo.
I was most interested in Dubai due to climate and because I met some people while traveling that talked about this great 4X4 ride through the desert in Dubai that sounded just my speed. I had visions of me 4 wheeling on sand dunes - it felt right. Plus, the climate would be spot on since I only have warm weather clothes and shoes. Sometimes my suitcase can dictate where I go, and sometimes a crazy idea can dictate where I go…the crazy ideas normally win out.

I started doing a bunch of internet research on places to stay in Dubai. I started looking at nice 3 star hotels (hoping I could splurge a bit) – I quickly realized that I couldn’t even afford the 3 star in Dubai. I started looking at hostels in Dubai – going back to my normal mode of travel and reality. The hostels weren’t documented well on the internet and the ones I found were in dodgy parts of town. Plus, one of my requirements in lodging these days is internet access…preferably free. I started putting a bunch of emails out to the hostels and tour companies, as well as reading reviews of the hostels. Slowly responses started coming in, but nothing was grabbing my interest and generally the information left me with a million more questions and concerns. As I continued to do internet research, I realized that the main thing to do in Dubai was to shop and spend money. Granted – the desert 4X4 trip sounded great – but that was only 1 day. I didn’t have the money to simply hang out in crappy hostels and shop in high end shops – so I was quickly getting frustrated with Dubai.

Out of curiosity I started doing some hotel searches on Tokyo to compare prices. I came across a highly recommended Ryokan (old Japanese home) that was consistently recommended for an ‘authentic cultural experience’…and it had internet access, my lifeblood. Boom…that’s all I needed to hear – Marketers – listen up!!! I’m a sucker for those words. I found their website and was enchanted by what it had to say about seeing the old Tokyo and experiencing the true culture. Plus, the owner of the Ryokan had written a book about Japanese culture and Ryokans. All of a sudden I had visions of me putting all of my warm weather clothes on layered over the top of each other…I wanted to go to Tokyo. The Ryokan was the same price as the hostels I was looking at in Dubai and the more I read about Tokyo online the more intrigued I became. My Google searches led me to tours, photos, restaurant recommendations, events, quirky activities, and Tokyo facts. Mainly – I became intrigued with photographing it. I saw some photographs that captured my interest – the youth culture, the fish market, the plastic food, sumo wrestling – I wanted to photograph it all – I had visions of Geishas intermixed with modern buildings, boldly colored fashion and plastic food. I started doing searches on ‘cultural tours’, ‘unique cultural experiences’ and found other ideas. All I had to do was brave the cold for a few days – and if worse came to worse, I would buy a sweater. I contacted the Ryokan via Skype (cheap internet phone calls) to see if they had availability. The man I spoke with was lovely and full of personality. I could feel all of the momentum shifting…to Tokyo. Now all I had to do was find plane tickets – that’s where Expedia came in. I did searches on multiple stop trips from Singapore to Tokyo to San Francisco, to Minneapolis, to New York. A little known fact is that you can often get a multiple stop ticket much cheaper than buying these separately. Sure enough, I found this complete ticket for about what it would cost to simply fly from Singapore to San Francisco.

This whole process took about 4 days of back and forth emailing, internet searching, and Skype calls…and many hours of worrying about if I was doing the right thing. But in the end, it’s the places that will offer me a unique experience – one off the tourist track that peak my interest. Tell me that I get to live as a local, or see a freakish spectacle and I’m generally hooked. In addition, this is my opportunity to round out Asia as a continent. Then I can officially call myself an Asia travel expert.

My gut made the decision – much the way it does when I decide to go out on a 2nd date. However I think my ‘itinerary gut decision’ is much better than my ‘2nd date’ gut decisions! Not one book was involved – just an internet connection and time - lots of time - is all it takes.

Some of my most used planning sites:
Aifare to/from the US – www.Expedia.com
Airfare for Europe – and parts of Asia – www.Expedia.co.uk
Airfare for Asia – www.Zuji.com
Trip Advisor – www.tripadvisor.com – hotel ratings and other great info regarding local transportation, tours, etc.
Hostelworld – www.hostelworld.com
Google…my Trip Planning Bible
Skype – www.skype.com

Well - I finally have bought a plane ticket back to the US - bittersweet for me. However - when deciding to go back home, I decided I wasn’t going to go without a fight so I planned one last hurrah in a new country - Japan. I felt like I needed one last solo stop. By choosing Japan - I’ve hit about 95% of Asia AND I get to eat sushi!

Here are the details of my pending jetlag:

Current to Dec. 3rd - Singapore
Dec. 3 - Dec. 7th - Tokyo, Japan
Dec. 7 - Dec. 16th - San Francisco, CA
Dec. 16 - Dec. 28 - Twin Brooks South Dakota (why…because my parents live there)
Dec. 29 - Minneapolis, MN
Dec. 30…New York City (your guess is as good as mine as to how long I will stay there!)

Guard in front of Tiananmen Square

For the ‘best of’ Northern China Photography - click here!

To see all snapshots of Beijing Sites - click here!

When I was about 12 years old, I was treated to my first memory of international cuisine…Chinese food. I will never forget going to a Chinese restaurant in Peoria for the first time. It was darkly lit, with big round tables and little cups for tea. I was fascinated with these cups because they didn’t have handles - pretty unconventional for the Midwest! Regardless, the tea flowed endlessly. My dad ordered some dishes for our table – sweet and sour pork, wontons, egg foo young, and pork chow mein. I remember being that awkward age that hated eating anything that I didn’t know, but wanting to try new things. I had no idea how to use the chopsticks in front of me – they seemed as confusing and impossible as solving my rubic’s cube. From this first experience with Chinese food, a tradition started to form in my family – Chinese food was something I did with my dad. Whenever my mother went out of town and my dad and I were left to fend for ourselves, he would always take me out for Chinese food at Chan’s. Chan’s was in a ‘bad’ part of town – and I have no idea how my father knew about it – but for me, it was my place I went with my dad. Therefore, it seemed fitting that my dad accompany me to China on my around the world journey.

My father is 71 years old, fit, and he enjoys adventure. Therefore I was pretty confident about putting together an active China itinerary that included Northern China. We had 8 days and planned on spending time in Beijing, hiking on the Great Wall, and seeing Xian and the Terra Cotta Warriors. We arrived in Beijing late at night in darkness. When I opened our curtains the next day I was surprised at what I saw outside of my window- Buildings as far as the eye could see. Granted, I expected buildings in Beijing…duh…but I never expected to be able to see clearly for miles. China has the reputation as ‘The World’s Factory’ and every time I told someone I was visiting China I would always get the same reaction – the smog is terrible! Therefore, my expectation when I looked out the window was to see the yellow haze lingering about – but instead I was greeted by clear, blue skies. One might say that we were lucky…or one might say that China was welcoming us…I like the latter.

I must admit – planning this trip to China wasn’t easy. First off – I wasn’t just planning it for myself. I was planning it for my father, someone that I knew very well, someone that I felt responsible for pleasing. Granted – I had traveled with many different people in this last year of ‘around the world adventure’ – some people that I knew very well, and some people that I didn’t know at all, but formed new friendships with. However – I knew my father better than anyone I had traveled with previously – and I wanted to make sure that he would enjoy himself, yet at the same time be able to experience a small part of what I had experienced in the last year of travel. There have been countless times this last year when I’ve been in a country and thought to myself – ‘I wish my father could see this – he would love it.’ So here it was, my chance to finally realize that. Not only did I have to figure out an itinerary that both my father and I would enjoy, and would be appropriate for a 37 yr old and 71 yr old could both enjoy – but I had to deal with the China travel agent maze. China isn’t like the rest of the world – you can’t simply research on Google and book your own itinerary which I had become so accustomed to. You can’t just ‘wing it’ through the country too easily. You can’t even book a domestic air ticket easily. China is tightly controlled and so is their travel industry. Therefore the first step was to find a good travel agency in China that you could communicate with (harder than you would think) and could be flexible. Once you found one that actually returned your emails, and understand that you were looking for a customized experience as opposed to a huge tour bus full of blue hairs and matching baseball hats – then you still had millions of emails back an forth to get it all worked out. The icing on the cake is when they don’t take a credit card online for payment…and you are forced to fax credit authorization info to them. However – once you are able to work through this long process and feel comfortable with an agency – you can move forward and actually book a China trip. I chose Beijing Xinhua Tour Company since we were mainly focusing on the Northern China area and Beijing was our ‘base’ – plus Betty, the sales agent, understood English and answered my emails in a timely basis.

Our young guide, Roseanne, was a petite, young woman with flawless skin that looked like porcelain – looking at her made me wish I had worn more sunscreen in my youth, as well as put on a second coat presently. She was bubbly, kind, and knowledgeable. She took care of us in a wonderful manner. I think it actually beneficial to be traveling with my father since most Asian cultures have a deep rooted respect for their elders…therefore Roseanne and my father got along famously. We had a full day planned in Beijing as this was really the only day that we were in the city to see the sights. We went to the 3 major sights that day – the Summer Palace, Forbidden City, and the Heavenly Palace. We were also supposed to stop and walk through the infamous Tiananmen Square - however the National Congress was meeting that week in government buildings surrounding the square…therefore it was closed! We were dejected a bit - but didn’t lose any sleep over it. We could see it from a distance.

The skies were picture perfect - a stunning blue, a cool brisk breeze…I found myself having deja-vu…for fall. I missed Fall last year because I was in New Zealand and South Africa traveling on the other side of the globe in a different hemisphere experiencing Spring. I stood in the Summer Palace learning about the Dragon Lady that bullied her way into ruling China during the Qing dynasty, yet I was mesmerized by the feeling of Fall. I sucked in a deep breath – one that made me think of pumpkin pie, Central Park, and the NY Marathon. I wrapped my pashmina around me and enjoyed the memories floating through my head. The sites were interesting to see – an ancient world that was hard to understand and imagine – a world of opium, concubine, great beauty, and unrest. A land where they didn’t record things based on years – but on Emperor’s reigning years. According to this I would have been Sherry, born on the 12th day of the 2nd lunar month of the Nixon Dynasty.

Beijing was surprising to me – it wasn’t exactly what I expected – a city of 14 million people was a bit mind boggling to me. The traffic was a stand still, much worse than any commute I had seen in NYC. As I sat in the car stuck in traffic I was stunned by the number of construction cranes I saw surrounding me. This city had the most construction in progress than I had ever witnessed. The cranes were as plentiful as the trees. They cranes were all lording over newly formed apartment high rises and business buildings. I looked around at my landscape and thought to myself that Beijing resembled NYC, with it’s numerous, tall buildings rising into the stratosphere. However – it was as if someone took the island of Manhattan and stretched it out as if it were silly putty. The buildings were spread apart, the roads were wide, and the sidewalks were big. This was the definition of ‘sprawling’. The spaciousness of it all made it feel a bit cold and stand-offish.

After a day of touring, we went to a Kung Fu show and finally back to our hotel to have a couple of much needed beers, peanuts, and spring rolls. We reminisced about our old trips to Changs on Main St. in Peoria…our special “mom is out of town’ activity, my first real international experience. It was so vivid to me – I was no longer 37…I was 12 again – simply enjoying spending time with my father. It was a good start to our time in China. I think we struck a good balance of what I was looking for and what my father would like….or maybe the beer at the end of the day was the key. Regardless – my dad and I both felt lucky that China welcomed us with blue skies, a great tour guide, and old memories.

Welcome to my 4th installment of my ever-changing itinerary! I’ve made it through the sweltering summer months in Italy, Morocco, Egypt and India. I’d like to say that my body has adjusted to the heat, but I still sweat like a westerner! Strangely enough, after spending the summer in warm places, I have no tan to show for it. There is such a thing as too hot for the beach!

I have planned my fall travel for the next 3 months. This includes a lot of travel with family and time back in Asia. I have a desire to be back in the States for the Holidays - so I guess that means that this adventure will have to come to an end sometime in December - however I can’t really think about that right now as I will start hyperventilate and panic.

Looking forward into September, October, and November:
September 24th - Oct. 2nd -Laos (via Bangkok) travel with professional photographer for personal photography training!
Oct. 3 - 5 - back in Singapore (my parents arrive from the States)
Oct. 6 - 11 - Lankawi, Malaysia travel with my mother, father, and sister’s family
Oct. 12 - 13 - Singapore
Oct. 13 - 21 - Northern China (Beijing, Great Wall trekking, Xian) with my father
Oct. 22 - 30 - Singapore
Oct. 30 - Nov. 13 - Southern China/Hong Kong (Kunming, hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangra-la) with my sister
Nov. 14 - back in Singapore
Come home…???????

If you find yourself in any of these locations when I’m there - please drop me a line and we can meet up! Or if you simply have any tips for these countries - drop me a line!

Here’s the 3rd installment of my itinerary which seems to be changing once again. The big news is that I have decided to not come home in September as originally planned, but instead stay on the road until the holidays. Yes, I just keep hopping around! I still don’t have a ticket home yet (I guess I’m still in denial), but will figure all of that out at a later date. So – what this really means is that if you know someone looking to sublet a furnished apartment in NYC for the fall…let me know!!!

In addition, this itinerary is really only solid for the summer months of travel…I really haven’t solidified my plans yet for September. Regardless, I thought some of you may like to know the summer plans as you may just want to push away from that desk or run out of that conference room and join me for a week or two!

June 2 – June 7 – Ischia, Italy
June 8 – June 11 – Rome (with friend Micah)
June 12 – 13 – Siena with Micah
June 14 – 15 – back to Rome to meet up with more friends
June 16 – 22 – Tuscany villa near Siena with friends
June 23 – July 14 -Touring around Morocco
July 15 – July 28 – Touring around Egypt
July 29 – August 8 – Geneva
August 11 – Sep 8 – Working in New Delhi India as a volunteer
Sep 9 - ? Back to Singapore to see my sister and family
Sep – Nov – I know that sometime during this time I will go to Laos, and China – but I’m unsure exactly when I will be there. I’m sure there may be a few other countries near SE Asia that I will most likely hit also!

For any of you that are worried about me (aka my parents) traveling through Morocco and Egypt on my own….no worries, I will be with a backpacking group and there is a guide that is there to assist us!