| Pre Trip Journal |
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| 8/22 & 23/2001 How did I get to the point of being four months away from leaving home for what we hope is a two-year trip around the world? I can�t pinpoint the exact date of the first thoughts about this trip, but I know where the inspiration came from. I was surfing the net at some time in late 1998 when I stumbled across Sean Connely�s site, GoneWalkabout.com, and downloaded his journals from his 1994-1995 RTW trip. To say that the reading captivated me would be an understatement. The stories he told of places that I had thoughts of casually visiting (Australia/NewZealand) and of places I never even thought of (Bali/Singapore/ Maylasia/Nepal) made me start thinking that this was something I wanted to do. But why never before? Many friends had gone on adventurous travels before, but the urge never struck me. A good friend of mine is a computer guy like Sean and had been working contract jobs, taking a trip to South America to hike the Andes and kayak the Amazon in 1998. Before that, he went on the University of Pittsburgh�s Semester at Sea and saw Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Egypt, and Morocco. Another friend backpacked through Europe for three months after graduating from college in 1994, and yet another spent two years in Europe in the Army, visiting most of the continent on his vacation. I sat in Oxnard, not bored, but not exactly motivated either. Thinking back, I can now see why I never had any interest. During my college years (1988 � 1996), I was preoccupied (not with school, mind you) with all the things that made college an eight-year process: camping, rugby, dirt bikes, boats. All these things kept me so busy that I never had to look outside the world I knew for excitement. Rugby did introduce me to a traveling team from New Zealand and an exchange student from Australia, but I still never had the urge to get off my ass and travel. There were always too many fun things to do here. Then I went to work. This would be the turning point. Work was a necessary evil. Over the years, I had accumulated credit card debt and knew (as a result of paying attention in some of my classes) that I had to get a job and pay that off. I got work. I hated work. The transition didn�t take too long. Living at home, I was able to pay off about $8,000 in one year. I also took my first trip to Europe � Barcelona, Spain for one week - and really enjoyed myself. But still no urge to do it for an extended period of time. A change in priorities led me to the L.A.Times classifieds to look for a new job. About a year into this job, I discovered Sean�s journals and started to seriously contemplate a big trip. I also discovered that the relationship I was in was maturing, and by August of 1998 I was finally convinced that I was going to marry Monica. We were engaged in early November, and married on April 10, 1999. I never brought up as one of my priorities in life the need to travel, so it wasn�t something she ever heard a lot about from me. Marriage saddled us with a new load of credit card debt (mitigated significantly by a generous gift from my parents), along with a car payment, which took my mind off the trip. In late 1999 and early 2000, we looked for a house to buy in the Los Angeles area. That process eventually led us to conclude that (1) L.A. was for the most part an overpriced hellhole, and (2) neither of us really wanted to live in LA. We resigned ourselves to living in our tiny, but cheap, apartment. By mid-2000, we had both come to the conclusion that our next big step was not going to be settling down and buying a home. Neither of us was disappointed, because we weren�t anxious to have children (we tried a dog � which lasted 18 months). This was the window of opportunity and I took advantage of it to introduce the idea to Monica. This was not the easiest thing. During a trip to Spain/France in September 2000, we spent a �night from hell� in Paris trying to get a cab to our hotel at 1 a.m. The language barrier really bothered her and she indicated that she would prefer to only travel in countries where she could speak the language. She speaks English, German, Spanish, and Catalan. This covered many of the countries that I wanted to travel to, but not Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Nepal. But by the end of the year, I had sold her on the idea. The main attraction to this trip for her � despite the many hardships involved in making our savings last two years � was spending more time together. Traveling for work took me out of town over 50 nights a year, usually for 3 - 4 weeks at a time (but once for 8 consecutive weeks!) during the last 2 years. That was a lot of time wasted and a strain on the relationship. I will definitely be looking for a different job when I get back. The downside was living out of a backpack, not washing clothes or self for long periods of time, bugs, heat, hostels, and forgoing most of the "luxuries" we had become accustomed to. Luckily, the idea of the trip, and the fact that it didn�t conflict with our priorities, made us decide conclusively in late 2000 to make it happen. We also set a target date to leave � January of 2002. This would allow us time to save for the trip and Monica to complete all year-end work for her clients. Now time to tell everyone. The reaction that we got ranged from �you�re nuts� to �I�m / we're so jealous.� The duration of the trip is what shocked many people. A RTW in six months, staying at hotels and doing the tourist circuit was not that wild of an idea, but becoming backpackers on a budget was another story. Troubles in Indonesia and Nepal caused many to ask if we thought it was safe. I reminded them that we live in L.A., and I had lived in Washington DC - the murder capital of the USA. Neither of these places is safe. People have a weird feeling of security at home, thinking that somehow the violence that surrounds us can�t harm them if they are safe in their home or car. We both realize the risks of travel, but also that they don�t appear any more severe than the risk of driving down an L.A. freeway. We also don�t have any overwhelming desire to enter a country where things don�t look safe. Skipping one country would mean spending more time someplace else. Not a problem. With all this decided, the moment came in August 2001 when I purchased two one-way tickets to Christchurch, New Zealand, via Fiji, departing January 8, 2002. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/12/01 Wow. Who could have imagined what yesterday brought us. Tragedy on a scale that dwarfs even the day-to-day madness that is felt in much of the world. Four planes taken over by a new generation of warriors. The world definitely changed yesterday. From now on, any hijacking will be greeted with a new level of terror. So much for the safety of home. 10/10/01 With a new shooting war ongoing, and a pool of targets that surround and occupy the majority of our destinations in Southeast Asia, who knows what will happen. I do know this much � I�m very glad that we didn�t buy anything more than the first airline ticket to get us from L.A. to Fiji to Christchurch. Getting saddled with having to adjust a pre-paid itinerary that will change, based on conditions that vary by the hour would have been a pain. We�re still as intent as ever on going. The possibility of spending an extended time in NZ and OZ, then moving on to Europe (as opposed to six months in SEA and Nepal) would be different, but still plenty of fun. It is amazing to see the States become a more likely target for violence than most other �dangerous� places that we were headed to. Now we have people thinking that they want to get the hell out with us, to someplace benign - like New Zealand. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What about practical matters? We started the process of getting ready by purchasing clothes, boots, and packs; booking backpacking trips in New Zealand; and starting our shots over the summer of 2001. I created storage space in my mom�s garage in Oxnard so we could store things (including all the wedding presents that were never opened) while we were gone. I figured the last thing I wanted was to be in a hurry at the end. This would only lead to spending too much money to make the last minute problems go away. We have a small apartment in Burbank that has been on a month-to month lease for years. Moving out will be simple enough. Much of our stuff is already in Oxnard. We plan on selling off much of the stuff we have in the apartment and all the furniture, except for our bed. The yard sale should be interesting. By mid-December, we should be down to just the stuff that will be going with us on the trip, a futon, and the work clothes I need to get through the last few weeks. The truck is going up for sale in late November so that we don�t get stuck having to take a poor deal at the last minute. Monica has started telling her clients that she will not be around next year. Their reaction has been almost always the same: �Hey, that's great! We�re happy for you, but what the hell are we going to do without you?� Luckily, she already has a replacement lined up. A friend with whom she has worked before is a perfect replacement. She's going to start introducing the clients to her in October / November in case either her friend or her clients don�t think it will work out. That will give them time to find their own replacement. How to pay for it all? We made the decision not to go into debt on this trip. To finance this thing, we changed (but not radically) our spending habits and decided to save up a truckload of cash. We had all our debt paid off by late 2000 and began saving. Most of what would finance this trip is the proceeds from the sale of our new truck. We had a 1998 Ford Ranger that would be � of the way paid off in January 2001. It developed a problem in January 2000, and by April, Ford bought it back and we purchased a new 2001 Explorer Sport Trac. Given that it is a brand new model, is selling very well, and will have less than 10,000 miles on it when we go to sell it in November, and that we would only owe $4,000 on the loan, we hope that we get most of the purchase price back. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/30/01 Money on the road? I applied for, and got, an American Express card well in advance. I already had plenty of credit, but AmEx is handy for making check cashing and travelers checks available worldwide. Of the regular credit cards we had, I chose to use one which would allow us to build up points toward flights and hotel stays that can be used worldwide. We are going to find a money market account that will allow us to (1) earn a decent rate of return, (2) write checks to be cashed at AmEx offices, and (3) automatically pay the VISA bill. Our mothers will both be on the account to manage emergencies and review the credit card statements for anything wierd. We plan on e-mailing home lists of charges every few weeks for comparison. I think we�ll rely on credit cards as a first choice, travelers checks and ATM cards most of the time, with check-cashing at AmEx when other means fail. But what would we do for that length of time on the road? I had never wanted this trip to be a �tour�. Neither of us wants to be tied down to the itinerary of some tour company � besides, the cost would make them prohibitive. It's going to be as flexible as possible, buying airline/bus/train tickets along the way. If we feel tired, we'll stay put for a while. The main thing I want to do is rest. After 5 years in the office, a long time outside doing nothing in particular sounded pretty attractive. I have some ideas of what to see and where to go from reading travelogues on the net and visiting many 100s of websites. Knowing that things that seem really important now may not in a year, we're not counting on anything. In May 2001 a friend handed us the Lonely Planet guide to backpacking New Zealand. We picked out 3 backpacking trips that needed to be booked in advance if we wanted to hike them in the Summer of 2002. On July 2, we booked ourselves on three, roughly week-long trips on the South Island; this will take up nearly one-third of the 3 months we have planned on staying in NZ. We�re hoping that this gets us toughened up a little before proceeding into SE Asia and Nepal. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10/10/01 When I e-mailed the UCSB men�s rugby team to find out when the alumni game would be this year, I got an answer and a surprise. Turns out, the team is touring the North Island of New Zealand the last week of March 2002, right at the time that we're going to head up there, too. Looks like not only will I be able to watch some rugby, but I will also get to play some too. Nothing like having a sober (hopefully) old man around to anchor the forward pack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What about the details? The topics of what to take, how to get around, vaccinations, etc. are covered in outstanding detail on many other Web sites. One piece of information that I kept in mind was not carrying too much stuff. The only wrinkle in this is having the intention to go to Nepal right in the middle of this trip. Nepal is about the only place besides New Zealand (our first stop) where we would need cold-weather clothing. This means that we will spend 5 months hauling around sweaters, pants, hats, gloves, etc. around the hot regions of Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. This stuff takes up roughly 25% of all the room in our packs. Kind of a waste of effort, but then again we�ll be moving slowly, so hopefully it won�t be too great of a burden. I also made sure that we bought backpacks that were small enough so that even when full, weren�t too heavy. It is only the �at home� mentality that makes you think that you need 3 pair of pants, 7 shirts, etc� so if we can�t carry it, it stays at home. Much of the gear that we'll need, we already have; the rest we purchased by scouring discount stores: clothes from the clearance rack at Sport Chalet, boots for Monica from Marshalls, and clearance gear from the REI Outlet filled our closet during early 2001. Thankfully, with plenty of time we could always wait to find something that would work on sale. Monica�s pack was found on sale, and mine was purchased from Costco. Hers is roughly 1/3 smaller, but sized well. We kept track of all our expenses on Quickbooks, and the total we spent for gear was $ . We decided to take sleeping bags because we would need them in New Zealand and Nepal. I bought synthetic bags so that we wouldn�t have to worry about getting them wet. A couple of compression stuff sacks mashed them down to a manageable size. Where to go? I must admit that I used Sean�s itinerary as a guide for this trip � up to Nepal. I knew all along that I had zero interest in the great land journey across southern Asia to Europe. Monica�s parents own a house in Barcelona, Spain, so exploring Europe would be more easily accomplished with the house as a base to work out of � so we're not planning that far ahead. The countries that were on the priority list were New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Nepal. Because of their path, Malaysia and Singapore are natural choices. We�re still thinking of visiting China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and India. Likely, we will fly into Europe from Thailand. Neither of us have a real desire to see China, but we have friends who live in Shanghai. Hong Kong and Vietnam would be interesting, but we�re not going to make a special effort or spend much money to get there. India seems like a difficult (though cheap) country to travel in. Part of what is shaping our destination choices and ideas are the contacts we have in various countries. How to go? Organized tours appear to be much too expensive. I am sure that they allow people to see some of the more remote areas that we�ll never see, but at the expense of cutting the trip shorter. The idea of renting a room for a month at a time in Australia is still a possibility. Living in a beach town in Sydney would provide a much more relaxing and likely enlightening experience than hanging out in hostels with the backpacker crowd. Where to stay? If we have any hope of making this thing last 2 years, we're going to have to learn how to get along in hostels. I�m sure this will be a challenge, even with earplugs. Luckily, the majority of hostels that we have seen have private double rooms. We�ll see. Some of the stories on the net talk of neighbors and even roommates partying all night and finally falling asleep right when it is time for you to get up. If this means becoming night owls so we can sleep during the day when needed, we�ll have to adapt. I also plan on using retaliation well. Checking into a hostel early where there are many sleeping off hangovers, and making a load of noise just to keep them up, etc. A group called Servas arranges for 2-night stays in private homes all over the world. We will take advantage of this to get out of the hostels and to spend time with the locals. Advantages are that many of the hosts do not live in the heart of the city, which will allow us to get out into the suburbs that otherwise would remain unexplored. It also provides access to facilities (washing machines) that would otherwise be too costly, if they are available at all to a backpacker. We also hope to use globalfreeloader.com�s service. They allow travelers and hosts to find each other all over the world. Hosts indicate what type of space they have (spare room, floor space, tent site, etc.) and how many people they can handle. Very informal, but also fun. I met up with a traveler from Malaysia when I was in San Francisco. We had dinner and I learned a lot about his country. I also hope that he will be in Kuala Lumpur (KL just like LA) in a year when we are there. What did we do to prepare? Physically � We both joined a gym and worked on cardiovascular health. Lots of shots. Mentally � one of the more useful things we did to get ready for this trip was to establish contacts along the way. We both have family friends in New Zealand. That, combined with the Western culture, should get us off to an easy start. By asking around to all the people we can, we are developing a list of friends, relatives, and acquaintances in most countries along the way. This is turning out to be easier than expected. I think you would be surprised at where you can find people who know someone somewhere. We are planning on sending postcards and introducing ourselves prior to arrival. It would be nice to arrive in a new place greeted by a friendly face who can help us get settled our first few days. One of the things I did was to get on the net and post my name and plan for this trip on backpacker and travel boards on the net. Simply offering to meet with people when they were in LA (or in San Francisco � I work up there often) opened up several friendships that may pay off later. It's exciting to think that in a year or so I could meet one of these people or their friends on the other side of the planet. Why? As always, the $64,000 question. I have a number of reasons for wanting to go. My father once received the following as a reply from an Engineering Professor following the statement �I just landed a job with Bosch��..�: �Young man, get yourself a job working outside, in the sunshine. Nothing could be more miserable than toiling inside all day.� After working in a fortified structure for several years, I see his point. A friend of mine is a Fish and Game Warden. Granted,I would prefer a job that doesn�t have a job description that reads in part �people may shoot at you,� but the idea of making one�s living outside is quite appealing. Shy of making a living outdoors, I want to spend some time outside. The economic downturn after the .com crash that started in November 2000 really made this decision easy. During a slump, wages are going to remain flat, if not contract, so getting a new job with better pay wasn�t looking too good. I wouldn�t have lost my job at the Bank, but I was already bored. The two places to ride this slump out were in graduate school or traveling, because I wasn�t missing out on serious money in the job market. With no mortgage or kids tying us down, travel made sense. Besides, graduate school would be easy enough when we get back. It would be natural to head back to school, have a kid, and live on loans while interest rates are way down. In 5 � 6 years when we get the next big economic boom, I�ll be ready. We could always decide to move to another country, or maybe never stop traveling. Who knows? The Internet The Internet is an amazing window to the world, and I have used it extensively to plan this trip. Thousands of questions all answered for you. I would be much more unsure of what I have planned without the benefit of the experiences shared by others. You can get answers to some pretty odd questions in seconds just by searching. I was able to book accommodation in advance to help mitigate the �first night� stress of arriving in a strange land with no clue. |
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