Don't Follow My Lead

Ever since I have my plans public to go to the other side of the world for an extended period of time, people have been asking me what’s my plan.

Well, the simplest answer is:  I don’t have one.   But let’s try to break it down in certain sections:

When do you leave United States:  May 29th, 2015.   From New York City.

Where are you going first:  Bangkok, Thailand.  Why Thailand?  Well, because it was the cheapest flight to Asia.  Simple as that.  I thought maybe starting in Sydney, Australia would be better.  They speak English, I have a friend living there right now.  But the plane tickets where about $400-$500 more than going to Bangkok.  I thought that maybe, might be cheaper to start in continental Asia and find a cheap flight to Sydney later on.

For how long:  Unknown.   I bought a ONE WAY ticket at the moment.  I quit my job, for this trip.  This is how important this is for me.  I have given up my income, health insurance and safety of the known, for this trip.  I have always thought that I would like to travel for about a year.  So I have been saying to people anywhere from nine (9) to twelve (12) months.  I also reserve my right to call it quits at any point in this journey.  However unlikely, if I’m homesick, I can jump on the next plane back to the US.  Also, however unlikely, if I want to stay a little bit longer, I also reserve that right.  But I doubt either scenario will come to fruition.  I have only so much money for this trip.

Budget:  Hoping to spend about one thousand dollars ($1,000 USD) a month in this trip.  So I have to survive on that, in order to make it happen.  Base on what I’ve been reading, living in South East Asia cost about $30-$35 a day.   Which puts the price point, right around my budget.  So I’m hoping I’m doing good there.  I also have a little extra money for emergencies, but is not much.

Languages:  I speak English and my native Spanish.   Unfortunately Spanish will help me zilch on my trip.   I’m going to the most remote places for Spanish speaking people.  So I will have my ears up for some kind of words in my language.  I guess I could go to the Philippines to hear some mesh of Tagalog/Spanish.   So I’m hoping my English and my phone translator help me the most in this journey.

Places to visit:  Also up in the air.   Here’s a list of countries I would like to visit:

• Thailand (1st stop)
• Cambodia (probably second stop)
• Laos
• Vietnam
• Sydney, Australia
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Myanmar (Burma)
• India (northeast corner)
• Nepal
• China & Tibet
• Mongolia
• Philippines
• South Korea
• Indonesia

I hope to hit all those countries, but depends on modes of transportation and budget that will limit my stops.   The places I know for sure I’ll be hitting are Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia.  Mongolia has been a dream of mine, probably since this idea came to me.  It seems so remote and so isolated, it drives me to know what compels Mongolians to live in such area of the world.

Depending on the way the trip takes me, I would like to finish going through Europe, by taking the Trans-Siberian Railway from Beijing to Moscow and into Europe.  This is not a concrete plan, but more of a loose strategy.  I can also decide to travel to South America, and go up the Pacific Coast to go back into the United States.

Also, in the first iteration of my plan, I would go Thailand –> Myanmar –> India –> Nepal, but with the recent earthquake that affected Nepal, unless I can help as a volunteer, it might be better to wait before hitting India and Nepal.

Flexibility is my main weapon.

Equipment:  I have purchased everything that needed to be order.  I will make a post tomorrow (probably) as all the things I’ll be taking with me.

This is it for now, 5 days and counting now…