Wow and so it begins. I wish I could have written a thousand times before now but this is the first moment I’ve had with two seconds free for anything other than packing, sorting, discarding, and frantically scraping all the necessary details and major factors together to make this trip happen. It is tragic that so many moments were lost without being recorded, lived without being marked and thus without being remembered, but I guess that is the nature of this sort of beast and if there is another way, this wasn’t my time to get to see it.

We made a lot of mistakes in preparing for this trip, I see that now. I guess they weren’t mistakes in that we had a right choice and we chose the wrong one, more in that we had no idea that this monster was so big and so demanding. There was just so much STUFF to be dealt with, despite our best efforts to pare it all down (which we did do pretty darn good), there was still so much, too much. The smartest thing to have happened was mom suggesting we just get a storage unit and us finally agreeing for simplicity. Suddenly $800 something didn’t seem like so much to spend. Further than that even, knowing what I know now, I’d pay the double to have gotten the unit in Tucson and an air-conditioned one at that. It would have saved us SO much time and SO much headache and I really regret that we didn’t do it that way.

The past week or week and a half has been marked by nothing but frenzy. I so fell short of my goal/idea that I’d actually have it all done with two weeks post-work to spare just hanging out and enjoying the last of the time in Tucson. There was not a single moment of hanging out or relaxing or enjoying anything. Even the hockey party, it was hard to relax and just have a good time in the midst of all the craziness. Still it was a really neat experience to see someone put on that kind of a gesture for us and then to raise $1200 to boot!

But everything else is just this hazy, terrible, frantic blur and I wish I could take it all back, the last 3 months, the last 6 months, the last 9 months, and do it over again differently. I was too lazy; all those times I told myself I’ll just relax and take it easy and knew that I should be doing other stuff and wasn’t…if even just a fraction of those I had gotten off my rear end and been truly productive instead of messing around a lot of panic could have been spared for these last couple of weeks and I would have traded that a million times over. I know it’s too late to worry or care about that now for this trip, but for any future similar endeavors or as counsel for anyone who might follow in similar footsteps, it certainly goes as worth saying.

The problem with this trip though has always been its limitlessness. The lack of boundaries was paralyzing; even with more time, the lists never would have been done. There was always, always, always, always more to be done, researched, read, written, watched, investigated. Perhaps there was no other way; things were bound to be misplaced, lost, forgotten, too late, too little. Perhaps it could have been worse and maybe this wasn’t so bad. It’s tough to say. All I know is it was insanity that I wish hadn’t gone the way it did, and that is rare.

Yet here we are. First class seat (pod) on a dark 777 American Airlines airplane India-bound. Holy freakin cow who actually thought someday we’d be here? I didn’t! Even for all the daydreaming, the planning, the charting, the mapping, the researching, all of it, it was always in the end completely and utterly unfathomable, incomprehensible, unbelievable. The truth is, it still is. It is nothing short of surreal; I can’t believe that we’ll be stepping off this plane any more than I can believe we stepped onto it. Can’t believe that we left our mothers behind, including our motherland and country, and that, if things go according to “plan”, the vortex time warp we have just voluntarily stepped into.

Three years. The only thing that makes the whole thing a little more stomachable is the relative comparison to entering the military – at least we are not going into direct and mortal danger. You would think so, the way some people act. But the fact of the matter is, when it gets too big or too overwhelming or too unknown or too scary, that’s the truth of it – it’s one big beautiful amazing trip that we are going to be a part of for so long because we will be so ENGAGED and so AMAZED and so BUSY with awesomeness…and not being sentenced to a probable violent death in some warzone.

I’m not sure what it is that makes the scope of the thing so much for people to be able to handle or relate to. Is it the time? Is 3 years really that long? Doesn’t seem so; seems to me that would go by in the blink of an eye. Is it the distance covered? I just don’t know. It boggles my mind sometimes now too, but it’s one of those things I think has been handed to me by nurture; were I left wholly to my own perspectives and devices, it would (and does) seem natural and obvious to me. Not too sure why so many of the mainstream people seem to have their heads turned by it. I can certainly understand the appeal of staying in one place now; but not to the point of actually doing it. At least…not yet. Not before or without having done, you know, the other side of it.

But at any rate, we’re going. Tonight/tomorrow we will end up in Delhi, India, step foot into the wild and woolies that we’ve been anticipating and fearing and dreading and looking forward to for so long. I am scared of the first night, getting to the/a hotel, but after that, I feel confident and like I will be able to get my bearings and carry on with ease. I feel GREAT about our packs and how light we will end up traveling. We did REALLY good on that part. We look sleek and slick and like stay the heck away from us we ain’t your stinkin target. This is everything it’s cracked up to be, I know that already without having even jumped yet into the chaos. Once we get there and ditch the “nice” clothes, we -or at least I, not sure bout Ray yet- will be able to consolidate to one backpack and be hands-free and swift on our feet.

I look forward to the sparkling beaches of Thailand; they feel like my safe haven calling my name to reward us after many long weeks and months traveling, traveling, traveling. Before that, right now I am just eagerly anticipating a few days of rest, relaxation, recuperation, and recovery in the hotel room with no demands or tasks or to-do’s left available to do on my head.

And now, it is almost 10p my time and I feel like I haven’t slept really in three or four weeks and I’m about ready to get back on my feet so I’m going to start now. We’ve got like 10 more hours to go before arrival thankfully, so that will be a great chance to get started without giving up any of our precious Asia time. It’s hard to imagine now with three years stretched before us, but a part of me knows this will go fast, faster than I’d ever imagine, just as the time in Tucson and all the time preparing seems to have gone now that it’s all over. There is no stepping in the same river once the river has gone past. I need some sleep to make sense of it while it’s here.

Cross your fingers big time that there will be someone from Cottage Yes Please waiting for us at the airport. That’s all I ask for at this point and I will be one happy, content camper.

Life is… well life is about to be Real again. THIS is my “real world”.

Come check out photos of the flight and all the vaccinations, parties, packing, and incredible parts of our long Pre-trip Journey.

From the personal files… First entry – On the Plane is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

That’s right. I’m going. is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

If I had it to do over again, I would do some things differently. Unfortunately, the beauty and bane of a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” is that it is, well, once-in-a-lifetime. But nonetheless, should time travel ever become possible or should anyone chance upon this who might be doing the same thing or might be inspired to do the same thing, let me impart some wisdom.

Things done right: getting rid of a ton of our stuff.
Things could have been done better: No, seriously. GET RID OF A TON MORE OF YOUR STUFF

Things done right: starting sorting and sorta-packing months in advance
Things could have been done better: FINISH sorting and REALLY-packing months in advance

Things done right: get a storage unit
Things could have been done better: get a storage unit WAY before one week before departure, get an AIR-CONDITIONED unit if you live in Arizona, and get it in TUCSON if you live in TUCSON and not in PHOENIX, two hours AWAY, if you live in Tucson!!!!

In addition to the hours and stress-cells mom burned with us in the heat and heaps helping us get packed up, packed in, and moved out, her biggest contribution was probably to tell us to get a storage unit. Sure we’d considered – and dismissed – it, long ago. We, perhaps foolishly, thought we’d be able to pare down our stuff to a few small boxes that would be easily farmed out to friends and family, just one box to each place, should be no sweat off anyone’s back.

But we found for as much as we DID get rid of (Craigslist patrons and the Goodwill sure made a killing that week with bins and bins and bins and bins of stuff), we still had too much to reasonably expect to farm out with only days left on the countdown. While we could have done better (you can always do better), to our credit, it IS pretty hard to maintain a functioning life if we packed up a lot of it any sooner. Hockey playoffs, for example, would have been hard to play without hockey skates and gear. Work would have been challenging to finish without a desk or computer. Etc., etc.

We also found that friends and family, dear and supportive as they are in some regards, some in many regards, are either not keen or willing to adopt even one of your boxes for three years. Or as was the case with many of our peers, they don’t even know where they’re going to be by then. Most people are already so stuffed to the gills with “stuff” of their own they simply don’t have the space or sanity to spare to take on our junk – er, treasures – as well. (Btw thanks to Peter Walsh’s audiobook “It’s All Too Much” which I played on endless loop while going through my stuff, I am now a HARDCORE GET RID OF STUFF veteran – I would HIGHLY recommend the purging process of junk that I went through, even -and especially- if you’re not doing it with the ultimate aim of a giant trip. It’s extremely liberating and freeing of the body and the mind. Seriously.) The bottom line is, we should have planned to bite the bullet and pay for a storage unit. It sounded like too painful a wasted expense though, back when we had enough time to naively think we might get our stuff down to maybe six boxes between us, and when we weren’t, well, freaking the heck out about departure – and now add a no-nonsense mom to the mix who has a tendency to helicopter as only mothers can when they see their little chickadees are clearly entering the realm of completely dysfunctional, sleep-deprived, and basically running around in circles mentally and physically as Ray and I ended up doing at the end.

So in the end, Hover-Mom not-too-difficult-ly convinced us to get a unit. She knew a cheap one that was half the price of what our minimal searches (the best we could muster with the time crunch – are you getting a sense of things yet?) had yielded. Half the price – that is, $24 a month instead of $50 – goes a long way stretched out over 3 years and thinking in terms of “hmm $24 can buy me two weeks’ accommodation in a BEACH HUT on the white sparkling sands and turquoise waters of THAILAND… or it can buy me a month of storage for stuff I’m not using.” Catch was, it was in Phoenix. And “air-cooled”, not “air-conditioned”, which means pretty much nothing when we’re talking melting Phoenix temps in summer – which, B.T. Dub, of course we were gearing this whole operation at the END of JULY. This again might not be *that * big a deal, to not have A/C in the unit, if we weren’t talking about one of the world’s greatest own-life historians, who has boxes and boxes and boxes of photos and videotapes from childhood on and innumerable awesome life adventures that she’d just assume preserve. And coupled with Ray, one of the world’s greatest walking tech-stores…well…suffice it to say maybe shelling out for an A/C unit –in Tucson, so as to avoid having to worry about car space to haul it the 2 hour drive- would have been worth the dough after all. But it was too late for that now. At least the bulk of it went to our 5×5 unit and Ray’s parents relented to take the rest and stash it under the beds for us. (Thanks, Ray’s parents!) Lessons learned. Useless for us now, but maybe helpful for you!!

But while it was all a whirlwind of chaos at the end, it wasn’t all a bad one. Despite the stress, tempers didn’t flare too much and we all emerged more or less friends. All the pets got good homes – the frog went to a Craigslist buyer who had come for shelves and left with the shelves as well as with “Flipper”, Coby my sweet Betta went to a family who was super excited to get him which made me very happy, and the ratties (sniff) who live to about 2 ½ years old, went to a family who has, um, a 5½-YEAR-OLD one!! The roommate got basically cleaned out with us gone, and even though she says the house is lonely now, probably is relieved to have our explosion of mess finally vacated from her living room, laundry room, garage, etc….

The highlight of the madness was definitely the amazingly sweet and generous going away party that our friend from hockey Jessi organized for us at Bladeworld, the rink Ray and I had been playing at for the past year and a half. She sponsored the entire thing – free beer and rink time included, AND went around to every person who wanted to partake with her very officious clipboard and stern business demeanor and somehow extricated about $600 from some 30-people for our trip – and then on top of that, matched the proceeds herself! Wow. Just…wow. The generosity from all the people who have contributed to this trip has been so heartening and awesome and basically incredible. That support and encouragement already more than once has kept us going forward with this trip instead of turning around and getting right back on the next plane out of Asia before we even give it a chance! The party was awesome because we got to chat some, drink some (not too much because we wanted to play hockey and G’s health insurance had just expired the day before!), and sweat some. I’d never seen the benches so full – 10 people on each side. Somehow I don’t think most of them were there for sentimental reasons to see us off, and more like for the free hockey, haha but that’s all right. Billie from our team christened us on arrival with some cool hemp necklaces that she had made which we are still wearing through all the sweat baths and definitely add to our traveling-hippie look; the backs of our hands were immediately emblazoned with a Sharpie-drawn “G” like everyone else to denote that we were part of the party and therefore entitled to the holy red plastic cups; and Shannon adorned our upper arms with some of the temporary tattoos she had brought with her. It was a good time and a great commemorative event to mark the end of our stint in Tucson. THANK YOU, JESSI!! And thank you to everyone who helped support and encourage us in our pre-trip days, it was so much fun to look forward to even before we began! Never did get a chance to contact local businesses or news stations to tell em about the trip (bummer), so if you think you know of any other group, school or classroom project, organization, or media outlet that might like to partake somehow, please let em know for us! I’d still love to get us on Letterman and/or Oprah, or at least KGUN9 On Your Side lol, but for now that will have to take a backburner as communication of any sort is hard enough just to our immediate friends and family now with these electricity and internet woes!

So, in the end, we did somehow (thanks Mom!!) get moved out of Tucson more or less intact and actually got on the plane on the date scheduled. I know this entry is a little out of order, but hey I’m in India now where EVERYTHING is out of order, so that’s how I get to roll.

So “Goodbye Tucson!” and, at long last, hello Trip!!

Ok. NOW we can really begin the trip posts!! :)

The well of time has run dry, or: AAAGH!!! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

There is too much to say and no time to say it, but I wanted to make one last commemorative post from stateside. When I write again, it will be from INDIA!!! We leave tomorrow morning and who would have EVER thought that being in Delhi would sound like the most relaxing thing in the world.

God help us. Let’s go, let’s DO IT!!!!!

THIS IS IT!!! IT’S TIME!!!! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Prior to making my final decision of popping the first pill, I consulted the Oracle (Cyndi, our Travel Nurse). I decided to take the little ‘typhoid that could’ pill, and carry the rest onto the plane. I mean, something about dying from typhoid within a week’s arrival in India didn’t fit in well with the itinerary. Luckily, she’d had other patients in a similar situation, so I was able to relax a bit. After all, I figured taking the vaccine on the plane ‘shouldn’t be an issue’ so I went along my merry way not thinking anything more of it. At about 2am the night before the departure, it struck me: “Can a live vaccine go through an x-ray machine!?” Oh boy, the one question I didn’t bother to ask. I commenced panicking and forfeited sleep for google searches like “travel with typhoid”, “typhoid through xray”, and my classic “can typhoid vaccine be taken on a plane by someone that didn’t think to start a week prior to departure”….

It wasn’t until 3am that I had the ‘craziest’ (read: “good”) idea of calling a 24 hour pharmacy and asking a rather bored pharmacist for help. I must have called 5 places before I got an actual pharmacy that was open at 3 in the morning (Note, if you ever happen to be in a similar situation, using a google search of ’24 hour pharmacy Phoenix’ isn’t the most accurate).  Of course, talking to the pharmaacist was reassuring. He gave me the manufacturer’s phone number to call (which I promptly did at 5 in the morning). After speaking with a chemist/manufactuer, I was set. The vaccine was okay to go through the x-ray. Now I just need to worry about how to keep it cold…

The best laid plans… is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Tomorrow, Mom (who arrived yesterday) and I are taking bins all over creation to try to get *some * travel fundage for all my worldly possessions; but barring success…they are then going to the Goodwill and I am NOT looking back. I don’t even care. I don’t even care anymore! I just want it gone! I just want to have my backpack, one backpack, to have to think about or worry about. And in that backpack, I just want things that you know, I really don’t care if they get stolen. I mean, I’ll care, but not…CARE. I am so ready and so excited to be beyond these chains to my things. I didn’t think I had such chains. Now that I’m faced with NO storage options at all, I realize how much I am.

Not for long! And then….oh good lord we’ve got only 8 days left before departure.

You will notice the lack of postings… is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

We’re going to India in less than 10 days!!

OMFG OMFG OMFG

Okay, so, it has finally hit me, and apparently G (read post below). Limited cash flow (ie. NONE), plane flight in 10 days, tons of packing left to do, technology stuff to get going, videos to encode, gear to buy, showers to take, fresh water to drink, toilet paper to enjoy, what the hell am I doing in North Carolina? Yes, I know what you are thinking: “WTF are you doing in North Carolina when you leave in a week!?” Well, the first of only 6 cousins on my Mom’s side of the family just got married. I had to. But now…

OMG OMG OMG

You have to wonder what motivates a person to 1) effectively ‘quit’ work, 2) sell off all of their belongings, 3) fly 234082347.992 miles away, and most of all 4) shun toilets and any resemblance to American toilet paper for the next 3 years. Well, we’ll all have to continue wondering because I’m still trying to figure out what the hell that motivation is myself. I’m thinking something about culture and awesomeness…. We’ll see when we get there in <shudder> 10 days.

The realization factor has been coming on pretty strong this last week… Especially when I’m exhausted and can’t go to sleep because I’m having nightmares of stepping in a mound of stinky cow poo in the middle of a trashy street and me not caring because I’m too busy salivating over the same luscious, plump cow who deposited my new footrest. Crisis averted though! My top priority before departure is almost complete. I figure in the last 3 weeks I have almost eaten a whole cow.

Now, about that packing… <thanks G>

Yeah… Me too… is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

That’s all I can muster for now.

Ok it’s definitely freak out time now. is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

So Ray-bone and I have been a little MIA this week because

a) we were laying helplessly under mounds of our acquired CRAP that we’re trying to sort and pack (thanks a lot for NOTICING and sending HELP, you BASTARDS!!!), then once dislodged from under 27 years of possessions, we had to

b) catch our flight to San Fran to see G’s 243,000 long-lost cousins, aunts, uncles, “just call everyone who is about your age cousin and everyone else auntie or uncle” at the family reunion
PLUS G’s two best chick friends -she does have a few- Jo from HS & Tina from college,

aaaaaaand

c) come back and try to sort out wtf we’re doing with all the aforementioned crap… add the 243,000 new cousins, aunts, uncles, omg-we-must-be-the-entire-Hawaiian-population-of-the-WORLD to our Facebook accounts… finish up our LAST ROUND OF SHOTS!!!… and enjoy our LAST hockey games at the rink!

And man we’re stoked tonight! Not only did we win the first game of playoffs to advance to the second round (unfortunately in the same night, pant pant pant where is my f-ing inhaler), but we also got to see how much our hockey friends RULE when our friend Jessi came armed tonight with a stack of fliers (thanks Rob!), advertising a donation party she is full-on sponsoring for us at the rink next Saturday!!

How much awesomeness is that!? We will get to drink beer, socialize, and even play two hours of pickup hockey with our buddies, while raising some money for the trip – and Jessi has generously offered to match whatever is donated!! Omg…people frigging RULE! Ray and I feel very honored and privileged to be living a life so full and rich and inclusive of such great people. Yeah life is good!

The trip is exactly two weeks away now, and once we figure out where all this crap in our house is going to go, we will be feeling pretty sweet. Ray leaves tomorrow for his cousin’s wedding in North Carolina, mom comes in on Saturday, and before we know it we’re going to be having some very dysfunctional wtf-have-we-done posts for you up here. It’s all coming together now!

Now I’m not gonna lie, Ray and I have been getting a little testy with each other with all the stuff in our heads that we’re trying to get done and keep straight, and the trip has been canceled and un-canceled a few times this week. So anyone out there who might be planning a similar venture with your dear sweet significant-other-that-you-randomly-hate-for-15-minute-bouts, don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal.

We’ve just built it into our checklist of “Things to Do” in order to accommodate:

Things to Do

1. eat live Typhoid virus

2. make arm hate you one more time and tell it it’s for its own good because Meningitis can lead to amputation and you don’t want that now do you, Arm? Ok then now simmer down and shut up.

3. Hate Ray for half an hour. Cancel trip.

4. Make nice, re-instate trip and continue packing up house. Stuff 27 years of belongings into 3 boxes and beg parents and friends to store said boxes

5. Continue begging parents and friends to help with storage when they say “sorry, our garage/attic/basement/we’re not storing your boxes please just go away/storage unit is full.”

5a. Use puppy eyes in extreme cases.

6. Fill prescription for a medium-sized pharmacy and wonder how you’re going to fit three years of gear plus a Walgreens into one backpack.

Decide that in order to do so, there will have to be some downsizing and explain to your nether regions, “Really, Nether Regions, you don’t need any more than two pairs of underwear for three years. Man up.”

…and also explain to your mothers, “Really mom, we know what we’re doing.”

7. Hate G for half an hour. Cancel trip.

8. Make nice, re-instate trip. Feel accomplished with all you’ve gotten done – then look around at all that is left to do.

9. Go to your happy place.

10. Forget your happy place, you can’t find it buried under all the boxes so just sit in a corner and rock back and forth for awhile. What trip? I don’t see any trip.

See, everything is going along just swimmingly. Really mom, we know what we’re doing.

WOOOHOOOO!!!! Life is GOOD! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

After Summit Hut we trekked on over to the Pima County Health Department to get the last of our Twinrix (Hep A and B) shots. Seeing the line extend out the door (about 50 people long) we had thoughts about calling Concentra and scheduling a quick appointment with our travel RN, Cyndi. That idea came to a screeching halt after we found out that not only was Cyndi was out of town, but that the same shots at Concentra were almost double the cost of the ones at the Health Department. We stuck to our guns (Thanks G), and ended up getting out of there about an hour and a half later. The place was small and uncomfortable (about the size of our living room). While we were standing in line one of the nurses went to the thermostat to try and bump up the A/C. It was funny watching her press the buttons angrily only to find out that the A/C was already at the lowest setting of 64˚ (even though the registered temperature was 78˚, but also right underneath the vent). In addition to the heat, lots of bodies in a small place meant not a whole lot of personal space. I took this as an opportunity to appreciate what space I had as well as understanding that personal space does not exist in some of the places we are traveling…  In the end, I’m glad we saved almost $300 by going to the health department. I am also VERY happy to say we are done with the visits to the Health Department to get said shots.

VICTORY!

New Lizard Homes, and Shots is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Well ok technically, Ray’s on a leave of absence. But for all  intents and purposes, our butts are on the way to the poorhouse! And what a wonderful road there it’s going to be. We are definitely ready to STOP SAVING our money and start SPENDING it.

Now, whether we’re ready to go, as in prepared, as in planned, as in packed…um…no. If I was ready for a match for this crap last week, I am REALLY READY now!!! We don’t have the time to sort any more of this junk. I just want it gone! What IS all this stuff?? Where did it come from? Where is it going??!

No, seriously. Where the hell are we going to put it? Does anyone have any spare space in their garage, basement, attic, spare bedrooms, for a couple of boxes? The idea was to have all this junk sorted, boxed and farmed out to our loving, wonderful friends by now, ready for pick up in another couple of years. But now we’re starting to wonder.

Ugh. I just made the mistake of looking behind me. The piles are on the move again…From one corner…to another…to the bed…back to the corner. Eyes straight ahead, please. If you ignore it, it’s not there.

The good news is, we did start preliminary packing today. I think I have found -or rather, Ray has found- the backpack I will probably be taking.  As you can see, even stuffed full like it is in the picture there, it’s quite sleek and is actually even more low-profile than it looks. The thing on the back is for trekking poles, and I’ll probably just take it off, or at least color in the orange with black Sharpie (cuz that’s how I roll high class). While there is no way to get around looking like the whitey tourists we are, we do want to be as non-bulky and non-please-come-mug-me-at-this-chaotic-train-station as possible. Not to mention the fact that we’ll be traveling on the tops of the trains, riding on the humps of the camels, and flying by the seats of our pants. Best to be lightly loaded!

Speaking of pants, I also spent a fair amount of time prancing around in my convertible pants today. I have to go to Summit Hut tomorrow to see if they have a size smaller, as  these are approximately 43 sizes too big (unlike the pictures which are a disgusting mockery of any sort of realistic rear end) – but dammit they’re awfully comfortable. Like wearing air. Or, at least, a big-top tent. I don’t know if the other ladies out there have had the pleasure of trying on these sorts of pants before but they have a way of making you feel as slim and trim as trying to ork yourself into a dry wetsuit on a sweaty day.

Now take that experience and try doing it in a street full of (holy!) cows and their (holy!) shit with the ubiquitous smell of urine mixed with incense while tuk-tuks are zooming by and car horns are blaring, and I think I will rather enjoy just taking my tent-pants, wrap them around me, close the flap and call it a day, thankyouverymuch. So while, despite my gym membership having been on a donation-basis for the past one or two or seven months, I may not quite yet fill out the 44-46 inch XXL waistline, maybe I’ll just keep the massively oversized ones after all, just to be able to crawl all the way into them – also a benefit to having a streamlined, go-anywhere backpack – whenever I feel the (hourly?) need to go fetal.

Can you tell I’m a wee bit leery of India?

19 days…

We’re FREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

So, for now, I can take a quick look at the ‘wow’ factor: How does it feel? Well, I have to say the whole idea hasn’t quite hit me yet, but I did note a funny feeling/experience tonight. I think it was the resounding impact of my choice (to take the leave of absence) that rang in my ear as I stood in the grocery store at 11:30pm contemplating the purchase of a small package of cheddar (for the burgers I was going to start cooking at midnight!). It was funny because I knew that not working meant my paycheck will cease, and that the 3 dollars I could spend now on 8 slices of cheese would buy almost 1 night’s stay in Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam. It was a new and interesting feeling because the impact of this choice left me with a great appreciation for what I have, what I need, and a decent understanding of how these simple consequences are a direct result of choice. Had it been 2 years ago it wouldn’t have even been a thought in my mind. So, as I stood there contemplating the next 2.5 years of my life in the ‘cheese’ aisle at Safeway, I laughed. I put the cheese back on the rack, and walked to the cashier with what I intended to purchase: 2 kaiser rolls at 55 cents each.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a roller coaster of emotion as we pack and then depart, but we’ll take it one step at a time. Right now I’m just getting used to the idea that my leave of absence begins tomorrow. For now, farewell IBM. I’ll see you when I get back.

Here we go! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Until we had those suckers in our hot little hands, I was holding my breath, ready for the irritating setback of the passports being lost in the mail either in the renewal process, or in the India-visa mailing back and forth that followed right after happily getting the new ones back. But it’s done! We’re official! We are go for launch! Nothing holds us back but our own cold feet, and well…that’s what we have a website for. :]  To make sure no one lets us shudder our way right back out of it.

And so, this time in 3 weeks…we will be in the air, exactly halfway to Delhi. Good god – we’d better get packing!

Iiiiiit’s Official! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

I’ve been to this place 4 times before with my department but I didn’t consider the facts that 1) every single one of those times, I had unintentionally rediscovered the amazingly (crappy) designed one-way streets of downtown Tucson (FAR FROM said restaurant, by the way), and 2) before leaving the house, I’m always too damn stubborn to call, leave earlier, or even look at a map first because it is ’so close’ to where we live.

G, knowing this, asks “Do you know where we are going?” and I respond “Of course, I’ve only be there like 20 times.” After about 30 minutes of indulging my U-turns, multi-lane changes, and hopping on and off the interstate, G asks me again (with an annoying smugness in her voice) “Do you know where you are going?” Grumbling, I picked up my stupid phone and called the all-knowing roommate and huffed at her “Where the f are we?” So I showed up “fashionably late”… An hour late. To my own party.

Now, let’s stop to consider this.

Four times I’ve been to this place and I still don’t know how to get there when I live 5 miles away, and I’m leaving for a foreign country in under a month? A place where I can’t just call my roommate for the thousandth time to ask “Hey Melissa, where the hell am I?”  I can’t even find a local restaraunt 10 minutes away in a town I’ve lived in for the past 8 years (and by the way was born in), and I’m going to a place where even paved roads are a commodity? Should this concern me? I should be fine, really…I’ll only be amongst thousands of people who don’t speak my language, I’ll have no idea how to even get out of the airport, thinking what the hell did I just step in and why the hell are we waiting for a cow to cross the road, all while dodging the inevitable ‘Delhi Belly’ and hoping that the book-by-the-cover cliche doesn’t apply to places named “Hotel Cottage Yes Please”.

Don’t tell G, I have no idea where the f we are going.

The LAST Reuben at Barrios… is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

And then…just like that…it was all behind me. 23 months to the day (would have sounded way cooler if it were two years to the day, but I’ll be freaking out wondering what the hell we’ve done and why the hell we’re in Delhi, INDIA, by then), nearly two years of working and saving at my first real, honest to goodness, 9-5′er. What an experience!

So with my first day of the rest of my life, as it were, I got some sleep (novel concept), got on the computer to work on my computer-tasks, and due to a Facebook status update informing us that “If you’re not watching the MJ memorial, you’re wrong right now.”, I quickly moved to correct my error. I also pulled up a YouTube video of Michael and his daughter Paris attempting (attempting) to go shopping for her birthday and MY GOD, I mean conceptually I realize and know how celebrities are forever swamped with people photographing them, trying to touch them, trying to talk to them, trying to bear their children for them. But holy cow, now I’m a people lover, but it made me sick at humanity’s nature and how it all converges into this sea of insanity on these people. You can understand the fans’ point of view, in that it’s “to hell with it, this is my one chance! SIGN MY CHEST, MICHAEL!!!” but man for these celebs it’s just never-ending!

Phew, good thing I don’t have to worry about star appeal. I just have to worry about packing up this mess of a room! Talk about a sea of insanity!… Oh F it – anyone got a match?

Freedom! To pack up the room! To travel the world! To…watch Michael Jackson’s memorial? is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Ray and I, realizing tonight was an invaluable opportunity to at least get the word out about the site to a nice handful of the Tucson population, made our first public appearance on its behalf by entering a little video we made into our local Indie Theater’s free enter-your-own-video-no-matter-what-or-how-crappy-it-is First Friday Shorts showing. Technically, it’s a once-monthly contest (prize $200 smackeroonies – or 45 nights in a Thai beach hut if you’re keeping count like we are), but we were there for the visibility more than for any hopes of winning.

The show’s host, Max Cannon, the author of the comic strip Red Meat, did a fantastic job of making me look like a complete friggin idiot when I was trying to just give the quick intro as to what it was and why we were bothering to tell about the site – namely, simply that we thought the audience of this event were the creative types of people who might really enjoy some of the project options, especially like the dares and such. I never really got to do that because I was so busy trying to figure out what the HELL he was talking about (he calls his wife #3 because his dog is #2, so good job to Ray for keeping me just limited to “G”? How do I even play off that for comedic assistance?! Gah!)… But, maybe some people will stop by to check out the site anyways. Can’t say we’re not willing to put ourselves out there for the slaughter for the sake of some attention for the ol’ site, at least! And this is just the beginning of THOSE efforts!

If anyone from the show does stop by, please drop a comment below (pity cards accepted), and we’ll eat a fried scorpion in Vietnam just in your honor!

First Friday get your Shorts pulled down around your ankles in front of 200 people, all riiiight! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

So the announcement went something like this:

Marge: “Sadly, we’ll be losing one of our team members next week… Well, the reason she’s leaving isn’t sad…wait’ll you hear this guys, this is awesome – G, tell them where you’re going, and how long you’ll be gone.”
Rowdy Crowd in the office stops yelling, screaming, throwing spitballs, punching each other and doing cartwheels down the aisles and settles down a little bit so they can hear me over the speakerphone.
G: “Well, we’re leavin Aug 3 to go travel around Asia for the next 2 1/2-3 years!”
Rowdy Crowd: Silence.
G: waits
Rowdy Crowd: SILENCE
Crickets: Cricket, Cricket
G: awk-ward….thinks, “Are you…speechless? Do you…care? tap tap tap am I still on?”
Rowdy Crowd: SILENCE.
G: seriously takes her headset off and looks at it.  Is this thing on? Is this thing – can I get a sound check over here?

I couldn’t help but imagine a whole room of people just sitting there like this: :-O :-O :-O :-O :-O :-O :-O :-O “Did she just say THREE YEARS?” “Did she say India?” “Where is Asia?”

Only one co-worker from the team already knew about the trip and he was on mute laughing his butt off at the stunned silence. They did eventually jolt back to consciousness and asked some questions, and Marge reminded me of the requirement to write her every 2 weeks, “3 at the MOST”, to ‘check in with her’ and prove that I am still alive. I tried to tell her about the website – with pictures, and videos, and!– but she interrupted and said “I don’t want to hear about any website. I want actual emails, direct from you to my inbox, so I know it’s actually you and you’re really fine.” Ha, ok MOM!!

And so, I have three more days left of work and then perhaps the biggest part of this preparatory journey is complete – earning my feathers! Exactly 23 months of work, earning and putting aside and putting aside and putting aside for this trip. Even before I knew what form it would take, I told myself I would bank at least a thousand feathers every month for my next travels, and I succeeded! I gotta say, it’s very exciting to know it can be done. It wasn’t always easy, but we sacrificed on the little things to enjoy the big – all in all, for as much as we’ve saved, we’ve still had an exceptional quality of life: several big roadtrips, ski trips, being able to play hockey, a great house with wireless internet, digital cable, two cruises, beer when we’ve wanted it (albeit cheap beer), having some great pets. It’s been quite the life already!

…Just one more month now!!!!

(Mom stop looking all high-pitched like that, I can see you from here!)

Is that a stunned look on your face, or “tap tap tap…is this thing on?” is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

But, it’s done! It’s official now! After a year and three months, we are finally, completely, “OUT”.

We’re goin!!!

I just did it, it’s done!! I QUIT MY JOB – WE’RE GOIN TO ASIA!!! …COMMENCE PANIC!!!! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

Yeah right, one weekend – I haven’t been around for a weekend for like 4 MONTHS now. But! I am thoroughly socialized, goodbyes not yet being said but relationships being tended to, watered, mulched, repotted. You know, the good thing about the ticking clock permanently following you around over your head is it’s a much expediated reminder (not to mention louder and more incessant) compared to, you know, life just flowing by like normal until you arrive at 85 years old and you’re like WTF, where did the time GO?! I know where every one of my minutes has gone these past weeks and months – all poured into trip planning (or avoiding, as appropriate when trip-fatigued), packing, attempting to maintain a semblance of a relationship with my boyfriend, swapping notes or comments on Facebook, getting together with good friends, old friends, don’t want to die in a single-engine plane crash in the Himalayas without seeing you again friends (just kidding Mom, they only fly 777′s with piano bars to the Everest Base Camp trailhead).

Speaking of mountains with stupid ridiculous elevations….. I see that Ray kindly shared my Flagstaff mountain peak misadventures with the world. Now whose DUMBASS idea was THAT SHIT anyway!?!? No I’m not talking about me going alone. No I’m not talking about walking in the dark with the pits of mountain lions waiting for my fresh meat to fall in and be devoured (as Ray would tell it).

I AM TALKING ABOUT WHO THE HELL DECIDES TO BUILD A MOUNTAIN THAT GOES UPHILL??!! What kind of INANE idea is THAT? Do you even REALIZE, what it would take normal people 5 hours to do it took ME 11 and A HALF STUPID HOURS OF MY LIFE because no one bothered to TELL me the damn thing goes uphill?? Look, just look! Does this look like it goes uphill to YOU?

Just a bunch of squiggles, if you ask me! I shouldn’t think squiggles should be so hard, I have to walk those anytime I go to Disneyland!

But no! Instead, I end up dragging myself up by my hiking poles for 15 steps at a time, stop and pant, lather rinse repeat for 8 friggin hours, and end up looking like THIS by the end of this little NATURE jaunt.

Yes! Wanted to die! But it’s training for the great Everest Expedition 2010 (personally I think the greatest thing about it will be coming back DOWN the 18,000 ft, though Ray keeps saying something about “how awesome to stand at the base of the rooftop of the world” and “wow we’re going to the HIMALAYAS” or some nonsense like that.)

Word has it on the streets though that those Himalayas go uphill too. PSH!

But, once I recovered from my pulmonary edema, I did consider what a massive (like 12,633 ft massive, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!) feat I had accomplished with this little “squiggly stroll” of mine, and mustered a “this is moments before I consider that it’s almost sundown and I’m at the TOP of the mountain” smile.

Here’s a more magazine-cover worthy one (cough, hello are you paying attention, Time Magazine? This once-in-a-lifetime mountain achievement was BIG, you know! ME! On a freakin MOUNTAINTOP!). Somebody SEND THIS TO TIME MAGAZINE for me, would you please? Kthx!

So yes, it was a lovely day on the mountain, even if meanwhile Boyfriend was going nutty back on level (reasonable) ground. But still, by the time I got back down – at 10 O’CLOCK AT NIGHT – this is how I felt about hiking, this one and all future generations of them:

But… at least the vaccination shots came in handy.

“Rabies warning.” HA!

Holy Smokes, Where’s the Time Going?! is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia

No. This is my girlfriend, a WFR trained, balls-to-the-wall chick that can take on a Grizzly bear with a toothpick and a stick of gum….

Still, needless to say, I was a bit anxious after receiving the message on my phone. And naturally when I tried calling back TWO SECONDS LATER, her phone was conveniently already turned off. DAMMIT G!!! Of course, everything bad went flashing through my head – I could just imagine her knees giving out at the exact moment she’s attacked by a 20-foot mountain lion with teeth the size of butcher knives while the volcano blew up and – Oh, DAMMIT G!!!

The events went something like this:

Okay, maybe she’s trying to call me. I try again.
Call <ring> <voicemail>. Crap.
Call <ring> <voicemail>. WTF.
Okay, she’ll be fine, I’ll wait until she calls me back. 4pm rolls around. No call. Call <ring> <voicemail> oh god she fell off the mountain.
6PM I text Scott, he responds: “She’s going for summit, should be back on her way down now but I haven’t heard from her”
10PM rolls around and I get a cheerful voice on my phone: “Hi HUNNY”. At this point I held back the “What the hell were you thinking!”  All was well, her calves were sore and she was stressed from having walked the last hour and a half in the dark in the deep forest, but she made it to the top. No mountain lions.

Well, so this is my travel partner, living balls-to-the-wall from the start. I suppose that is a good position to be in before we make the most incredible skip, hop, and bigger hop to a life we could never even begin to imagine. We do have some pretty crazy roads ahead of us, and I do appreciate her enthusiasm. I was caught somewhere between praising her (I’d never done the climb, and I’m the hiker between the two of us, dammit!) and scolding her (WTF were you thinking!). So, after a moment I regained my composure and made the decision that I’ll be making the logical climbing choices from here on out. We don’t need to be starting a 10-hour trekking adventure in the Himalayas all willy nilly at noon. Luckily I don’t think the Yaks are as threatening as mountain lions…

I should say, though, that while I don’t share that same enthusiasm for bypassing not only the shallow end, not just the deep end, but going straight for deep-sea diving, the Everest basecamp hike that we have been (sorta) training for will require the tenacity that pushed her to the top – and we WILL make it to basecamp, if I have to hire 4 yaks and 20 sherpas to carry us.

OMFG, G!!!, or “G decides to summit her first mountain.” is a post from: Backpacking Travel Stories from Asia