Tuesday, January 29, 2008

6 months to go! (I hope)

Well, with my tentative departure set for July - that gives me 6 months to go! I have a lot to do in the next 6 months. (Check out my to do list at the bottom of the page. Let me know if I'm forgetting anything!)

Today I signed up for "travel registration" online with the U.S. State Department. Basically this will allow me to register with the U.S. embassy in each country I visit without having to actually visit the embassy's office. I provide details on my itinerary and travel plans. The embassy will alert me if there are any emergencies. The embassy will also email travel advisories pertaining to my itinerary. See....? Safety first!

I have been researching volunteer work in Belize to start off my trip with. I thought it would be nice to have a "destination" when I first start my trip where someone is expecting me. I hope this will also provide an opportunity to ask questions and get tips for further travel in the region. If you know of any good organizations operating in Central American, please let me know.

I hope to have all of my money saved by July. I need to save $7000 more. This will give me a $55 a day budget. Can one see the world on $55 a day??? We will soon find out. In some countries $55 won't cut it. In others, I would really have to live it up to spend that much. The idea is that I won't spend $55 a day in those countries and use that money when I arrive in more expensive locations.

What if I don't have all of my money saved by July? Well then I will wait. I want to be prepared mentally, physically, and financially. I'm not too impatient about this. I've already waited nearly 2.5 years. I can probably stand another few months. But if I can't.... I will probably go with what I have and charge the rest at the tail end of my trip. I do plan to have a little money saved to come back to so I can get an apartment fairly quickly. Another incentive for a July departure: I want to make it back in time for the "Great Wilson Lake Escape" which will probably be in July of 2009!

I hope you enjoy my blog...Please email me with any comments or questions or concerns!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

0% prepared

I had lunch with an Indian friend of mine from work earlier this week. He said I'm "0% prepared" for my trip. He wanted to know if I had contact numbers written down, if I knew which cities I wanted to visit in each country, if I knew what I wanted to see in every city, did I have visas, etc., etc.

He suggested getting a notebook or binder and making a table of contents listing each country, then city. Within the notebook start gathering information by country. Figure out what I want to see in each country so I don't forget anything. I agreed. Wouldn't it be awful if I left India and forgot to see the Taj Mahal?

I've been so focused on just saving, saving, saving that I haven't really done much planning. I have a rough itinerary laid out but I haven't throughly checked into visas and vaccinations...

I picked up a second job again after about 4 months off from the two-job gig. I'm working in an upscale restaurant a couple of doors down from the bar I was working at. I'm hoping that I can keep focused and only have to work two jobs for about 4 more months. That would be sometime in April. I should have enough money saved by then. I'll probably quit or cut back on hours there and still keep my day job. I'd like to save a few thousand dollars extra to have when I return. I'll probably quit all jobs about three weeks or a month before I leave so I have time to mentally and physically prepare for my departure.

This weekend I am going to get my passport photos taken and send of my application for renewal.
Publish Post

Sunday, January 6, 2008

my first blog

Last night Bike Mike filled me in on the amazing world of Google and helped me cross one item of my "to do before I take my trip list." I needed to figure out how I was going to keep my friends and family included in my trip and a way to let them in on my whereabouts. So this blog will do just that.