Immunizations

In the past two weeks, I received the following vaccines: Yellow Fever ($95); Japanese Encephalitis ($120 x 2 doses); Rabies ($200 x 3 doses); Measles, Mumps, Rubella booster ($60); oral Typhoid ($55), Hepatitis B ($45). That was the first visit. Ouch! In the pocketbook and the biceps. The second visit, exactly one week later, was the second Japanese Encephalitis shot, my second Hepatitis A vaccine ($40, had one previously in 2002), Menactra Meningococcal (Meningitis) ($130), second Rabies shot, one $20 administrative fee per visit, one-time $60 travel consultation fee to advise which vaccines to receive. PHEW! I have to go back for a few more on May 22.

Now I will be covered for life for some of the diseases and some for 20 years. Typhoid for 5.

I probably could have got by without a few of them, but the example my "travel adviser" gave me for rabies was this: If you get bit by a rabid animal and you are not vaccinated, you need to receive medical treatment within 24 hours. Depending where you are in the world when you get bit, the medical treatment you are able to seek out may or may not be able to provide you with the treatment and appropriate drugs necessary to treat rabies. If you are unable to receive the necessary treatment, death is very likely and if you survive you will probably have severe paralysis! Talk about scare tactics!

A NOTE ABOUT MY DEPARTURE DATE: You may have noticed that I pushed my departure date back once again. I am now planning to leave in the first week or two of September. More on that later.

How to Shit Your Way Around the World

This is the oh-so-enticing title of the book I'm reading. It is interesting, disgusting, and at times repulsive. I can only hope that I don't encounter some of the toilets (if you could call them that) and parasites described within.

Here's something I would especially like to avoid:

"Cleansing oneself after defecation, throughout South Asia, involves...water...brought to the latrine site in a pottery, metal or plastic vessel, called a bodna that has a spout, much like the spout of a teapot, and holds two to three liters of water. The use of this vessel is restricted to this one purpose. The...cleaning of the anal region occurs immediately after defecation. Water is poured from the bodna into a cupped left hand and then swiftly carried to the anal region. This process involves some skill and is taught to small children at an early age. After [the left hand is] rubbed with soil...the individual pours water from the bodna onto the left hand for rinsing."

Dr. Bilqis Hoque, et al., Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (1995)

No thank you!

Goodbye, Neon.

<----What my car probably looked like at one time.

Ah...the end of an era. My longest relationship so far is over. 11 great years of service over in an instant. A brief little warning - a tiny illuminated image of an old-fashioned oil can shining ever so brightly on the dark console, just below it evidence of 177,000+ miles that I hoped would keep on going for another couple of years. But no, it's now a money pit.

We've had road trips, quick trips, stressfully crossed the border in Tiajuana, been to Crested Butte in blizzard conditions, had a run-in with a deer on the way to Oklahoma, almost hit three deers on the way to Telluride, had a couple of fender benders, flat tires, never snow tires!, lost hubcaps, had the gas tank ripped open in the middle of Kansas, had the window broken on the very first day we were united, were almost ripped apart after a few years one day in the parking lot of my 14th Street apartment, were ripped apart overnight just over a year in the Highlands but reunited three days later missing contents and an ignition switch, we recently hauled the 3 largest men on earth plus 2 more men from LoDo to SoBo, camped out in Puerta Penasca, have been without a radio for 5 years or more, new side-view mirrors thanks to the deer and Aunt Diane & Uncle Wes, new-used radiator fan thanks to Dad and an Okie junkyard, ah the list goes on...

Thank you so much Grandma for co-signing the loan for me when I was 19. Thank you so much Mom for secretly giving Grandma money for one payment in case I missed a payment. Thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma for helping me make my payments (and keep my credit good!) when I couldn't.

I got $225 for it and it's bound for the scrapyard for recycling.

Probably a blessing in disguise. Now I don't have to decide whether to sell it or store it for my trip, but I'll be hoofin' it between now and then!

Goodbye, Neon.

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!

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

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.