Going, going, gone!

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12.01.2011 – 9.20 AM (UK time that is) - checking in

I should be up in the air by now but my flight is delayed until 10.30. Then my connecting flight to Houston is cancelled due to bad weather. They've put me on a later flight (do they expect the weather to get better or have they just not cancelled the later one yet?) My new expected arrival time in Mexico City is 11.20pm instead of 7pm. And my hostel only picks up until 11pm so I'll have to get a taxi. Not too chuffed. I asked the check-in guy if the airline would cover my taxi fare and he said no because it's due to adverse weather. Never mind, it was worth a try. But my budget is going out of the window on day 1!
I got the Spanish inquisition at check-in. But the man (Brian I think he was called) was very nice and I don't mind anyway. They're only doing their job and if that means I don't get blown up, I'm not complaining!
I had to get my netbook out and show them my itinerary. It's a good thing I have planned it all. Apparently it was because they weren't too happy that I didn't have proof of onward travel from Mexico. I'm not quite sure they appreciated the backpacker's flexible travel plan idea, but they were happy enough to let me through and I even got to jump the queue. They told me to expect the same shenanigans when I get to Newark so I'd better not run my netbook's battery down too low.
The gate should open for the first flight in 5 minutes. I think I'm still not quite realising what I'm doing. It'll probably hit me when I walk out of Mexico airport in the middle of the night...
Trip of a lifetime, here I come!

12.01.2011 - Later

I've just re-read everything I have typed so far and obviously, there are a few bits that I have forgotten to mention.
First of all, I'm probably not going to go to Australia and New Zealand because I don't think I'll have enough cash to do it (didn't save up as much I hoped), unless I manage to massively underspend in Latin America, but having done a fair bit of research now, I can't imagine my budget to be too far out from the truth.

Anti-malarial: I finally picked up my Lariam yesterday, but it was a lot more hassle than I thought as nobody seemed to have the full quantity in stock. Anyway, 32 tablets set me back just under £80, then I got home and got rid of the boxes (to save space) and realised they'd only given me 28! I needed 32 because you need to carry on for 4 weeks when you return, so providing I'm not late back, I should be OK to get the extra 4 later.

Meeting people: I've tried to find a few people doing a similar trip on the Lonely Planet (Thorn Tree) forum, but not had much luck. Found one girl who is doing something a bit similar but going South to North rather than North to South, so we'll see if we can hook up somewhere in the middle. To be honest, maybe I haven't looked as hard as I could have, but I'm sure I'll meet plenty of fellow travellers en route. I'm also hoping to meet some people I already know along the way: One of my school friends lives in French Guinea. I haven't seen her for about 7 years but I'm going to try and visit while I'm there – it would seem silly to be so near and not go!
One of my cousins lives in Brazil (near Sao Paulo) so that's a definite stop (although I'm not sure I've told her yet!). I also have an uncle in Bolivia: in the middle of nowhere, not too far from Cochabamba, so I intend to go and see him too (and I definitely haven't told him yet, but my mother might have). And last but not least, it sounds like I might have some visitors coming over from England for a few days while I'm in Rio.

I packed last night finally! I really did leave it to the last minute (it was about 11pm when I finished), but I'd spent most of my day running around trying to see friends to say goodbye. I think the total weight of my 2 bags is just about 11kg, so I'm very pleased.
Here is the full list of what I have taken:

Toiletries
lip balm
deodorant
face cream
sun tan lotion
toothpaste
travel toothbrush
folding hairbrush with mirror
shampoo
conditioner
soap
hand gel
pill
Sanitary protection
baby wipes
razor
nail clippers + file
tweezers
Toilet paper
hair bobble

Clothing & accessories
socks 4 pairs
knickers 6 pairs
2 bras
swimming costume
gloves
2 sleeveless tops
short sleeves top
long sleeves top
covertible trousers
leggings 2 pairs
fleece
waterproof jacket
sarong
walking shoes
walking sandals
flip flops
sunglasses
hat

Other
First aid kit
Mosquito repellent
Lariam
washing line
sink plug
washing soap
small LED keyring torch
wrapsafe
padlocks
money belt
Swiss army knife
pen & notebook
travel pillow & eye mask
earplugs
Platypus bottle
mosquito net
sleeping bag
chlorine tablets
travel towel

Tech
camera (Lumix ZS7)
phone
MP3 player
netbook
USB key
electrical adaptors
Guide books in PDF versions on my netbook

Paperwork
1st hostel's address details
passport
flights confirmation
money
travel insurance paperwork
map



And finally, the itinerary: I realise I haven't even put a full itinerary on yet!

Day January
12 Mexico City MEXICO
13 Mexico City
14 Morelia
15 Guadalajara
16 Guadalajara
17 Santiago de Queretano
18 Mexico City
19 Mexico City
20 Puebla
21 Oaxaca
22 San Cristobal de Las Casas
23 Palenque
24 Campeche
25 Merida
26 Cancun
27 Cancun
28 Belize City BELIZE
29 San Ignacio
30 San Ignacio
31 El Remate GUATEMALA
February
1 El Remate
2 Raxruja
3 Coban
4 Huehuetenango
5 Quetzaltenango
6 Quetzaltenango
7 Santa Cruz Del Quiche
8 Santa Cruz Del Quiche
9 Santa Cruz (Atitlan)
10 Santa Cruz (Atitlan)
11 Santa Cruz (Atitlan)
12 Antigua
13 Antigua
14 Guatemala City
15 Santa Ana EL SALVADOR
16 Santa Ana
17 Beach
18 Los Remedios
19 Chiquimula GUATEMALA
20 Chiquimula
21 Copan Ruinas HONDURAS
22 Copan Ruinas
23 Trujillo/Tela
24 Utila
25 Juticalpa / Catacamas
26 Perquin / Mozote SALVADOR
27 Conchaga or Meanguera Island
28 León NICARAGUA
March
1 León
2 Matagalpa
3 Granada
4 Granada
5 Isla Ometepe
6 Isla Ometepe
7 San Carlos
8 Liberia COSTA RICA
9 Santa Elena
10 Puntarenas
11 Montezuma
12 Montezuma
13 San Jose
14 San Jose
15 David PANAMA
16 David
17 Almirante
18 Bocas Town
19 Bocas Town
20 David
21 Santiago
22 Santiago
23 Panama
24 Panama
25 Panama
26 San Blas BOAT TRIP
27 San Blas
28 San Blas
29 San Blas
30 San Blas
31 Cartagena COLOMBIA
April
1 Cartagena
2 Santa Marta
3 Park/Santa Marta
4 night bus (Maracaibo to Merida) VENEZUELA
5 Merida
6 Llanos
7 Llanos
8 Llanos
9 Night bus (Merida to Coro)
10 Maracay/Puerto Colombia
11 Maracay/Puerto Colombia
12 Caracas
13 Mochima
14 Rio Caribe
15 To Trinidad or Brasil
16 To Trinidad or Brasil
17 Lethem (then fly to Georgetown) GUYANA
18 Georgetown
19 Paramaribo SURINAME
20 Paramaribo
21 iles du salut FRENCH GUINEA
22 Cayenne
23 French Guinea
24 Fly Cayenne to Belem BRAZIL
25 Belem
26 Rio
27 Rio
28 Rio
29 Rio
30 Rio
May
1 Paraty
2 Sao Jose Dos Campos
3 Sao Jose Dos Campos
4 Sao Jose Dos Campos
5 Sao Paulo
6 Curitiba
7 Bus to Uruguay
8 Punta Del Diablo URUGUAY
9 Chuy
10 Melo
11 Tacuarembo
12 Montevideo
13 Montevideo
14 Colonia Del Sacramento
15 Mercedes/Fray Bentos
16 Carmelo
17 Buenos Aires ARGENTINA
18 Buenos Aires
19 Buenos Aires
20 Rosario
21 Palmar National Park
22 San Ignacio
23 San Ignacio
24 Puerto Iguazu
25 Puerto Iguazu
26 Encarnacion PARAGUAY
27 Encarnacion
28 Asuncion
29 Asuncion
30 Asuncion
31 Concepcion
June
1 overnight
2 Valleni
3 Filadelfia
4 overnight BOLIVIA
5 Villamontes
6 Tarija
7 Tupiza
8 Tupiza
9 Uyuni
10 Uyuni
11 Uyuni
12 Potosi
13 Sucre
14 Sucre
15 Santa Cruz
16 Santa Cruz
17 Cochabamba
18 Tarata
19 Tarata
20 Oruro
21 La Paz
22 La Paz
23 Sorata
24 Copacabana
25 Isla del Sol
26 Peru
27 Peru
28 Peru
29 Peru
30 Peru
July
1 Peru
2 Peru
3 Peru
4 Peru
5 Peru
6 Peru
7 Peru
8 Peru
9 Peru
10 Peru
11 Peru
12 Peru
13 Peru
14 Peru
15 Peru
16 Return



Slight amendment compared to the above is that I'll probably stay for 3 nights in Mexico City at the start instead of 2. That's because I want to go and see some Lucha Libre (wrestling to you and me – massive over there) and it seems that it all happens on the Friday night.
So here you go. That's all.
The flight planner tells me we've just finished crossing the Atlantic and have 1156 miles to go to get to New York – Newark. We left a bit over 5 hours ago, so I guess this means I only have about 13 more hours to go. Joy!

Hopefully, in 24 hours time, I will have started to explore what I believe to be the 3rd biggest city in the world!

23.20 UK time
I'm really starting to get bored and also tired now, but it's only 17.20 local so I really could do with staying awake now, but with 6 hours to go, I can't see it happening especially as the night is starting to catch up with us now.

So we landed in a New-York covered in snow. I've never been there before and still, it looked so familiar... This cityscape we have all seen a hundred times on screen before. It was quite cool watching all the snowploughs trying to clear the runways.
Upon “deplaning” (I'm sure that's not a word but they used it earlier: “when you deplane”) I discovered that you cannot import apples into the US apparently. I got sniffed by a little dog and asked if I was carrying any fruit (at least he was smelling the right thing!) I had declared it on my landing card so didn't get in trouble but my 2 apples got confiscated. Tuna sandwiches are OK though, so I still have those. That's quite fortunate because on this second flight you don't get free food and I'm starting to starve. I'm just trying to hold on as long as possible to get into the new time rhythm.
Oh, and I wasn't asked a single question about my travel plans!

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