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Published: January 28th 2012
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My Life
2 bags for the next 2+ months Thirteen years ago I embarked on a yearlong study abroad program in Rome Italy, after which I traveled western and central Europe for three months. Times have changed since then in terms of travel. I remember the day I left for Italy. My mother, father, and brother were all allowed to accompany me to my gate. After many goodbyes and a promise to call when I got to Rome, I was the last to board the plane. I remember I could actually see my house as we flew above and how ironic it was that I got to see it one last time before my yearlong expedition. Living in Italy and traveling Europe for three months completely changed my views on life, politics, friendships, love, studies, and instilled a deep desire to travel as much as I could. I looked as life as BI and AI – Before Italy and After Italy.
Fast-forward thirteen years. I had just quit my job as an IT consultant that provided me the opportunity to travel. Apart from being on a project that staffed me in Mexico and Argentina, my work travel was limited to the US. I knew that before I started a
New look
Ready to explore new job I had to embark on another multi-month voyage. I have been to Europe five times. And, although I huge piece of me is will always be there, I knew there was more of the world to see. I had always wanted to see the Far East - the Orient. Being in business I was well aware of the tremendous growth occurring in this region. Also, being a lover of history, I wanted to see places that have had a major impact on US foreign relations. This region is loaded with history. From Confucius to Genghis Kahn, the British Empire, World War II, Mao, Ho Chi Min, Cambodian genocides, and the Vietnam War – so much has happened in this region that I had only read about (or watched hours upon hours on the History channel with my dad and brother).
I had been contemplating this trip for some time. What originally was supposed to be a two-week tour of China and possibly Thailand, evolved into a 2+ month tour of all of Southeast Asia, China, Taiwan, and possibly Korea and Japan (though it’s all still TBD). I had been prone to take spur of the moment trips
A380
A shot of my plane on a layover in Tokyo in the past. When I went to Italy to do my internship my trip came together in less than a week. This was similar. Once I knew I was going to do a multi-month trip, I put it together in a little over a week (only because I needed to get visas and shots).
Though I had been traveling for work for the past eight years, I couldn’t help but immediately notice the differences between my trip thirteen years ago and the Asia trip. For starters no one would have been able to see me off at the gate (not that anyone would have bothered). Instead, I was able to say my goodbyes by calling a multitude of friends and family in the minutes before I left. Instead, my “plane side” goodbyes came from Chicago, Pittsburgh, Seneca, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Austin, Charlotte, and Greensboro.
The flight to my first stop, Bali, Indonesia, had layovers in Tokyo for a little less than two hours, and Singapore, for twelve hours. When I deplaned in Tokyo I was able to get free Wifi at the Tokyo airport. That gave me enough time to send a few emails and check some news. The flight to Singapore was on an Airbus A380. This thing is a flying two-story ship. In all my travels I had never flown in a plane this big. Lucky no one was sitting beside me so I was able to stretch out and sleep. The flight from LAX to Tokyo was eleven hours. To Singapore was another seven hours.
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