Ten / Sixteen day countdown

Well would ya look at that? My very own blog. My mom has been an avid blogger throughout the last couple of trips, and now I guess the reign is passed on to me. But not really, because she'll continue blogging her adventures, and probably much more avidly than me.
I have mixed feelings about starting a travel blog... I probably wouldn't even be doing it if it weren't for my family getting on my case about it. But hey, I've started blogging before I've even left, so I must not be totally dreading it! I definitely enjoy writing; I just don't do it much because there's rarely any motivation. What I really fear is that people who read my mom's blogs will now be reading mine and the bar will be set excessively high and their expectations will not be met. So just as a disclaimer: I am NOT my mother; I will not write as frequently as her, I will not write as well as her, and I will probably not entertain you as much as she does. There; is the bar set somewhere attainable now? Okay then, moving on. What I love about a blog is kind of the same as what I hate about a blog: Anyone can choose to read it, or not. I don't like having a broad audience, because I should probably be careful with what I say. The fact that I'm writing something that my teenage friends, my parents, my grandparents, teachers, strangers, and anyone else could possibly be reading is kind of weird, not gonna lie. However, what I love is that it's not like anyone is forced into reading this. If it's not interesting to you, don't read it! I don't have any hidden desire for everyone (or anyone) to be super interested in my blog - that would just be too much pressure. So hopefully I'll narrow down my audience pretty soon and figure out who I'm actually writing for.

Anyway, enough about that, more about me! And the trip of course [:
So, in 10 days I will be saying goodbye to my friends and home and hopping a plane to Portland, Oregon to spend a week with my older sister, my older brother and his girlfriend (Marissa, Skyler, and Jenny, respectively) - which I'm super excited for! In 16 days, I'll be saying goodbye to them and hopping on another plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia - eeeee! So, the details? I'm gonna put them in a Frequently Asked Questions format so you can skim through and decide what you're interested in knowing. These are the most common FAQ's I get from people (from both strangers and friends) when they hear I'm going to Cambodia:

"Why?" / "Why Cambodia?" This is the most common question (usually preceded by something like "Wow!" or "Huh...") and yet the one I'm usually caught most off-guard to answer. For those of you who know me pretty well, you probably know that I'm pretty horrible at on-the-spot articulation. On a good day I'm able to conjure up something like "Well, I really love it there, and I've been before to do some volunteer work, so I'm really excited to go back." Kind of a shitty answer, I know, but it's really not a fitting question for such brief interactions, since it's hard for me to put in a nutshell. (As you're probably figuring out, I'm a born rambler. Sorry about that.) For a better answer to why I love Cambodia, you can read this.

"Have you been there before?" Yep. A brief touristy trip about a year and a half ago throughout Southeast Asia, and a more recent trip with my mom where we spent 6 weeks volunteering in Cambodia (along with a couple weeks in Thailand.)

"How long will you be there?" It's an open-ended plane ticket, so I can decide when I want to return home, but the potential plan is to be there for the whole school year.

"Are you going to school there?" / "Are you getting credit for being there?" / "Are you dropping out of high school?" I took a couple of online CCV classes over the summer, and I'm taking a couple while I'm there (travel writing and digital photo - how perfect, right?), and then I'll be done with my credit requirements for high school, so I will definitely graduate next year. I'll most likely be back in Vermont for graduation.

"What will you be doing? Volunteering teaching English through The Ponheary Ly Foundation (the PLF.) All the details of that will be worked out when I'm there (how many classes I'll have, etc.) I'll be kept quite busy with teaching, my online classes, and probably helping out at the guesthouse - but I'll have plenty of time for fun and exploration also :)

"Where will you be staying?" At the same guesthouse we did last time, which is owned by Lori Carlson (the founder of the PLF, an American woman now living in Cambodia) and a Cambodian family, both of whom we got pretty well acquainted with on our last trip.

"Are you going alone / with a group / with your parents?" I'm going alone... kind of. I'm meeting up with Lori in the LA airport (she just spent a couple months in Texas) and we're flying over together, and she'll obviously be there the whole time I am. So, no, I'm not with a group or my parents, but I don't feel like I'm going alone either. Also, my parents will visit me for a month in November (as will Mim for a couple weeks!) and probably again at a later point in time.

"Are you scared/nervous/excited?" No/notreally/yes! I've never really been scared or nervous for this trip... any hidden anxiety I have seems to be coming in the form of dreams (just typical ones like my plane is about to leave and I haven't packed yet, etc.) I've been excited since the first nugget of the idea, and still am. But I will admit that after four months of impatiently waiting, I'm now finally feeling sad to be leaving. Not sad in the sense that I'm sorry I'm going, but starting to realize what I'll miss.

"Have you packed yet?" Nope! Well, somewhat, but I have a ways to go. I should probably get on that...

"Are things cheap there?" Yessss. Lucky for me, my parents are amazing and are paying for the two big expenses: plane ticket and room at the guesthouse. (The room is actually quite cheap, but of course it adds up after a potential 9 months.) So I'm responsible for the every-day kinds of costs, food being the main one. I set up a budget that I believe allows me some cushion: $4700 for nine months. I've already got $5700 in my bank account (BIG thanks to my grandparents for a chunk of that, and I've also been working a bunch this summer) so I feel pretty set.

"Will you see Angkor Wat?" Absolutely - it's just a bike ride away from the guesthouse, and it's just as amazing as everyone says it is.

"Is it safe?" Um, yeah. Pretty much.

"Oh my God, are you going to fall in love with some guy/girl and bring him/her back?" Haha, I've actually gotten this question from a few different friends. Really guys - what kind of question is that!? The only answer I can come up with is: No, I don't plan on it.


Now, you might be wondering why the hell I would just take the time to answer all those questions when nobody has even asked me to write them out. Well, after about the zillionth time of answering each one, you become kind of numb to it. But if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. I do love answering questions, and love it even more if I haven't already answered it a zillion times (which can be safe to say about yours if it's not on the list.)

Okay, I'm off for now.

-Jaz

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