I'd love to see the World!

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Planning, Planning Planning

I'm not entirely sure how it all happened, but I know that I have about 6 plane tickets and a bottle of malaria vaccination pills in my possession. Only three weeks until Mom and Dad drop me and Dallas off at LAX and we load the plane to Tokyo. Tokyo!?

About two months ago I ran into Dallas at Hume Lake and we were both talking about travel plans that were in the works. I think Dallas was really serious about these plans, but I was just sort of toying with it at the time. He mentioned that we should meet up in Thailand and before I knew it, we were traveling together for four months. I found a sweet deal on tickets at Airtreks and they slipped in the pesky little catch that said we had to purchase our tickets by September 25th (or something). This really put the pressure on. The day before we were to buy our tickets from Daniel (the oh-so-helpful and attractively soft-spoken travel rep...who I imagine looks a lot like Hugh Jackman and acts like James Bond. He is made all the more intriguing by supplying me and my partner in crime with dirt cheap tickets to see the world...Have I seen him before, you ask? No, no. I just imagine things) we found out that there was a "peaceful coup" in Thailand. This was the first time I heard the word coup and I made the mistake of pronouncing it like soup until I heard my Dad say it...but he didn't say it like,

Oh did you hear about the peaceful coup in Thailand that occurred today honey?

He said it like,

Terror! Terror! Death! Coup! Thailand!

I was like,

Parents, how do you feel about me traveling to Asia at this time?

Mom of course said,

I think it's fantastic! Take this time in life while you're young to do something adventurous!

Then I looked at my dad and said,

Dad, do you want me to go to Asia?

To which he replied,

No.

But I guess we have put that past us because he eventually gave me full support. Not only did he give me full support to travel...for four months...with a boy...in muslim nations like India...on very little cash...but he has also warmed up to the idea of me staying with total strangers that I met on CouchSurfing.com. Who is this man that looks like my father?? Before you know it he'll be encouraging me to meet and go out with guys on Myspace 😊.

So as I wait with tickets and passport in hand, I have been a busy, busy girl. There's so much to plan! I bought a book, and that seemed to help a bit. I spend hours online (pathetic) looking at the Lonelyplanet website for what to do...and not to do...in Asia. (side note on that...in South East Asia, you DO NOT touch anyone or gesture with your left hand because that's the hand people wipe with. Yes, you read that right. And in India a woman is considered promiscuous who travels and if she travels alone with a man who is not her husband, or even appears in public with a man who is not her husband, she is severely shunned and sometimes people throw rocks at her. Hmmm.) I have gotten my shots, readied my backpack, thought through the few clothes I will pack and I'm just waiting for the 20th to role around. It is interesting to think back on the fire season and how I suffered extreme heat, extreme cold, tarantulas in my pants, blistered feet and rowdy boys to make enough money to travel to an area where I will again encounter extreme heat, extreme cold, fatty spiders, days with no showers, meals that include grasshoppers as the main ingredients, and land mines. The irony puts a smile on my face. Well done, Life, you've done it again.

Check out my map to see where we will be traveling and here is the itinerary:

• Nov. 20: LAX to Tokyo
• Nov. 30: Tokyo to Singapore (here we will travel by land and boat to Malaysia and possibly to Indonesia)
• Dec. 21: Singapore to Bangkok (from here we will travel North to Chiang Mai then cross into Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia)
• Feb. 2: Bangkok to Bombay (travel by land to Delhi...we have no idea how we are going to do that yet)
• March 2: Delhi to London
• March 7: London to Frankfurt (from here we will take a plane immediately to Rome and travel throughout Italy until we have to get back to Germany to fly home)
• March 17: Frankfurt to LAX!!!

Please pray for Dallas and I as we prepare to leave. It is going to be a lot of fun and I know that I am going to learn so much, but I also know that it will be really easy to live selfishly as I travel. Pray that I would be reminded that this life is not about myself. Pray that God would put needs in my path and that He would provide the strength for me to meet those needs, be they spiritual or otherwise.

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Comments

[Derek]

Words fail
Wow. you are quite amazing. I am really excited to see what God is going to do with this.

[Melinda]

I miss you already!
Have such a wonderful time! I am going to go nuts not being able to see you until March! Plan a trip to good ol' Grass Valley to come see me as soon as you get back! I'll call and leave you a message sooooooon...

[stephanie!!!]

rock and roll
this is all so fantastic! i can not believe it. what are you going to do about getting stoned?...er...that doesn't sound right. rocked?....what are you going to do when people throw rocks at you? you should chase them with your left hand flailing. i love you my friend. be safe.

[Kevin Brown]

for Dal never called
Hey, I know this isnt dals posting, but knowing him, I doubt he has one. Just wanted to wish you guys luck and you guys are going to have an awesome time. Take care of my best friend. Love you Dal.