That Old Familiar Feeling

I bought my flights to Borneo today. It was the high point of my day really. It's somewhere I've been looking forward to visiting since the beginning of this trip, without even knowing if I would really make it this far.

Early in August I'll be flying from Kuala Lumpur out to the Malaysian province of Sabah to its capital, Kota Kinabalu. From there, I hope to climb Mount Kinabalu, SE Asia's highest peak, to watch the sun rise. It's going to be tough, by all accounts, and I'm not sure I have the same level of fitness that I did when I tackled the Inca Trail, but I'm not going to let that deter me! I'm going to try it! I'm also hoping to pay a visit to Poring Hot Springs and maybe visit some orangutangs.

Then I plan to travel down through Brunei (if I can get a visa and it's not going to relieve me of too much money) into the province of Sarawak. High on the agenda is a trip down the river to stay with a local tribal family. 2 weeks later I fly from Kuching back to Kuala Lumpur.

I can tell you, it feels good to be planning this next stage of the trip. My friend Hien who lives in K.L. is going to my tour guide while I'm there, which I'm really looking forward to, and he may even make the trip out to Borneo to try and summit Mount Kinabalu with me.

The best bit was that my return flights cost me just 40 euro with Air Asia, which seems to be SE Asia's answer to Ryan Air. Pretty sweet!

Not long to go now.......

Ignorance is Bliss!

Saturday was a lovely autumnal day. I was up bright and early, ready to head into the city for my appointment with The Travel Doctor. I thought, when I had had my travel consultation back in Ireland, that I was covered vaccination wise for all of my trip and that I wouldn't really be needing any more, and so I really just wanted to have a chat to the doctor about options for malaria medication.

Basically, when I got up that morning, I wasn't exactly preparing myself to be stuck in the arm with lots of needles again.

So, after a long chat with the doc, it turns out that I will be needing a course of Japanese Encephalitis injections at $135 EACH for three. She also stressed that I shoudl really consider the rabies vaccination at $145 each for three. I also need Polio at $55. Then we got to chatting about malaria meds. Lots of expensive options. We agreed on a four month course for $80! Then there was the consultation fee - another $80!!!

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

After having "pencilled me in" for all these horrendous jabs, she dispatched me off to the nurse clutching a big bundle of leaflets outlining the terrors of contracting rabies, malaria and dengue fever. Lovely.

The nurse was devoid of any sort of tender touch and rammed two needles, one after another into my poor arm. First time ever I felt faint from jabs. She was a goodly sort though and distracted me by giving me a sucky sweet and asking me all about my TYPHOID EXPERIENCE in Peru. She went on to underline everything the doctor had said, going into great detail about the possible diseases and viruses that lay in wait for me in SE Asia. She painted a not so lovely picture of me being chased by rabid dogs, monkeys and bats, water snails multiplying under my skin, mosquitos sucking on my blood, and general merriment and feasting on my body by all manner of ticks, insects and bedbugs!

One's grand vision of one's trip never really includes this sort of stuff. But I suppose it's better to do your best to ward it off nevertheless. So, I signed myself up for the works! I have a few more rendezvous with said nurse before the fun is over!

The depressing part is none of these vaccinations are 100% proof, as I discovered in Peru. So, all you can do is hope you escape! You think it's better to be an informed traveller, but sometimes really ignorance is bliss!

Recapturing Childhood Excitement

Nervous excitement is all part of the dizzying preparation surrounding a round the world trip. My Dad often says that the best part of a trip is often just before you leave, the planning, the anticipation of what's to come. I hope that's not entirely true , but when I think about it now I understand the difference maybe. Once you are on that plane, you are actually doing it, and nervous anticipation is replaced with a sort of nervous energy. Something akin to a survival instinct kicks in, so that you can concentrate on getting from A to B, picking up those bags, finding your hotel. Once the holiday experience begins, you become involved in the doing and seeing, and have little time for anticipation.

I asked myself today if I really truly knew the meaning of exhiliration.
I don't think adults really experience excitement very often, I think you have to have a child-like heart to really feel it. Adults are too afraid to give into it, to let go and be carried away by it. I tried to think of the last time I really truly experienced nervous butterflies-in-the-tummy excitment. I couldnt, at least not as an adult anyway. The closest I could come was being in bed on Christmas Eve and listening to the grandfather clock in the hall, waiting for Santa, too hyped up to sleep, too nervous not to, willing the morning to come.

The thought of leaving what I know and am used to, to carve out a new path in the world on my own fills me with the twin feelings of dread and possibility. Some days one outweighs the other, on others they exist in equilibrium. As the time draws closer, I expect them to fuse as one intense emotion, so I will never really know if what I am feeling is dread or excitement....a bit like sky-diving, I imagine.

Last night I opened the Rough Guide to South America and began to read. I flicked through the sections until I landed on Peru. I'll be flying into Lima, so it's as good as place as any to begin. The more I read, the more the "What-Ifs" in my head were drowned out. The old adage "Knowledge is Power" sprang to mind, and how true it is. The vague idea of landing in Jorge Chavez airport with my life in 65L on my back and little or no Spanish is some days enough to frighten the daylights out of me. As I read through section after section of the chapter, however, underlining details of bus numbers and street maps, my confidence was re-kindled. And then, the first waves of excitement began to wash over me. The wonderful realization that I will land in Peru with no commitments, no deadlines, enough money to keep me going for quite a while, and the freedom to see and do anything I want, hit home and I couldnt stop smiling. I started to map out a trajectory through the continent.

Counting Down the Days

Groan...only another 4 months and a bit to go. The thing is it will fly past but it feels like aeons away at the moment.

Today was just one of those days at work. My boss just went into Uber-Assh*le mode and started tearing strips out of everyone. I could see Angela the cleaning lady wasnt even safe, but she managed to skulk into the kitchen and close the door before he bore down on her! What a spanner! I'm really not going to miss him, faffing about with his palm-pilot glued to his hand all day! saying "Come on now guys, not enough WOW factor there. We can do better than that, hmmm?"

I'm DYING to just say, "Guess what, I'm going south for the winter!" and storm out of the office with enough WOW factor to blow his pea-sized mind entirely. Well, a girl can dream.....

Work is becoming a nightmare though. My mind feels like its turned into vegetable soup from lack of use. Thank God for the internet. Without that, I would have left here long ago, or maybe died slumped over my keyboard and no-one would have noticed. Yes, it is that bad.

Anyway! on a lighter note, yesterday I invested in a Gortex XCR jacket. I say invested because I have to convince myself that I was Me, I, Mise who decided to buy the jacket, not the sales assistant I met. I wandered into River Deep Mountain High on my lunchbreak for a browse (that's all I swear!) I emerged from the store 15 minutes later €300 poorer......I think....

I was lured in my the massive red and white SALE signs on the front window. "Oh!", I thought, "I'll have a quick look at the jackets and see if there's anything good on offer". I wasnt in the door 5 seconds and the devil's advocate slash snowboarder (or whatever he was) got his claws into me and started giving me the hard sell. I was trapped. I could see the door merely feet away, and when I heard the words "Only two hundred and ninety nine euro" floating over the air, I wanted to run screaming from the shop, clutching my credit card to my chest, shouting "Back fiend! back!"

Instead, what did I do?

I said like a witless eejit, "Oh, is that all. Well, I do need one, I suppose...." and let him prise the card from my fist. In a matter of nano-seconds, he'd swiped the card, bagged the jacket,and moved onto the next witless eejit without so much as a goodbye!

I should never be allowed to go shopping alone!

Anyway, on further inspection last night it seems my jacket isnt a paclite, as I originally thought, but XCR. I dont know much about these things, but it seems to be pretty suitable to the kind of trip I'll be doing, so Im going to keep it. Theres no way Im going back into the DANGER ZONE to exchange it. I'd end up coming back out with the same jacket, various travel gadgets and gizmos, and probably a surfboard or something.

I'm going to be staying away from the shop for a while I think. Lol!!

I do like my jacket though....

Getting the Ball Rolling

Well, the dye has been cast. After a year of restless plotting and researching, I finally got my act together and booked my flights.

It was a strange feeling to finally do it. My hands were almost shaking, and the minute I clicked the Purchase button on the Lan website, momentary fear gripped my heart. No turning back!

Since then, I've been on a roll. Things just seem to be falling into place! I'm flying out of Shannon (quite near my home which is really convenient!) on 03 Jan off to The Big Apple! I really cant wait to see New York! I only have 3 days there, so I'm going to try and squeeze in as much as possible while I'm there.

3 short days later, I'm getting on a plane to cross the equator for the first time! to Lima. I'd be lying if I said I'm not nervous about South America, but this is what it's all about! Having abandoned the idea of joining up with Kumuka TOurs (I really want a challenge and to travel alone), the tentative plan is to spend a couple of days in Lima in the Miraflores district and see what it has to offer. My plan for Peru is to follow a similar path to the tour groups, so I think from Lima I'll head out to the coast initially, then down to Arequipa and from there back to Cuzco and the Inka Trail.

I'm going to give myself 2-3 months in South America. While I'm there I'm going to see Peru, Bolivia, as much of Chile as I can, including Patagonia, and then Argentina. From Buenos Aires, I hope to fly on to Auckland.

Visa is almost sorted for NZ!It only cost me €160 as well, which I was pleasantly surprised at. I thought it would be more somehow. And then its NEW ZEALAND for a year!!! I have been looking fwd to see this country for a lllloonnggg time. It's so exciting!!!!!!!!!

The itinerary after this is a loose one. No point planning to far in advance. Who knows where I'll end up. The itinerary is listed here on the homepage if anyone is interested.

Savings are starting to accumulate slowly, although I've a long way to go yet! I've booked an appointment for my jabs (ugh!) and all I have really left to pay for after that is my flight from SA to NZ. Good stuff outta me! Lol!

Anyway, that's all for now. Stay tuned....

Spur of the Moment

Hurray! Feeling a strange mix of nerves (oh God, what have I done...I didnt really think this through) and complete excitment (Yahoo! This means I'm on my way FINALLY!)

I did it. I just booked the preliminary flights for my RTW trip. I've been talking about it for so long at this stage, I was even beginning to wonder if I was ever going to get my ass in gear and do it.

Anyway, I've been keeping a close eye on some ridiculously cheap fares over the last while and today they went up slightly, so that was the impetus for the RASH DECISION.

So, I'm booked on a flight to NYC on 3 Jan and then on a flight from there to Lima 2 days later.

I've also reserved, but not paid for, a flight from Buenos Aires to Auckland (which is about €1000 ouch!) in late Feb.

Excitement, excitement, excitement......

Laying Plans

Frustrated by the fact that my trip to Spain is a whole 7 weeks away yet I bought the Rough Guide to Spain yesterday to start reading about more about the country.

I've been to Spain once, a few years ago. My ex and I stayed with some friends in an apartment in Torrevieja just outside Alicante. We hired a car and managed to do some exploring around the South-east coast, but I was pretty unimpressed and wanted to leave after a few days there. Maybe we missed the good spots, but it just seems that this part of Spain is crawling with British & Irish tourists and, what was probably once a beautiful coastline, is destroyed by high-rise developments stretching as far as the eye can see.

This time, I'm doing it Myyyy Waaaayyyyy. Spain is somewhere I've wanted to explore for a long time, and even though I only have 10 days this time around, I'm hoping to see quite a lot.

Hiring a car seems like a good option. Splitting the cost between two of us, it works out about the same as train-fares, and this way we can cover more ground.

Our flight is landing in Girona early in the day, so we're thinking of picking up the car, putting the boot down, and driving straight through to Madrid. I'm looking fwd to experiencing this city a lot. Spanish ppl I've met in college and worked with over the past few years seem to agree that, while Barcelona is decidely hip and cool, Madrid is less assuming and the ppl are warmer (and no, it's not because they are more inland. LOL). I'm looking fwd to making up my own mind.

I'd like to spend a couple of days in Madrid, there seems to be lots to see there. Two days isnt nearly enough time, but I think you can cover a good bit during this time. Although, I have been warned that you can wake up in Madrid, having lost 2 days of your life and not remember a thing! LOL!!

After Madrid, it's on to Cordoba and then Seville, maybe 2 days in Seville also. Andalucia sounds like an amazing part of the country. I cant wait to see it.

We're hoping to spend a night in Ronda. My brother didnt get to see it when he was last in Spain, and I've got lots of recommendations from ppl on this site to visit it, so we can't miss it!

Then, on to Granada for a night. Looking forward to seeing the Alhambra a lot. One night should be enough here.

The drive to back to Barcelona from Granada is going to be a bit of a beeetch, so I think it might be worth stopping off in Valencia for a night on the way back. We might check out Tarragona, if we dont stay in Valancia. This leaves us with two nights in Barcelona before we head home.

We might be taking on a lot for a 10 day trip, but neither of us mind driving very much. I dont want to spend all my time sitting in a car trying to squeeze in everything, but I think it's pretty doable.

If anyone's got any recommedations of places to go, things to do along this route, I'd love to hear them!

In the meantime, it's back to boring old work....

Doing It In Reverse

I'm seriously considering doing my trip in reverse. The more I think about it, the more comfortable I am with the idea.

Checked out some flights today. Found a great deal from Shannon to NYK for €118. Then NYK to Lima is working out at about €360. Santiago to Auckland is an eye-watering €1200, didnt check flights to Oz...but then Melbourne to KL was about €400.

After that, the bulk of the fligths would be out of the way, apart from a my flight home at the end of the trip. Working in NZ for the year would also allow me to gather some more funds for the SE Asia leg.

Honestly, I'm very daunted at the prospect of India as the first stop on the trip. I think leaving this until the end is wiser for a few reasons. Firstly, I will be a savvy traveller by the time I get there and it will probably not seem daunting at all. Secondly, what a great place to end a RTW trip Thirdly, I'll be getting the more expensive half of the trip out of the way first, and wont need as much money for the second half.

I'll probably have changed my mind again by this time next week. Lol!

The Cost of Realising Your Dreams

Sitting at your desk at work dreaming about exploring the world outside your window is one thing. Making it happen is another. Dreams don't require a lot of effort or sacrifice, and everything seems so much more easy and doable in your head.

My enthusiasm surrounding my RTW trip, which was at a high a few weeks ago, has waned considerably following a recent setback. In the past weeks, I have been thinking less and less about it, and now I'm depressed as hell!

So, I've decided to record the intended itinerary on my blog as a constant reminder of what is ahead of me.

I recently decided to abandon the traditional RTW ticket and wing it instead. There are a number of reasons for this. I dont like being restricted (hence the travelling solo ) Having to stick to ticket schedules, etc...is not really how I wanted to do this trip. I'd much rather just move from/stay in a place as I felt like it. Okay, so yeah I'm a little bit worried about the fact that it might cost me a LOT more doing it this way...but I should be okay. Shouldn't I? :D

Getting the money together for all this is the bitch! In the headiness of previous weeks, I went shopping for a few staples

- backpack
- hiking boots
- camera
- travel accessories
- waterproof gear

So, on the upside, any money I do save from now on will be money I'll be leaving with. Although, I still have to pay for travel insurance and the dreaded JABS!!!

On the downside, it's so hard to save, living in Ireland. Grrr...everything is sooo expensive here. I've been staying at home on Saturday nights as much as possible to try and save the pennies but it is hard. Plus, the Summer is here now and that makes it even more difficult!! My friends and workmates think there'e something up because I keep making excuses for not going out. I can't tell anyone about this trip yet because I cant blow my cover too early at work....they wouldn't be too happy if they thought I was planning to leave..so I have to keep schtum for a while yet. So, Ive been telling them all that I'm thinking of getting a new car and I'm saving for that.....tee heee...

When I said, I was planning a round the world trip, I wasnt joking. The list of countries is ambitious...maybe too ambitious, I dont know. I could be back in Ireland after a few months...but if not, this is the plan:

India 1 month approx
Nepal/Tibet 2wks/2wks
China 1-3 months (possibly to work)
Myanmar 2-3wks
Laos 2-3 wks
Vietnam 2-3wks
Cambodia 2 wks
Thailand2 wks
Malaysia 2-3 wks
Borneo 1wk
Singapore2-3 days

After this, it's difficult to plan anything remotely concrete

Australia 3-6 months (not sure whether to work here......)
New Zealand 6mnths - 1 yr (Working VISA)
One of the Cook Islands or Fiji - 1/2 wks

Easter Island 1-2 days
Chile 3wks-1 month (depending on whether I decide to see Patagonia
Peru 2 wks
Bolivia 1 wk

I said it was ambitious! Lol! If I get this far, I will be doing great! If I still have money and time and energy, I will add some more South or Central American countries on, and possibly Canada.....

At this point in my life, all I can think about is getting away from everything I know at home. I definitely have the will to embark on this adventure, but I wonder how long I can last....really. Looking at my intinerary, I just want to keep lengthening the list, but 1-2 yrs of roughing it is not easy on anyone...and I may find that I dont manage to see half of that list.

I don't imagine that I will get terribly homesick at first, but a trip of this magnitude means leaving your family for a long time. And then, there's your family. Is it selfish to leave them for such a prolonged absence?
I am lucky that I have parents who have never stood in my way and who encourage me in all my dreams and goals, even if they sometimes dont agree.
Is their a cost for them in me trying to realise these dreams?

Doing this trip boils down to one thing for me. I want to have an adventure. I want to be able to eventually buy my house/apartment and settle into my chosen career, have a family..etc...and be perfectly content to do that because I have made the most of my young life. I will have embraced the restlessness of youth and looked my fears and dreams right in the eye. Having done that, I think that middle age and beyond may be a happier and more content prospect.