First part of my trip booked! Connecticut- Thailand- Australia!

I did it! I booked my ticket yesterday and now there is absolutely NO turning back! I didn't even get the trip insurance lol. I know that I probably should have looked a bit more into the different options, but I did check several websites and I just couldn't wait any more!! My itinerary is below and the ticket only came out to  $1,539.63. For three flights and traveling so far, I am really impressed with the price.






Flight 1: Wednesday, January 4, 2012

JetBlue Airways 82 Economy  |  Airbus Industrie A320 (320) |  5hr 10min |  2406 miles

Depart:	9:15pm	Seattle, WA  Seattle/Tacoma Intl (SEA)
Arrive:	5:25am	New York, NY  New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)

   

This is an overnight flight.

Flight 2: Monday, January 16, 2012

American Airlines 6087 Economy  |  Boeing 777-300 (773) |  Refreshments |  16hr 10min |  8055 miles

Operated by: CATHAY PACIFIC -- CX 845. Please check in with the operating carrier.

Depart:	12:20am	New York, NY  New York John F Kennedy Intl (JFK)
Arrive:	5:30am	Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hong Kong Int'l (HKG)

   

Change planes. Time between flights: 3hr 40min

Cathay Pacific 713 Economy  |  Boeing 777-300 (773) |  2hr 55min |  1049 miles

Depart:	9:10am	Hong Kong, Hong Kong Hong Kong Int'l (HKG)
Arrive:	11:05am	Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK)

   

This is an overnight flight.

Total duration: 22hr 45min | Total miles: 9104 miles

Flight 3: Thursday, February 16, 2012

Malaysia Airlines 789 Economy  |  Boeing 737-800 Passenger (738) |  2hr 10min |  754 miles

Depart:	2:15pm	Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport (BKK)
Arrive:	5:25pm	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Int'l (KUL)

   

Change planes. Time between flights: 4hr 25min

Malaysia Airlines 149 Economy  |  Airbus Industrie A330-300 (333) |  8hr 15min |  3938 miles

Depart:	9:50pm	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Int'l (KUL)
Arrive:	9:05am	Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL)

   

This is an overnight flight.

This trip starts and ends at different airports.

Total duration: 14hr 50min | Total miles: 4692 miles

After the excitement set in I started really thinking about the trip and I got a little nervous that I did not think about whether or not I would need an exit ticket to get a visa for Australia. I often do this to myself. I don't always think things through as much as a should and sometimes I am really awful at doing all of the research that is needed. I am definitely a 'fly by the seat of my pants' kind of person and sometimes that can be my biggest downfall. When I started thinking about this possible problem, I already had my ticket and I was already at work so I couldn't do anything to even look into whether or not I needed a return ticket for a visa. 

Today I went to the Australian Embassy website and was very relieved when I saw that I could just apply for my visa online. All I needed was a valid passport and I can stay in Australia for up to 3 months as a tourist. No return ticket necessary!! This was perfect. All necessary information given and 20 Australian dollars, and 20 seconds later I have an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) to go to Australia for up to 3 months. I could actually stay for up to 12 months in 3 month increments if I really wanted to! And the best part about this is that everything is done electronically so all I have to do is go to the airport and they will see that I have gotten the OK right there on their computer screen! How easy is that!


So with that problem solved, I now have to look into my next (and really 1st issue). As a  US citizen, I can stay in Thailand for up to 30 days without a visa. I, without thinking and kicking myself now, booked my flight 31 days apart!!! I will get back to you about what I will do with this issue...UGH! Sometimes I never cease to amaze myself!


*For future travelers:


I am getting all of this information from this great website:
 http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_4965.html#T
they brake everything down by country and then you can just click entry/exit requirements for US citizens. I definitely suggest checking this out BEFORE you book any flights! :)

Two months and counting!

Almost a month has gone by since I have been "couch hopping" and I think that, so far, things are going really well. I can't believe how fast October has flown by! I have been really happy staying at Kammy's. We don't see each other much since we both have very crazy schedules and she spends most nights at her girlfriend's house. However, when we are able to catch each other it has been really nice. We spent the other night drinking wine, smoking hookah, watching shows, and catching up. I actually really like having her as a roommate and although it is great feeling like I have a studio apartment to myself, I definitely wish that she was around more often. But, alas, it is the 26th of October, which means it is past time for me to have figured out a plan for my living situation for next month. Kammy has offered me her place on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. This way she will also be able to have her alone time in her own apartment, yet still help me out. Tuesday nights (since I usually go to the rose for taco Tuesday after work) I am hoping to be able to stay with my friend Jay on capitol hill (I still need to let her in on my plan). That leaves Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, which I am hoping to stay downtown with Maritza (I also have to still talk to her about this plan). This way we can test it out and see if she will be ok with having me around before she commits to a full month in December. In writing this, I am realizing that I should probably talk to them both about this tonight before it is too late and it's November already!

I have not done anymore preparing for my trip than the last time that I wrote, besides looking into buying a ticket. I want to buy my ticket by this weekend so that it can all be set in stone with no option to turn back. At first when I looked up a ticket to go from Thailand to Australia. The cheapest ticket I could find was 600 dollars! This put a definite damper on my plans and I questioned whether or not I wanted to put in that extra cost just to be able to see my Australian friends. My answer was immediately "yes". However, I wanted to check out other options to getting there before committing to the price. Since I have to also travel to Connecticut, I decided looking up a multi-city ticket would be a smart thing to do. When I did this, I was over joyed with what I found.

I found a multi-city ticket:

Seattle to New York/ New York to Bangkok/ Bangkok to Melbourne  for $1700!  

This price was through kayak.com Then I checked cheapflights.com and found the same flight for $1550!
It took everything in me to not purchase the ticket right away! But, I stopped myself so that I could keep looking and see if I can find anything better. So far, it is the best I can find and by this weekend if it still is the cheapest, I am purchasing it. I can't wait to have a physical ticket to make my trip that is just a "dream" as of now become a reality! It is crazy to think that in just two short months I will be getting off a plane in Thailand and beginning a journey that will change my life forever!!

slightly behind schedule

It is now the beginning of the third week of October and according to my "schedule" I should be planning my third country. I know myself, and I knew that that would never be the case, since I am so last minute. However, I am not only a little behind. I am still planning my route! It is not totally my love of procrastination at fault here.



What you see above is 4 different itineraries. I began by finding out the best times to travel to which places (this took three rough drafts). When I did this, I came up with the perfect itinerary! I began in Thailand in January to meet my friend Dani from work. Then after that I was going to head backwards to India then travel east, spending a month in every country until I reached Australia in October. I was then going to stay in Australia with "my Aussies" for the whole month of October and the first week of November so that I could spend my birthday (November 3rd) partying it up with people I knew and in an area I know that I can be myself in. (By this I do mean an area that I can be gay in and spend time with the queer community-which I really feel I am going to have difficulty with for most of the time I will be traveling). In this plan, I would be in every country in the best months to visit and would miss all of the bad weather patterns...I was set!

Then I emailed my friends in Australia (Warren and Dave) and told them my plans. They also have traveling spirits like mine and they told me that they are only going to be in Australia from January until the end of March and then they are traveling throughout Europe. This changes all of my plans, but it will be worth it. There is no sense in knowing people in different countries if they are not going to be there when you visit! So that brings me to my latest plan. It's a bit of a skip around and it is going to be a bit more expensive, but it is going to be totally worth it. So, in the past 2 weeks I have at least come up with an itinerary that I think is at least going to be close to the final draft:

January- Thailand (Dani)
February- Australia (Warren and Dave)
March- New Zealand
April- New Zealand (they say that you need at least 2 months in this most amazing country to see even the smallest bit of it)
May- Philippians
June- Indonesia
July- Malaysia
August- Vietnam
September-India (will have to fast forward then backtrack to avoid bad weather)
October- Myanmar
November- Cambodia
December- Laos

Move to San Diego in January!

So this is the rough plan. I am sure that it is going to change depending on places that I like a lot and want to stay longer and places I run into bad weather. At the very least, I have the first two to three months planned and will know people for the first two months of traveling and that sets me at ease.

I also have a lot of personal and in the moment things that I would love to also talk about, but I am tired and working a double tomorrow so I will leave that all for another day...goodnight!

Getting Settled

It is my third day staying at Kammy's place and things are going great! At least I think so. The first couple of days she still had her friend staying with her, which made things pretty cramped (2 cats, 2 dogs, 3 humans, and 2 pieces of luggage). During this time I just mostly stayed out of the house and just came here to sleep and Kam did the same. After Nakoma left yesterday morning, I got to work cleaning and putting my things away. Although this was a lot of help to my sanity, I was mostly doing it for Kammy's sake. I know that coming into her space and bringing my two cats is not going to be easy, so I am really determined to do my best to make it as smooth as possible. After everything (what little things I have kept) found a place and the house was vacuumed and swept, it looked great!

Kam has really been so amazing to me, I am so grateful. Throughout this whole thing she has never expressed any emotion except excitement and I have felt so welcome. She has even cleaned out a drawer for me! Honestly, I have a really good feeling about all of this. I know that the ex-girlfriend factor has the potential to make things difficult, but I really want to do everything I can to not let it be any kind of issue. We did already have one awkward moment when I came home and her and the girl she is currently seeing were here. This wouldn't be awkward if I had not already made a bit of a fool of myself when I met her for the first time at the bar about a month ago (after maybe one too many). So I definitely need to work on breaking down the wall of awkwardness that I have created. I am glad to see Kammy happy and I definitely don't want to ruin anything for her by being in the way.

And the animal...they are SO CUTE! I was a little afraid that it would be a little like a zoo in here, but the animals are all so chill and they get along! It is like they have always lived together (they did live together for a year and a half, but it has been 4 years since then). It is also so nice to wake up in the morning and walk the dogs. They get me up around 8 and I thought I might be annoyed, but it's a great way to start my day and then I have so much more time to get things done.

                             I mean who wouldn't want to come home to these cute dogs!

The way I really know that I am happy is that I want and love my cats to be all around me. Towards the end of my moving process, I found myself getting so annoyed with Search and Destroy. It was out of stress and anxiety about the future and the huge changes I was beginning to make. I am still making a lot of changes, but I am much more relaxed and happy and now I am able to better take care of the animals and I absolutely love having them around.

I hope things continue in this positive direction! Now, as for my homework assignment...the first country I am going to research and prepare for is Thailand. This is where I think I am going to start my journey. My coworker and friend Dani and her friend are leaving for Thailand in November, so they will already be there (as long as they haven't run out of money yet) and I am planning on meeting them where ever they are at the time. Tomorrow I will post with some new and interesting information on my findings of Thailand. Stay tuned :)

Let the new chapter begin

It has been almost a month since I have updated and in that month I have been though so many changes and so many emotions with this move. I moved out of my apartment yesterday and into my ex girlfriends studio apartment with my two cats (and her two dogs). Whenever I tell people where I am living or write it down, it sounds a little crazy. However, I have this weird, calm, assured, feeling that everything is going to work out and that we are going to live really well together for the next month.

I have to admit that it has been really difficult coping with the realization that I no longer will have a place to call my own, and with the fact that I had to go through all of my belongings that I have acquired the last 7 years of living in Seattle and get rid of almost everything. However, at the same time, I feel (as of today) incredibly free. I am finally able to rid myself of the responsibilities of packing and moving that have bogged me down for the last month and I am finally feeling myself getting super excited for my big trip. It feels great!

My plans now are to really begin the planning process of my trip. I still have two (maybe 3 jobs) and school to occupy most of my time. But, even with all of that, I still feel that I will be in a better emotional space that I will be able to start really preparing for all that is two come when I get on that plane to Southeast Asia in three months. I am going to give myself the homework assignment to make plans for one country each week. My up-in-the-air plan is to visit twelve countries in twelve months. With 3 months until I leave, if I do my homework I will have my trip totally planned out (well at least the highlights, must sees, and times to go) by the time I leave! Southeast Asia here I come! This is really happening now. No turning back...