Where?

June 7

Some people's reaction, when I tell of this trip, is to ask "Which countries?" or even, "How many countries?" Related is the Grand Tour idea, that you get one big trip in your life, into which everything must be packed. I've never had much truck with that notion, and yet it's weirdly embarrassing when my answer to the second question's only, "six." But then I explain it's really 'just' a journey to Turkey and India; if I'm going to the far side of the globe, why not just keep going; and Holland-Germany and Singapore-Japan are just convenient, familiar places to set down in between my true destinations and the American East and West Coasts.

Although the financial situation may prevent it, already I consider another orbit, this time in the opposite direction, and dipping below the equator. The Southern Route would start with the longest flight, from LAX to Australia/New Zealand, followed by South Africa; then Rio, Buenos Aires and finally Santiago; then returning to the Northern Hemisphere, and home in the Pacific Time Zone.

Departure in six days, whereupon these entries will become more descriptive, less introspective, and more frequent (but sometimes, when the internet is expensive, just a terse location note).

Final Preparations

May 23

Even though my Indian itinerary's rather vague, I've made the necessary preparations for travel outside the cities -- typhus and hepatitus shots, polio and tetenus boosters, plus obtaining a stash of malaria pills as well as something for Delhi belly. The latter worries me most -- can't imagine I'll get away from the sub-continent without being sick.

Not giving packing much thought now, that's always very-last-minute since my backpacking travel system's become routine. Instead, packing up ALL my gear, since I'll be homeless for the duration, placing my stuff into storage rather than pay rent on an empty apartment. Said storage unit was secured yesterday, so moving out has begun.

How and more Why

April 27

The big steps of this journey will naturally be by air, and arranging flights has become quite easy, via aggregate sites like kayak.com (as well as the airlines' own). A sad result of this is I've lost touch with Gretchen, my travel agent through the 1980s and 90s.

Years ago, I read a book which inspired (or even, enabled) me to make this journey. By that I mean unlike before, afterwards I felt that this was a trip I could actually undertake successfully, even though the idea of being in the developing world fills me with apprehension. As noted previously, I once attended a presentation by author Edward Hasbrouck, at a travel bookstore in downtown San Francisco. (I took him for a local, then, but he actually calls Capitol Hill home.) The travel agency he's affiliated with is airtreks.com and their specialty is arranging the daisy chain of one-way tickets necessary for a round-the-world journey. I played around with their online trip-planning software for years without following through.

I'll be using my usual methods for this trip, carrying a single piece of luggage, my trusty black max-carry-on sized Eagle Creek backpack, and staying in cheap hotels with their single rooms. When I began exploring the world I stayed in the much cheaper hostels, but getting a good night's sleep isn't possible anymore there, given strangers in the room. All local travel will be via public transportation, almost never arranged previously - the concept of moving through a foreign land in a sealed motorcoach with an organized group is anathema to me, a sentiment shared by many travelers. The comparison I heard recently was visiting a country with an organized tour was like reading a great novel's Cliff Notes (unfair, really, because sometimes those tour guides really know their material).

Actually, another book was an enabler for me, many years previously: Ed Buryn's Vagabonding. He motivated me into taking my first trip abroad, to Europe, a mysterious, foreign place at the time, not so easy to get to, or around in. His title's been co-opted by Rolf Potts, who now pays homage in his blog, with quotes from the now out-of-print original (for example, Ed Buryn on the Unexpected.) I've got a postcard from him; Buryn responded to my fan mail years ago. For more about him a local newspaperman up in the Gold Country became interested, then discovered the old but still-living author was practically a neighbor - see Ed Buryn: Our Nevada City vagabond.

Why Do This?

April 14

"Around the world, the trip begins with you"

'Roam' by the B-52s

The decision to go was formed by any number of events; among them an Edward Hasbrouck booksigning-reading, discovering the library's 'Powaqqatsi' videotape, reading how Magellan's crew dscovered the date line in A World Lit Only by Fire, etc. Last November I purchased the tickets, a little impulsively, and tomorrow I'm going up to the City to have an Indian visa installed in my passport. I've only had transit visas previously, the most memorable through Yugoslavia in 1977 during my first trip to Europe. That was the longest I've ever been away from home; this journey will also be seven weeks. I've made seven more round-trips across the Atlantic since then, and been seven times across the Pacific, as well. A final number - my departure date is Friday the 13th. Now I'll be filling in my gaps of longitude, and though Singapore's quite close, my first crossing of the equator will have to wait for another time.