Progress!

Alright, I officially am making progress for my trip to South East Asia, and I've got great news:

I've bought my flight tickets to Bangkok! That's right, I've finally done it. It's official, I WILL be traveling this coming summer.

I kept track of prices for awhile and stumbled upon a price war going on between domestic carriers and the asian carriers. Tickets were all sitting at $1500-$1800 round trip, which was putting a big strain on the tight budget that I will have available. My goal was to buy my tickets for under $1200 total for the flights only, what I noticed (through other bloggers pointing this out to me) is that when buying a ticket from the mid-west US, the price is between 1/3 to 2/3 more expensive if you pick up a connecting flight.

Example:
Flying from Kansas City: $1500-$1800+
Flying from San Francisco: $1070 (this is the ticket I bought)

I'm planning on picking up either a budget ticket ($230 or less) or a greyhound ticket (currently $230) for a separate round trip to drop me right in SFO or the city in general with plenty of time to get to the airport and time to maybe couch surf a day or two before leaving on the return leg.

I'm leaving May 8th and returning July 10th. My flight transfers in Tokyo (I ended up flying Delta airlines because I wanted to save $200.. might bite me in the bum, but maybe not) and, sadly, I arrive in Thailand around midnight local time. So I'm thinking of relaxing for awhile at a coffee shop or something. (thanks wanderingEarl for that pointer).

So I have my ticket, my passport, backpack, and some of the clothes I want to take. I'm looking into getting my shots here, though I found I can get them at the red cross (aka snake farm) in Bangkok for MUCH less (have heard around $100, which is WAY better than several hundred). So that's where things stand, New backpack update soonish (busy with school, so updates come second, apologies).

Feel free to comment with questions or comments!

A long time coming

Alright, Yet another update. This time, though, it's a bit of explanation.

First off: No, I didn't go anywhere over the summer. Other than moving to the small town where my university is located. I spent the last year taking classes at a small college that didn't cost me much and working to save money for my trip. The end of the school year came along and I was getting everything finalized for my move back to university and my mother discovered that she had cancer. again. I ended up staying and spending a decent bit of money on helping out her and one of my brothers. She lived with me and I was driving her 2 hours away to the doctor twice a week and after all was said and done, I had maybe $800 left after everything. Obviously not enough to go anywhere. Add that to the near tripling effect that happened to fuel prices causing flight costs to skyrocket (pun semi-intended). I was pretty much stuck. I bought a small bike to get me around town while at school and replaced my phone and that pretty much ate through the rest of my savings.

Fast forward a little bit to now, classes start tomorrow and I'm enrolled for 13 credit hours. My mother has moved in with her boyfriend and I've got a room mate to make rent easy. She's mentioned paying me back a portion of what I spent so with my grant/loan refund coming I should have enough to take a trip this coming summer.. about 8 ish months away.

I'm going to be buying my flight ticket to BKK once I find a price that isn't $1800+ (hoping for closer to $1200, which i've found a couple times). Hopefully getting that mid-september, at which point i'll be set for my way there and back and just have to save the rest.

With luck, I'll have enough money to go for most of the summer and have a budget of around $40 or so per day. From what i've heard so far, that's decent for a budget backpacker, I'll find out when I get there, right?


It's one of those things that I need to do. Once I'm finished with school, I hope that I'll still be able to travel. I plan on saving everything after next summer's trip for when I graduate and liquidating the rest of what I have so I can be easily mobile. I want to find a career outside the USA because I feel that there's too much out there that I won't get to experience and I want to see as much as I can.

UPDATE!

Alright, I’m back from my overly long hiatus. UPDATE TIME!

So, back in November of last year, I hit a funk. I had been working very hard at a job that I didn’t really enjoy too much to save money for my trip. Add to this my transportation issues that cropped up off and on, plus school, family, sickness, etc. etc. etc. With all of the things piled up, I managed to get myself in a sort of depressed state, but still managed to save money.

Fast forward to March of 2012, I was fed up with missing class because I didn’t have my own transportation. I ended up taking my savings (around $2000) and bought a motorcycle. Long story short, I should be selling the bike this coming weekend and I’ll have the money for my summer trip again.

My current itinerary is in development, but I’ll probably fly to Cancun, MX in a few weeks (looking between mid-june and july 1st and returning around august 1st – 8th. I’m going to sell a couple more items to make sure I have enough money for the duration of the trip, but I’m going to do it. I’m going to take my trip like I originally planned. It’ll be a bit of a rush to get everything finalized, and the trip will be a tad shorter, but It’ll still be pretty awesome, I think.

I know that I want to see the big volcano in Nicaragua, I want to go out to some tiny island and walk its’ circumference, and I want to possibly see the panama canal, I’ve heard it isn’t spectacular, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it.

More to come in the next few days as I put things together and get my tickets bought.

-Greg

New Horizons

I've been going over the numbers again for my trip and I came to a stunning realization..

I'm behind in my savings and not able to save as much per month as previously planned.

Add in to this is the shortened time period available, and I recognize I *might* need to change destinations... AGAIN. As it stands, Thailand is simply outside my upcoming budget. With the very expensive flight, the immunizations, a move to a different town to return to university, and a lack of a cash buffer like I originally planned, It's just not a feasible option at this time. Now, I'm not removing it entirely from my options, however, I am putting together a list of destinations that can fit into a 45-60 day trip.

The criteria:

1. must be $1000 or less for a round trip ticket from the US (MCI or STL airports)
2. Cannot be a country that shares a border with the US (no canada or mexico, unless mexico is only part of the trip)
3. Prefer somewhere across the ocean, but if that's not possible, see bullet 2.
4. Also prefer there to be a language barrier. I want to learn a new language and the best method is immersion.
5. I need to be able to live on $50 or less per day as a low-mid range budget.
6. (optional) Prefer somewhere slightly off the beaten path, or with options to see places that most non-backpacker tourists would avoid. Also would like to see the shoulder season or off season. Though it isn't a problem if its main season, I just want to see what the real life is like in the areas I visit.

I'm currently considering a trip down to Cancun, Mexico as a starting point for the Central America backpacker circuit. I'd catch a bus to Playa del Carmen, stay there a few days, maybe a week, and would then go through central america to Panama and catch a flight back to the US. Though I'm open to plenty of other options and ideas.

Since the price of a plane ticket to central america is cheaper by a power of 10, ($180 vs $1800) It opens up more options for travel within the region along with leaving more money available to do things. Plus I'll be able to set aside any remaining money when I return home. This option also opens up the winter/christmas break for a short trip unless I save every penny for a euro-venture the following summer. Once I graduate from NW, I'm going to take the trip to Thailand (if I don't do it this summer) and make my way through the area, hit up a few other countries, australia, etc. My ultimate goal is to make a full circumnavigation of the world by the time I'm 30, on top of traveling as a lifestyle.

In the off chance that I'm able to afford the trip to Thailand, I'll still leave it for later. The average suggestion from other backpackers and long term travelers is to leave it for when I have the time. I'm also looking into a short trip over winter break, maybe buck the trend and go north instead of south. That or grab my brother and some friends and take a short jump down to mexico, possibly baja. That's something for later though, right now I'm working out the summer trip and making sure I have everything set.

Budgeting, Gear, and Preparations

Last saturday, 8/6, I received my passport in the mail! So on that front I'm all set. I'm going to be planning out a proper itinerary once I work out my final budget and then get visa's, flight costs, and insurance figured.

Budgeting:

As it stands, part of the plan was to use whatever school money would be left after paying for classes, housing, etc. as well as every bit of money from my normal pay since housing will be paid for, will go towards my trip. I was hoping that would equal out to about $2k-$3k as a pretty good starter.

I found out that after all of the other things are paid for (to a degree) I'll have maybe $1500 from remaining grant money. Though the up-side is that pays for the flight and insurance (rough estimates) and if I can save $100 or more per week I can have about $4000 to work with in general.

Leaving myself $1000 in hold for emergencies/alternate transport etc., I'll have $3k to work with for the duration. I may wait an extra month and leave mid-june to give myself an extra $500 or so to work with towards fun things like diving, snorkeling, tubing, etc.

According to most people I've talked to, If I keep to a very minimum budget and keep from drinking a lot all the time (which I don't do anyway. The whole 'heart' thing and all) I can easily live comfortably off of $600-700. So if I have 3k to work with, a 3 month trip is pretty feasible. Add to that if I can do volunteer work in exchange for housing and maybe food I'll have more funds available to travel longer if desired, or to do more things, or even to come home with and save for the next adventure.

Gear:

Now that I know this trip can happen, it's time to think about gear. I'm going to start with backpacks and footwear since those are pretty much the main items any backpacker will need.

Packs:

What I'm looking for in a pack is one that can carry what I need to take, can fit as a carry on luggage, is small enough not to be too bulky and still be able to put in on my lap for taxi's, tuk-tuks, etc.

I actually began my search at the local Alpine Shop since I guessed there would be people working there that have actually used some of their own products or could even point me in the right direction if its something they don't sell.

Osprey: The first packs I tried out were from Osprey which are on the more expensive side of things.

• Atmos 50: The first pack I looked at and actually the top of my list as far as comfort and size.

Pros:

• Very comfortable. Breathable mesh in the back
• Stayed cool during a quick walk during a tryout with sand-bags inside it.
• Has pockets on each side of the belt that can hold things like a camera etc.
• It's large enough at 50 liters to hold whatever I need while still being small enough to use
  as a carry-on.
• Nearly unlimited lifetime guarantee. Seriously, they call it the “All Mighty Guarantee.” I could pick up an old pack that was torn up and send it off to get repaired and only pay shipping.
• Cons:
  • Pockets on belt are mesh and thereby not waterproof.
  • Bag doesn't seem to have any kind of attachment for a locking mechanism.
  • Doesn't lock.

Lafuma: More affordable than the Osprey, but not by much.

• Mont Blanc 60L
  • Pro's
    • It has an “easy adjust” back system that seems to work ~okay.
    • Can store up to 65 Liters and also pack down to the size of a 35L pack if not loaded fully.
    • Comes with a rain-cover that is packed into its own pocket
  • Con's
    • Back adjustment system felt like it didn't fit my back like it should have, even after adjusting
    • Seemed kinda heavy even when empty.
    • Not very vented, Good for winter backpacking, Not so much for tropical areas?

High Sierra: Much cheaper packs, Mostly on the larger side of life. I wasnt too impressed with these packs overall. I was able to find 3 different ones locally, and they all seemed to have the same issues.

While I'll admit these are probably very nice packs and they had decent pocket layouts etc, I just couldn't seem to get the 45L comfortable at all and the other two are too large.

• Long Trail 90L
• Sentinal 65L
• Summit 45L
  • Non-adjustable back on some models.
  • No Belt pockets
  • Hip belt seemed overly large and bulky on every model.

-OVERALL: Though there are more packs available in town (Kelty and Gregory are two) I think I'm pretty much sold on the Osprey Atmos 50 pack. It's by far the most comfortable especially with weight in it. It seems to fit my back and hips better than the other packs I've tried, though I will be going out to look at the Kelty and Gregory packs soon.

As far as shoes go, I bought a pair of Merrell Chameleon 3 hybrid hikers. I've been wearing them for work currently and they're great thus far. I'm considering a pair of fivefingers shoes as something to wear in the rain, but I may just go with some decent sandals/flip-flops since that seems to be what most people suggest.

Preparations:

As of about 2 weeks ago I've been on a new diet and exercise regime to get back into shape and be more ready to handle this kind of trip. My goal is to lose at least 30 lbs (puts me at 200) and ideally 50 lbs (which puts me at 180.) Included in this goal is to hopefully get my heart in check and not have it as a worry or issue in the back of my mind. To get to this goal I am exercising every day, cutting out all sodas, caffeine, and nearly all of the sweets (not all because you need something to look forward to.) I've changed over to almond and coconut milk instead of regular dairy, and I'm starting to lay out a proper diet meal plan.

So with luck, I'll be in much better shape and feeling pretty good, Healthy enough to stay healthy, and have a pretty good time for the beginning of my world travels.