Month: April 2016

My tentative plan

Several people have asked if I had a plan for the remainder of my trip or when I was coming home. No real good answers to either question so I mapped out the following rough itinerary (starting as of March 28) at breakfast one day based on how I was feeling at that point but it can always change bc I don’t book anything in advance & who knows, maybe I’ll tire of traveling & decide to park it in one place.
Rough itinerary:

– 3 wks Gulf of Thailand islands (including diving certification & other dives)

– 1 wk Malaysia chilling at a luxury property on an island courtesy of hotel points & checking out Kuala for a few nights

– 1.5 wks Indonesia (Bali & maybe a couple other stops, one for diving), probably include a nice hotel on points

– 1.5 wks Philippines (including diving)

– 1 wk Myanmar; may depend on the political situation there but I read that it’s in a good place now. I’ve run into a couple travelers who’ve visited in the last 2 months & said it was a highlight, especially bc tourism is so low now, & will soon blow-up once the government is fully transitioned.

– 2 wks in Vietnam to end the trip bc I’m obsessed (probably Saigon, Dalat, a city in the mountains just north of Saigon, & the Mekong Delta, including Phu Quoc Island, south of Saigon)
So if you’re doing math, that’s 10 weeks. Holy shit. I even left out other places on my wish list including more of Laos (but there’s a state dept travel warning now for the place I’d like to visit), Northern Vietnam (again) & a trip to Sri Lanka & I know I’m short changing most of the places I’m hitting but unless I find a sponsor of some sort, I probably can’t travel in perpetuity although I really think I would be good at that. So if things don’t change much, I may try to cut a week out to make it back for the Memorial Day Cubs game vs the Dodgers but maybe not. We’ll just have to see how it goes bc I am in love with this region of the world. I’ve never been so relaxed. This place just suits me. Beyond being drop dead gorgeous with people as sweet & helpful as can be, I do yoga/Pilates everyday, the food is incredible & good for you & I somehow don’t get a hint of a hangover even if I have one too many beers/glasses of wine. So I feel super healthy. Before I left on my trip (& quit my job), it was difficult prying myself out of bed each morning to head into work. Now I’m up before 7am excited to start the day & I really like it. I always want to feel this way.

Goodbye to Amy

I bid farewell to Amy after 6 weeks nearly a week ago. It was bittersweet as I hated seeing her go given the good times we had but it was inevitable as she has a life & a job she loves; however, I was looking forward to exploring this region on my own. The only vacation I’ve taken alone was a week to Anguilla for luxury pampering a couple years back planned 3 days in advance after a particularly stressful time at work. As much as I miss you all, I feel as if traveling alone here for an extended period of time is something I really need to do & I’m super excited for it. That said, if any of you have a week+ to spare & a desire to disappear to the other side of the globe, please feel free to join me for an adventure. I think I’ll probably use some of my hotel awards points at some lovely places to introduce some luxury into a plan otherwise focused on cheap & basic beach bungalows & it would be a shame if I were the only one enjoying it. Haha. Love you!
FYI… There is still one post forthcoming regarding the last stop Amy & I made at a hippy yoga commune in the Gulf of Thailand, one of the most entertaining stops all trip. It’s still writing itself.