The Voyage from Start to Finish

Ok, I said I'd share it, so here it is, now that I've booked the final leg of the journey: The Itinerary.

May 24 - end of June: Eastern Europe - Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Greece
End of June - mid-July: Turkey, Egypt
Mid-July - mid-August: Ethiopia, Tanzania (meet up with Christine and Victor!!), South Africa (after which the Broseph goes home)
Mid- end of August: Madagascar, Mauritius (with the mom!)
September: India
October: Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam (order and exact destinations TBD)
End of October - mid-November: Singapore, Indonesia
Mid-November - end of December: Australia, New Zealand

I get back to New York at 6pm on Christmas Eve. JFK probably won't be too busy then, right....?

Schmoozie Hughes

Feel free to refer to me as such! Here's the story: On April 11, the BF turned 31. We had a great night out with friends to celebrate, but on his actual birthday, a Sunday, it was totally rubbish weather - windy, rainy and cold. We had really wanted to go and do the Urban Zipline, a marketing stunt set up by the British Columbia tourist board or something. Basically it was a big zipline strung up down by the water on the Embarcadero. People were waiting hours in line to get on this thing (especially as it was free), but when we saw the weather on Sunday we decided not to bother. At around 6, the skies cleared so we thought, what the heck, let's go see if we can do this thing. We got there half an hour before it closed and the people running it said, Nope, no way, you should have been here at 8:30 this morning. I was having NONE of this. I turned it on, big time. I gushed about how it was my BF's birthday, I'm leaving soon, no no, you don't understand, we HAVE to do this, please? Please!...and so on. Aaaand, it worked! Twenty minutes later we were on, last zipliners of the day, and all it cost me was a few faux almost-tears and a biscotti for the guy in charge. It was totally brilliant and a fantastic end to the BF's birthday, even he says so. Hey, that's why they pay me the big bucks to do PR, right?! (Not that I beg and cry and bribe journalists with biscottis to get coverage...usually.)

In other birthday happenings, this past weekend it was my friend Natalie's birthday and she invited us all to go wine tasting at the winery where she's a member. It was fabulous and I totally recommend it, hence talking about it here! (That's what travel blogs are for, right?!) The winery is Ledson in Sonoma. A big castle-y type place with fountains and turrets and whatnot. It was a beautiful day and we had our own personal wine tasting dude (Kelsey) and special menu just for Natalie. Kelsey said weird stuff about how wine was made of crushed Smurfs and described everything as being "B.I.G.", but it was entertaining nonetheless and he did tell us good stories about some celebrities who've been up there. Harry Connick Jr. showed up with his mistress once, apparently. Ooh. La. La.

On the travel front, I have an accumulating "To Do" list that has little crossed off. Timing-wise, I have two more weeks of work and just under three weeks left in San Fran. More importantly, The Gargantuan Cloud of Ash has one month and four days to get the hell outta my way so I can get to my first destination. I'm obsessed with the ash cloud, by the way, and not just because it might throw a wrench in my plans. It just doesn't cease to amaze me that with everything human beings control in the world, we are completely, totally powerless against this thing. There's absolutely nothing anyone can do.

In other news, the vaccination count is up to eight. It now includes rabies, the most expensive one of all. At $600, I almost WANT something to bite me.

Japanese Encephawhatnow?

Fear not friends, thou shalt not catch an exotic disease from me! Last week I was vaccinated to within an inch of my life against all sorts of tropical illnesses, leaving me several hundred dollars poorer and with arms that felt as though they'd been used as punching bags - six shots in about five minutes. The cost does NOT include the prescriptions for malaria and whatnot, and then MORE prescriptions for the side effects you might get from the other prescriptions...I lost track, but I'm Japanese Encephalitis free for now!

I was glad to cross another major thing off the travel to-do list, but, speaking of lists, I'm starting to find myself hung up on the little things ("Quel surprise!", I hear you say) like (sorry gentlemen readers) but, you know, feminine products. I mean, I read that in some African countries these things are reserved for royalty, so I'm thinking I might want a few creature comforts handy! (Unless anyone thinks I could pass as a Duchess of some kind? Countess of Connecticut?)

Getting in a tizzy about Tampax leads to a general panic about the size of backpack I need, upon which a panic about purchasing said backpack ensues, which sets me off about packing in general, and then about whether or not I should have a party dress, which ultimately leaves me fretting about how many eyeliner pencils will last me seven months. (Yes, I'm taking eyeliner - I am committed to maintaining an air of femininity throughout this journey and no-one can stop me!)

I was thrilled to escape all this, though, this weekend when the BF and I went up to Napa for Easter. Aaaaah. Well, Calistoga actually. He (the BF) has some family friends up there who own a vineyard called Canard (http://www.canardvineyard.com/). They (the Czapleski family) live in an old farmhouse right in the middle of the vines. It's just fabulous (see pics below)- hot tub, pool, huge deck and outdoor kitchen for grillin', beautiful views and lots (and lots and lots) of vino! We spent much time at the kitchen table gabbing, drinking reds, whites, bubbles and eating our weight in food, but we did actually get out and do some wine-tasting. We visited Beaulieu Vineyard, my all-time number one winery of which I'm a member, and got the royal treatment (I'm a Countess, right?) with tastes of all sorts of reserve (read: much dollar) wines. We also did a tour of Clos Pegase and the wine caves, as the Czapleski's son works there. Learned a lot, drank more. It'll be a while 'til I'm up there again, but Candi and Rich (and Thor!) have NOT seen the last of me.

Tears and cheers

Yesterday was rough. I told work I'm leaving on the voyage. I wasn't going to do it quite so soon, given that right now, life is pretty much going on as normal and I'm committed to my work and all that, but some things started changing in terms of my role and responsibilities and it was only fair to my colleagues to let them know.

I had been chatting with a few close friends and confidantes all week about how to handle this, because I am SO keen to treat my work colleagues (and really, they're friends now) as well as they've treated me. To the people who helped (you know who you are), THANK YOU - your advice and encouragement allowed me to keep up the confidence I needed to break the news, which I knew was going to throw a wrench in everyone's plans.

I decided to go to see our (fabulous, truly) CEO first, and I was shaky and antsy all day. He was absolutely wonderful about it and completely supportive, though I did get teary-eyed as it all started to become more real. I then had to pull myself together again to go and tell my amazing manager, where there were more tears but also more outpouring of support for me. I then had to do it AGAIN on the phone with my vice president and team leader (this time cheers with no tears) and then ONE MORE TIME to tell the general manager of our office via phone. Cheers from him too. I loved his initial reaction though, which was "Rats!", as I think that sums up the collective feeling of the team! One more round of tears (from me) after I put the phone down, and then calm. Exhausted, but happy, and sure I'd done the right thing. I will miss this crew immensely, though. They really are a marvelous bunch and blew me away with their raving about the work I've done for them and how much they'll want me back.

So, what now? Well, there's still TONS of planning to do. I still have no idea what I'm going to do where. I need to start booking some initial accommodations and things as it'll be the height of summer travel in some places. I HAVE booked my one-way ticket to the East Coast, so I'll be in San Fran for two months and two days more. Sadface. Oh and I've taken up yoga. As if I had time for ONE more thing...but it's actually really helped, as I've needed to find time to clear my mind. I've had my stomach in knots about the giving notice thing for a couple of weeks, so it's great to let that go now. I've also met a fabulous yoga instructor who's from India, and I've told him all about my trip and we're going to meet so he can give me some tips and tricks for travelling there - It'll be the first leg of the trip where I'm 100% alone (though 1 billion people live there, so I have a feeling I'll make some friends).

So, that's the update. If you hear some creaking and squeaking, that's me trying to master the 'crow pose'...owwwww

We're moving!

Well, things are moving - literally! I moved out of my apartment in Russian Hill into a great studio sublet in Nob Hill. The girl who lives in it is in India for three months during the exact time I need the place, so it was a great find. I've also asked her to take some good mental notes of Mumbai for me!

I definitely consider the sublet a major part of the trip planning, because if I wasn't embarking on this journey in a few months, I would have probably stayed in my Russian Hill place and found a new roommate when Lindsay (my awesome roomie until a few days ago!) moved to NYC. It also meant that I had to do a whole lot of downsizing, as the place I'm in is furnished, but I think that's a great thing because I would have had to do it eventually. Now I really just have my essentials, which I think I can pare down even further once I don't need my work clothes anymore....aaaaah...sorry, was just thinking about the day when I WON'T NEED MY WORK CLOTHES ANYMORE!

(If you're wondering what I did with my stuff, I gave a lot to Goodwill, gave some away to friends, sold the furniture, mailed things to my sister and, um, left a bunch on a park bench...)

Anyway, I'm super comfortable in my new place, and it's great to have my own spot to lay out all my bits and bobs that I need for planning - travel books, notes, magazines, etc. I've now determined all the countries for which I need a visa and what vaccinations I need for everywhere I'm going. Oh and how much I need to spend on these things - several hundred bones all told. Oh well, less expensive than getting treatment for one the many fevers on offer in Africa and Asia - dengue, yellow, and the like.

So, what's next? Visas, some initial accommodations, especially for the summer parts of the trip to make sure I get good deals at good places. The broseph is also doing some research on excursions and whatnot - safaris, boat cruises, hikes up Kilimanjaro (ha!).

So, we're moving!

It's on!

Umm, that was fast. Fewer than SIX days since I first spoke to the travel agent (AirTreks - awesome by the way!) aaaaand it's done. It's booked. The Epic Voyage is happening! Seven months, from the end of May to the end of December, Austria to Fiji.

I got cold feet for about 23 seconds. I had to text three of my best people to have them remind me how badly I want to do this- I mean, I was about to drop some serious cash on this and commit to spending the majority of the coming year on the road!

It was hard to get it all sorted out at work - I had to duck into a conference room to confirm the itinerary with the travel agent (I WILL share that soon, there are just a few teeny tweaks being made - plus some of the last leg flights can't be booked yet as it's so early), text/email some friends whom I knew were on the edge of their seats waiting to find out if I was really going to do it, call my family, etc.!

In the midst of this I was also in contact with my brother Joseph (aka Broseph, Le Petit Frere, Homeless Joe - ask him about the last) and make sure everything was all right on his end, as we're doing the first three months of this together. Shenanigans await us, THAT I know for sure!

Once it was sorted, I wanted to jump up and down and shout and tell everyone and call all my friends and Facebook it and tweet it and put out smoke signals and carrier pigeons...But alas, I had many a media plan/briefing book/action item to complete. I remained firmly planted at my desk, emailing away as though I HADN'T just planned to throw out the conveniences of a stable routine and income and (in some places) toilet paper. Nope, I just clacked away on my keyboard, but with a GIANT smile on my face. Anyone who might have stopped by would have thought I was overly thrilled to be sending a coverage update. The coverage wasn't even that good.

The First Step

Well, it's really somewhere around the third step, but making the call to the travel agent today about the logistics (and, ah, the cost) of travelling around the world for six months made it a real thing, as opposed to 'that big trip I might take one day.'

That big trip being, you guessed it, The Epic Voyage. To summarize, this is something I've been wanting to do for years and years - a long-term trip around (some of) the world. I've been saving up for about four years (so, the real step one) and have finally decided whereabouts I'll be going (I'll share the final itinerary when I have it) and for how long (about six months - and the real step two). The time's come where I've got enough money, so I'm going to make it happen in 2010.

I want to blog about it while I'm doing it, if only to have a record for myself, friends and family of everything I anticipate I'll get up to, so I thought I'd better start making it a regular thing now. Trying to start a blog while also trying to adjust to six months as a nomad didn't seem as though it would work out well!

I travelled quite a lot in 2009, and kept meaning to start the blog then so I could write about my weekend trips, etc., but before I knew it the year had flown by and The Epic Voyage didn't exist. Now that it does, I'm going to perhaps do a little 'retro-active' writing about some the trips I took in 2009 - San Diego, Chicago, NYC, Boston, London, Paris, etc. - to sort of get in the habit. I'll also document what goes into planning the upcoming trip and how it's going. Thus far, it's going well! I'll get an estimate for the airfare costs on Monday, with a plan to book the tickets by the end of this month. In between then and the end of May, when I plan to leave, there's a lot more to think about - work, my apartment, vaccinations, visas, boyfriends (actually just one of those), packing - but for now, I've taken the first step!