Im currently attending a retreat at the Tushita Meditation Center in the Tibetan exile city of McLeod Ganj, India. There I am learning about the philosophies of Buddhism and the practice of meditation. The retreat started on April 20th and lasts ten days. I will not be reachable during this time, but pre-written posts should show up almost daily. Notification emails wont be sent, so youll have to come back on your own!
UPDATE (April 2006) – My pack is too heavy! I was sick of lugging the weight and hand to send some stuff home. I’m considering doing a portion of this trip without my electronics gear, which would mean this website would be put on hold, but there are serious benefits to travelling light that I feel I’m missing out on. But don’t fret, it wouldn’t be until July at the earliest! Updates are marked in red.
Obviously everyone will bring different things with them if they decide to travel long term. Much of my stuff is geared towards the region I’m starting in. For example, I didn’t pack many warm clothes and I brought stuff to sterlize water with. Weight is a big issue when backpacking. I thought my bag was a decent weight until I had to walk a couple miles in it. I’ve sent stuff home twice already and it’s still too heavy. I’ll be updating this list as what I’m caryring changes. If you’re thinking about travelling with only a backpack, I hope this helps.
published a story I wrote. They really do make the most resourceful and up to date travel guides.
Other Miscelaneous Book – See right hand column for list. As I finish eading new books, I send them home. It costs more than it makes sense, but books are about the only thing I collect. April 2006 – I’ve sent home about ten books now.
Healthy Travel Asia & India Jammed inside my first aid kit. Worth keeping in case I need to attemp a self diagnosis.
iPod Playing the guitar is something I really miss when travelling, so with this at least I can listen to music anytime. Also when going weeks without hearing a familiar accent, music is a nice reminder of home.
ELECTRONICS
This entire section adds more than half the weight to my pack. It’s not stuff most people would bring, but it’s all necessary for my photography, website and making money while traveling.
Sony VAIO TX-650 Laptop The smallest and lightest laptop I could find at the time. It has a DVD burner, so I can mail home images as my hard drive fills up, wireless internet and a memory card slot for easy transfer of images.
Nikon D200 Camera Amateur Professional Digital SLR
Nikon 18-70mm Zoom AF Lens Standard lens with nice wide-angle for landscape shots.
Nikon 70-300mm Telephoto Lens I use this primarily for shooting portraits of people without them knowing.
Panasonic SD-100 Video Camera Smallest video camera I could find with a somewhat professional quality picture. It takes no tapes or discs, just a miniature memory card. The less wires the better.
Wide Angle Lens Mini Camcorders never seem to fit everything I want in view, so this was a must. The lens has some fish-eye distortion to it, but the massive field of view makes it worthwhile.
USB Jump Drive 512megs. I’ll often work on my laptop in private and then bring the files on this jump drive to an internet café and upload to the internet. The less gear people see me with, the less likely something will get stolen.
International Cell Phone Initially I was going to bring a phone only for emergencies, but then I learned about unlocking. With my, unlocked Motorola RAZR (thanks to my friend Jeff who owns some cell phone stores in Philly), I can buy prepaid SIM cards in foreign countries and make calls at local rates.
Oh wow, it’s Saturday? My Indian visa should be ready on Monday, so I better start looking for flights. It’s kind of last minute, but last time I checked the budget airlines don’t care how far I booked in advance.
First let me search my favorite site, Orbitz. Ahh..they don’t book flights out of Singapore. Ok, so I’ll try my old favorite Travelocity…damn, the cheapest flight they can actually ticket is Singapore Airlines at $500. Gulp!
Oh yea, Lonely Planet reccommended that site Zuji. Why don’t I give them a shot?
Today I saved $2 by taking the skytrain then searching on foot for the Indian Embassy. Not that it was worth it, since I arrived 45 minutes too late to apply for a visa. The process takes three days plus they’re closed on the weekend and Wednesday is a holiday, so instead of waiting a week to leave Bangkok, I booked a seat on Scandanavian Airlines flight # SK 973 to Singapore for tomorrow. $100 for an international flight purchased twenty four hours prior to departure! Why doesn’t it work like that in the states?
I’ll be staying here, for the first few nights anyway. Singapore’s one of the most modern cities in the world and the economic powerhouse of Asia. I’m looking forward to some western lifestyle before a month of curry, monks and monkeys. If all goes as planned, I’ll be taking pictures of the Taj Mahal by next weekend.
Tuesday 2/21
Boat to Koh Phangan. Go trekking to waterfalls and see monkeys dancing with toothbrushes. Stay in bungalow on the beach.
Friday 2/24
Boat to airport at Koh Samui during the day. Fly to Bangkok at night on Bangkok Airlines # PG190. Stay at guesthouse near airport in Bangkok.
Saturday 2/25
Fly to Phanom Pehn, Cambodia in the morning on Bangkok Airlines # PG920. Visit the Killing Fields. Stay at Asia Hotel.
Sunday 2/26
Drive rental car to Siem Riep, Cambodia. Visit one of seven world wonders – Angkor Wat. Stay at Siem Reap Hotel.
Monday 2/27
Drive rental car back to Phanom Pehn. Stay at Asia Hotel again.
Saturday 2/28
Fly back to Bangkok in the morning on Bangkok Airlines # PG921
The train from here in Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok would take me 48 hours and cost about $20. In the interest of time, I opted for the one hour, $75 flight instead
Sunday, 2/12/06 – Air Asia Flight # AK884
Depart Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia @ 6:45pm
Arrive Bangkok, Thailand @ 7:50pm
Today I’ll be joining my sister’s boyfriend Johnathan and his friend Eric on a drive to Death Valley. The weather is warmer than here in LA…so I’ll finally get to wear the shorts I packed. Considering I ran out of clean clothes yesterday and there’s no laundry service in the financial district of LA, that will be refreshing. Johnathan booked us a room at this ranch/resort and Eric rented us a Hertz four door.
