I made it to JFK. Got lost. Found where I was supposed to be. Checked in for my flight to Doha. Found my mom.
Now I just need to eat. And charge my phone.
Have run into other people from my trip, and yes I am the youngest in the group.
I did, on my flight to JFK find 3 useful things in the Skymall magazine. Photo evidence provided
Next post will be from either Doha or Kathmandu. Two more flights. Only two more flights.
Cheers. 🙂
Tomorrow is the day.
I finally get to make my trek eastward towards Nepal.
I have prepped as much as I can, and now just need to get everything into my suitcase and ready to go.
So far I’ve:
Now it’s just time to get all of my paperwork organized, get everything into its proper place/bag, and get to the airport tomorrow. So clearly, I’m focused on this task and am spending the evening in front of my TV watching “Bones”.
I’m getting excited and nervous. This should be a fantastic trip. It doesn’t mean that I will miss people back at home, because I will. As I’ve mentioned before, I will have some access to wifi so will post here as I can. Don’t be surprised if the posts are somewhat random – with a group of photos in one, a short video in another, and finally some text in a third. I will tweet if possible, and update stuff to facebook if possible as well. So, if you dont follow or aren’t my friend in either one of those places, head on over to the right side of this page and add me.
Ok, I’m getting really tired. Off to get stuff done and then head to sleep.
I’ll miss you guys over the next 2 weeks. Don’t let anything too fun happen on the internets while I’m mostly without service. 🙂
This is it. The final countdown. The last few days before I leave on my next big adventure.
I’ve done a fair bit of travelling in my day – but this is a trip unlike any other I have taken. I have never before needed vaccinations (thyphoid!) for my trips, or pre-prescribed antibiotics just in case. I have never needed to bring my own toilet paper and mosquito netting and super power bug spray on a trip. I have never needed to pretreat my clothes with bug repellent.
However, in spite of all of this, I am looking forward to this trip. The two week break from my normal life routines will be a welcome refreshing break – not that I don’t love what I do here at home, but sometimes you just need to unplug and recharge.
I still have a fair bit of preparation to do, like figuring out which clothes and (more importantly) which shoes I am bringing, but I think I have a good start with my trip to REI today and my trip to the camera store last weekend. My rented wide angle lens will be here on Wednesday and I have all my camera stuff ready to go. I’m slightly disappointed that I won’t be able to use only my backpacking pack for this trip – but I’m still going to try to travel as lightly as possible.
Now for the information that people have been asking about – where are you going, and how long will you be gone. Well, without further adieu, here is the rundown of my trip.
I will be headed to Nepal. It’s been quite a few years since I have travelled internationally, so I’m starting to get back into that frame of mind so I can prep accordingly. Last week I received confirmation of our flight info from the US –> Doha, Qatar –> Kathmandu – so it’s all getting very real.
For this trip, I’m challenging myself to only travel with a camera bag and my backpacking pack. I’m a chronic overpacker, so this could prove to be a challenge. However, I’m choosing to go this route so I can travel more simply, and I guess in a way live more simply and try to be as focused on the experience as possible. I want to take in the beautiful vistas, the culture, and really use this as a time to reflect on the last few years, all while away from the excitement and activity back at home. Yes, I will miss a lot of people, my animals, my bed, and more than likely my phone/the internet, but I think this will be a good experience for me. And it probably couldn’t come a better time.
In October.
My latest travel adventure – two weeks in Nepal – is going to be amazing. It was a random opportunity presented to me by my mom and I am thankful for the chance to see this part of the world.
There are a number of reasons I am looking forward to this trip: my wanderlust has been back as of late, this will be my first trip to Asia, this will be my first trip abroad with a DSLR, and this will be my first trip after a few years of learning and growing and getting settled in my life in Minnesota.
I don’t have all of the details yet, but I do know we will be visiting the Mt. Everest base camp, as well as Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge. I’m sure I’ll be posting about this as I approach my departure date and get more details.
As a part of the preparation for this trip, I will be doing a lot of thinking, a bit of shopping, maybe a few shots, and also reading up on the places we will be visiting. In addition, I am debating growing out my hair and then having it cut & donating it after I return. Why? Right now my hair is pretty short and to be completely honest looks a hot mess when I don’t blow it dry and flat iron it. I don’t want to have to deal with a hair dryer and flat iron on the trip and prefer to keep things a bit easier to manage. Not to mention the fact that I would also be helping others as a result of this plan. I’ve had a number of other friends who have done this, and I’ve always been curious and interested in trying to do it. I had hair well past my waist when I was younger – so long hair is not foreign to me. However, this time it will be red and not light blonde. 🙂
So – here goes nothing. We shall see how this works out for me. Or if I get frustrated and cut it sooner.