Hello dear reader and welcome to what will be the Wanderlust coverage of Stint 3 of my Transient Retirement. If you've followed Wanderlust this far you've witnessed me leaving my long-term job in NYC, relocating to NC, and the insane European romp that was Stints 1 & 2. This time I journey to the other side of the globe in an effort to experience the far east and all it has to offer.
The plan for Stint 3 is more or less the same as the others, overlanding via train or bus, staying in hostels or home stays, eating cheaply, imbibing at the local watering holes, and trying to dive into as many of the sights and as much culture as one possibly can. I hope to not only travel through Asia, but live it and feel it as well. As with any sequel (or trilogy), however, there are bound to be changes to the overall program. For Stint 3 there is none moreso than the addition of a new Wanderlust traveling companion, my oldest friend Jon Lusk.
I've known Jon since we were around 4 years old and lived in the Thicket neighborhood in Greensboro, NC. We went to school together, university together, and have stayed friends all this time. Jon also traveled with me to Japan for 2.5 weeks back in the Spring of 2007, however, this will mark his first serious foray into international backpacking, just as Stint 1 marked mine. He's diving headfirst into the fire and for that I admire his courage and fortitude.
The second biggest change you'll notice is that we acquired a camcorder and will be recording the vast majority of the trip on video. The plan is to hopefully edit this into a video blog or some sort of episodic travel-show format. How much we can do and how soon we can process and upload this project will likely depend on how our laptops fare with large-scale video editing (likely not well) and how much time we find to engage in such activities.
In any event, we'll try to at least post clips (previews if you will) of what we're up to from the road. Additionally, you'll notice some changes to Wanderlust itself. First, since we will (hopefully) be capturing so much on video, I anticipate that the posts will be shorter and more concise. They are likely also to focus on activities or oddities that we noticed (or perhaps personal reflections) that didn't make it onto film. I'll still be uploading pictures to flickr but I imagine they will also be somewhat lighter in number as will the links to the blog. Finally, you might get the opportunity to read Jon's thoughts firsthand as a guest writer for Wanderlust.
Many things to be excited about and many things to look forward to. I'm heading up to NY for a few days "R&R" with my NYC buddies and then the trip officially commences next Monday the 11th as Jon and I fly to Singapore. We have no set plan but I anticipate spending a few months in SE Asia, a few months in China, and a few months in Japan with some other places possibly thrown in as well. All told we'll be spending about 7 months in the far east.
The visas are acquired, our gear is packed, we are ready to go. Stint 3: Let's do this.
No comments:
Post a Comment