While the port locations are all but in stone (aside from major weather/political events that would deter our arrival) the activites in port are subject to change. I just thought I'd let you know that, not that you really cared, but I thought you might.
Leg 1
Nassau, Bahamas to San Juan, Puerto Rico
-San Juan activities include spelunking and kayaking
Leg 2
San Juan, Puerto Rico to Salvador, Brazil
-FUN FACT: The life expectancy for a boy in Salvador is 25. True stuff.
-Really excited about my trip into the Amazon
Leg 3
Salvador, Brazil to Cape Town, South Africa
-One word: Safari
Leg 4
Cape Town, South Africa to Port Louis, Mauritius
Leg 5
Port Louis, Mauritius to Chennai, India
-Agra, Jaipur, Delhi
Leg 6
Chennai, India to Penang, Malaysia
-Trip to Singapore
Leg 7
Penang, Malaysia to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
-Mom comes out and we go to Hanoi
Leg 8
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Hong Kong
-Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors
Leg 9
Hong Kong to Qingdao, China
Leg 10
Qingdao, China to Kobe, Japan
-Expensive port
Leg 11
Kobe, Japan to Honolulu, Hawaii
-I will kiss the ground upon our arrival back to the states (Think I'm kidding? You can look forward to that photo Monday May 7 - Mark your calendars!)
Leg 12
Honolulu, Hawaii to San Diego, California
-We're staying an extra day to do the zoo to see if it is better than the one in the Bronx
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
In Final Preparations
For a trip I have been planning for years, to finally be on my doorstep is, in a word, surreal. Nonetheless, I have to remain focused that everything is in order and ready to go; a process that becomes more difficult as I received an Email a few days ago indicating that Brazil had a measles outbreak, and while entry to the country is not restricted to those who can produce documentation of inoculation, it is "highly recommended" (and yes, that is in finger quote" that documentation be presented on board. With little time left before departure, I had to return to my doctor, who has got to be tiring of seeing me, to receive documentation that I have been vaccinated against measles. Twice, as it turns out.
And just for kicks, I returned to that lovely website, globalincidentmap.com to check up on the world. It was surprisingly bland for the countries I'm visiting, with one notable exception, seen below. The previous incident, mentioned in a previous post, about tigers, makes the tigers look like pussy cats. The small icon near Chennai, India intrigued me, largely because the icon is a ship - my upcoming method of transportation. Upon rolling over the icon, it informed me that a boat laden with explosives rammed into another ship. As if my fright over diseases were not enough, I now have to fear pirates with explosive-laden boats.
I don't think Johnny Depp will be of any help. Although, the women do swoon over Orlando Bloom. He might be the bargaining chip we need...
One of the last tasks I've got to figure out here at home before I depart is what to pack. I've read a multitude, a veritable plethora of packing lists, and they're all different and tailored for women. I don't plan on bringing five bras. I don't even own one. I just don't need it. So the dilemma I'm faced with now, is how many t-shirts to bring. I'm a t-shirt guy. I enjoy my t-shirts which range from the bizarre (4 8 15 16 23 42) to the utterly baffling (PANTS). Those of you coming on the trip can look forward to both of those shirts, because they're already packed. But there are t-shirts "on the bubble", if you will. Such items as "Reelin' it in" and "Beaker" and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" (accompanied by a photo of Pangea) and "Sectional Healing" (accompanied by a sectional sofa). Not all will make it. I believe I may find myself playing an odd game of Survivor: T-Shirt not before long.
All I hope at this point is that the next four months will truly be able to be summarized under the heading of 'spendictacular.'
Coming Soon: The Itinerary
And just for kicks, I returned to that lovely website, globalincidentmap.com to check up on the world. It was surprisingly bland for the countries I'm visiting, with one notable exception, seen below. The previous incident, mentioned in a previous post, about tigers, makes the tigers look like pussy cats. The small icon near Chennai, India intrigued me, largely because the icon is a ship - my upcoming method of transportation. Upon rolling over the icon, it informed me that a boat laden with explosives rammed into another ship. As if my fright over diseases were not enough, I now have to fear pirates with explosive-laden boats.
I don't think Johnny Depp will be of any help. Although, the women do swoon over Orlando Bloom. He might be the bargaining chip we need...
One of the last tasks I've got to figure out here at home before I depart is what to pack. I've read a multitude, a veritable plethora of packing lists, and they're all different and tailored for women. I don't plan on bringing five bras. I don't even own one. I just don't need it. So the dilemma I'm faced with now, is how many t-shirts to bring. I'm a t-shirt guy. I enjoy my t-shirts which range from the bizarre (4 8 15 16 23 42) to the utterly baffling (PANTS). Those of you coming on the trip can look forward to both of those shirts, because they're already packed. But there are t-shirts "on the bubble", if you will. Such items as "Reelin' it in" and "Beaker" and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" (accompanied by a photo of Pangea) and "Sectional Healing" (accompanied by a sectional sofa). Not all will make it. I believe I may find myself playing an odd game of Survivor: T-Shirt not before long.
All I hope at this point is that the next four months will truly be able to be summarized under the heading of 'spendictacular.'
Coming Soon: The Itinerary
Friday, January 19, 2007
I Leave the States in Two Weeks
The fact that I'm as close as I am to a trip I've been planning and looking forward to for literally years, has not really hit me yet. It's almost as if there's a small degree of deniability in me that keeps saying that I'm not actually doing this. But I am. It's coming.
I've been doing some counting, and I've uncovered that in the next four months, I will be on seventeen flights, most intercontinental. I'm not the worst flier, by any means, but I'm certainly not the best. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm going to be on that many flights, which is more than my entire current total. But I am. It's coming.
I've been doing some counting, and I've uncovered that in the next four months, I will be on seventeen flights, most intercontinental. I'm not the worst flier, by any means, but I'm certainly not the best. It hasn't hit me yet that I'm going to be on that many flights, which is more than my entire current total. But I am. It's coming.
Monday, January 15, 2007
innoculations
So here's what's happened to me since my last post, or more appropriately, what's happened to my arms since. First my left arm got the Hep A booster, and now I'm good for life with that puppy. That one wasn't that bad, I can't say I felt it for long after. Then a few weeks pass until my appointment with a global travel nurse, to advise me of any and all additional innoculations that I should receive before I embark upon my journey to non-Western countries. Because a journey to Western countries is not a challenge - if I survive, then I guess I've been able to avoid the dreaded Dengue Fever, but more 0n that in a moment.
At the travel nurse, where I was for an entire seventy-five minutes, mind you, I found that where I was most concerned about malaria or intestinal parasites, I am now phenomenally concerned with dengue fever (for which the only prevention is a good repellant), rabies from stray mammals (if I see one stray animal ashore, I will run back to the boat like a hobo running towards a hot apple pie), and the classic influenza deterent, the bird flu (I read a report today that it's expanding again in Asia, so I'm really thrilled about it...)
The nurse asks which my dominant arm is, and shoots the Typhoid Fever vaccine into the non-dominant arm (which is apparently only good for two years, the vaccine, not the arm). The non-dominant arm is used because the innoculation makes the arm sore, and as I learned very sore. I have a low pain threshold and I'm not afraid to admit it.
Then comes the interesting innoculation, the one I need to enter Brazil, the Yellow Fever shot. A shot so, uh.., important that it comes with its own paperwork. I was told there's only a small risk of death because it's an active vaccine. That was comforting. Also, literally a second before the needle went in the arm, the nurse mutters, as if it were a passing comment, "I've been told by past patients that this stings." And in the needle goes!
The side effects of the Yellow Fever are in 25% of the population and include aches/pains, fever, and soreness. I was fine for days afterwards, what one would think would make me good to go. However, my focus was not on the Yellow Fever shot, because the Typhoid shot made my arm so sore, it felt like I had a really, really good work-out on it. So that soreness is with me for about two and a half days, and then feels fine. Both arms feel fine as a matter of fact. As a result, I did some work around the house: cleaned my room a bit, moved some heavy boxes, basically things that I couldn't do with the sore arm.
Then the next day came and the Yellow Fever arm began to get sore. Then the next day came and the arm was worse, and then the day after came, today, and it was no better. And I'm annoyed because I can't figure out if the soreness is from the Yellow Fever shot, moving the heavy boxes, or a combination of the two. I have no idea - I just want the pain to stop because, as you know, I have a low pain threshold. I've taken Tylenol, then I tried Advil, and neither are really doing much. I thought that stuff was supposed to work. I don't like being the anomoly.
So that's the update. I'm hoping the updates continue to be frequent before the trip departs because once I'm gone, you might go weeks before hearing from me again. This internet stuff is expensive at sea...
At the travel nurse, where I was for an entire seventy-five minutes, mind you, I found that where I was most concerned about malaria or intestinal parasites, I am now phenomenally concerned with dengue fever (for which the only prevention is a good repellant), rabies from stray mammals (if I see one stray animal ashore, I will run back to the boat like a hobo running towards a hot apple pie), and the classic influenza deterent, the bird flu (I read a report today that it's expanding again in Asia, so I'm really thrilled about it...)
The nurse asks which my dominant arm is, and shoots the Typhoid Fever vaccine into the non-dominant arm (which is apparently only good for two years, the vaccine, not the arm). The non-dominant arm is used because the innoculation makes the arm sore, and as I learned very sore. I have a low pain threshold and I'm not afraid to admit it.
Then comes the interesting innoculation, the one I need to enter Brazil, the Yellow Fever shot. A shot so, uh.., important that it comes with its own paperwork. I was told there's only a small risk of death because it's an active vaccine. That was comforting. Also, literally a second before the needle went in the arm, the nurse mutters, as if it were a passing comment, "I've been told by past patients that this stings." And in the needle goes!
The side effects of the Yellow Fever are in 25% of the population and include aches/pains, fever, and soreness. I was fine for days afterwards, what one would think would make me good to go. However, my focus was not on the Yellow Fever shot, because the Typhoid shot made my arm so sore, it felt like I had a really, really good work-out on it. So that soreness is with me for about two and a half days, and then feels fine. Both arms feel fine as a matter of fact. As a result, I did some work around the house: cleaned my room a bit, moved some heavy boxes, basically things that I couldn't do with the sore arm.
Then the next day came and the Yellow Fever arm began to get sore. Then the next day came and the arm was worse, and then the day after came, today, and it was no better. And I'm annoyed because I can't figure out if the soreness is from the Yellow Fever shot, moving the heavy boxes, or a combination of the two. I have no idea - I just want the pain to stop because, as you know, I have a low pain threshold. I've taken Tylenol, then I tried Advil, and neither are really doing much. I thought that stuff was supposed to work. I don't like being the anomoly.
So that's the update. I'm hoping the updates continue to be frequent before the trip departs because once I'm gone, you might go weeks before hearing from me again. This internet stuff is expensive at sea...
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