Taiwan Extended July 30, 2006
Posted by gurfheffalump in Taiwan.5 comments
Coming to Taiwan you become a sticky human. You know how your armpit gets when you’ve been working out for a while? This is how Taiwan in the summer feels… humid, hot, and stinky.
Besides the weather, Taiwan feels completely different from the last time I came here. I think the novelty of having me back here is gone, so instead I get a better idea of how life is in Taiwan for my family this time. This time, there’s no more over-priced buffets and fancy outings but instead it’s been replaced by 30 cent fried buns for breakfast. I prefer those greasy, street-fried buns to a fancy buffet anyways. When in Rome, eat as the Taiwanese do.
I don’t have the equipment to post any pictures or video right now, so there’s more to come later. Since coming, I’ve decided to extend my stay in Taiwan till Tuesday. I was originally supposed to leave today but I think it was a good choice to stay a little longer. My first night here, my uncles and aunts took me out to dinner at a friend’s restaurant. Out of the 6 of us, I’d say only 3 were drinking, but we managed to drink 15 24 oz. bottles of beer. I smoked a pack of cigarettes that night. I’m jetlagged. I only slept for 2 hours that night. It’s my thinking that all that the abuse added together gave birth to a quarter-sized, cancerous looking bump side of my neck. Sweet.
There’s a ton that’s happened from the time I got here until now and I intend to write about it all later, probably in Hong Kong. I just don’t have as much time as I’d like with the internet here. That’s a good thing because I need the time to digest the experiences.
One cool and unexpected result of being in a different country for me is that it opened my willingness to try different foods. I’m thinking about making a section all about foods with pictures. In my short time here, I’ve tried squid sausage, frog legs, ground peanuts combined with ice cream and cilantro in a tortilla wrap, duck blood rice cake, and sour pig intestine. Those were some of the more “unusual” foods, but there was plenty of really great and cheap food here. Street food rocks my socks. And the gas in my ass.
I’ll write more regularly in a few days!
24 Hours to go… Yikes! July 25, 2006
Posted by gurfheffalump in Pre Trip.10 comments
It’s almost exactly 24 hours till’ I depart for my trip.
I’m packed. I have all my documents, said some goodbyes already, and I think I’ve got all my last minute items. I’ve been preparing for my trip and preparing well, yet I don’t know why I’m feeling so… unsettled… yeah, I feel nervous, sick almost. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me too much if I turned to my side and threw up in the next 10 minutes. I couldn’t sleep last night, or the night before, when I swear I experienced a ghost attacking me in my sleep… I can’t even eat like I normally do, and that says a lot for those of you who know me.
Is this supposed to be happening? I mean, this is what I’ve always wanted, right? I’m not nervous about the actual trip because I’m excited, but I feel like how Uncle Jessie felt right before his wedding to Becky. He went skydiving. I, on the other hand choose to hallucinate and drink large amounts of alcohol to comfort myself.
But yes, I am very excited!
Saying Bye Bye Week July 19, 2006
Posted by gurfheffalump in Pre Trip.add a comment
Something interesting happens the week before one goes on a trip.
I don’t know if this is a phenomenon that happens often, but it’s as if I am going to die. I find that some friends want to get together “one last time” before I go, to say goodbye or something. It’s kind of cool. And it’s also a two-way feeling. I myself treat it a bit like I’m going to die as well, so I make a bit more effort to see friends before I go. The cool part I guess is that my schedule is inundated with hanging out with friends. After my last week, it’s my recommendation that we should all think that we are going to die at the end of every week. If it was anything like my last week, there would be more alcohol consumption, happy times with friends, less stress, and a bit o’ no no.
I guess the con would be that my liver kind of hurts now.
Travel Quotes July 17, 2006
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“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.” –Bill Cosby
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.
And while some may see them as the crazy ones… We see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” –Apple commercial
“Tourists never know where they are, but always know where they will sleep the next day, travelers always know where they are, but rarely know where they will sleep the next day.”
“If you tell me it tastes good, I want to know how good it actually tastes. If you tell me it tastes like shit, I want to taste exactly how bad shit tastes.” Translated from Uncle Guang Hua
“Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It’s just an uncommon way of looking at life- a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time- our only real commodity- and how we choose to use it.” -Rolf Potts
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him.” – Henry David Thoreau
“A lot of us first aspired to far-ranging travel and exotic adventure early in our teens; these ambitions are, in fact, adolescent in nature, which I find an inspiring idea… Thus, when we allow ourselves to imagine as we once did, we know, with a sudden jarring clarity, that if we don’t go right now, we’re never going to do it. And we’ll be haunted by our unrealized dreams and know that we have sinned against ourselves gravely.” -Tim Cahill
“Travel is fatal to prejudice.” -Mark Twain
“I am one of those who never knows the direction of my journey until I have almost arrived.” -Anna Louise Strong
“Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel’s immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad of new sights, smells, and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.” -Ralph Crenshaw
“You must take your chance.” -Shakespeare
“Travel is glamorous only in retrospect.” -Paul Theroux
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” -Oscar Wilde
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” -St. Augustine
“… the difference between a criminal and an outlaw is that while criminals frequently are victims, outlaws never are. Indeed, the first step toward becoming a true outlaw is the refusal to be victimized…Poets remember our dreams, outlaws act them out.” – Tom Robbins
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain
Pre-Departure Cost-Such a Bitch. July 15, 2006
Posted by gurfheffalump in Pre Trip.add a comment
So how much does it cost to go on a RTW trip?
I have to say I don’t know. But after reading about other people’s and trips, it seems that it can be between $10,000 to $20,000 depending on the level of comfort as well as the countries on the itinerary. A lot of people estimate a budget by planning how many days they will stay at a particular country and estimate the daily cost of that country. Besides being too lazy to plan every detail out on my trip, I don’t believe it’ll do much good even if I did becuause chances are plans will change.
This is how I’ve approached my trip:
- I thought about where I really wanted to go to. Ultimately, picking one destination means another will be left off for the most of us (this is opportunity cost, as I learned in Economics in college, haha). I believe that Europe will almost always stay the same, more or less. It’s remained relatively unchanged for decades now, and I’m sure in 50 years it won’t look too much different. I feel like its a natural inclination for Americans to first think of Europe when they have an opportunity to travel to but its also the most expensive cluster of countries on earth. Besides, there’s so many cheaper countries out there that give you incredible natural beauty and the nightlife just as awesome. I decided to go this route, Australia being the only country that is relatively expensive.
-There’s no way around it, Air Tickets/Transportation will cost a lot. There’s always the option of an Round The World Ticket which can be cheaper, but its also a bit too inflexible for me. I chose to buy my tickets leg by leg. I wanted to be able to go somewhere with the freedom of exploring at my pace, leaving when I’m ready.
-Even if it didn’t reduce the cost of a trip dramatically, I would still choose to stay in hostels and guest houses, eating street food from street vendors. How great is that! Street food is the best!
The following list is a run down of my pre departure expenses:
-Digital Camera (had already)
-Memory Card for Digital Camera ($50)
-Thailand 60-Day Visa ($28)
-International Driving Permit ($19)
-First Aid Kit, Shorts ($34)
-SE Asia Guide Book ($26)
-Money Belt ($20)
-Travel Wallet ($15)
-Travel Insurance 6 months ($240)
-Student Card ($22)
-Medicines, Misc. ($100)
-Flickr Pro Service ($25)
-Plane Ticket from US–Taiwan–Hong Kong– Bangkok ($935)
Total before I set foot on a plane: Approximately $1500
