My Trip

It started junior year in college when I decided that I was not going to apply to medical school for Fall 2008. With the gift of some time off, I decided to really make the most of it, and travel around the world. This decision, of course, was not exactly an easy one to work out. What ensued was a lot of picking and choosing (where in the world DON'T I want to go??) Finally, with the indispensable assistance of my might-as-well-be-a-travel-agent Mom, my ticket was booked in October with the following rough itinerary:

2/3 - 2/6 Bogota, Colombia

2/6 - 2/19 Peru

2/20 - 3/3 Japan

3/3 - 4/30 Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam

4/30 - 5/7 Nepal

5/7 - 6/11 India

6/11 - 6/25 Kenya, Tanzania

6/25 - 6/30 Zambia

7/1 Arrive back at JFK (via Nairobi, Paris, AND London....yikes)

So, this was it. I was actually going. And now, for the hard part...planning the trip itself. Lucky for me, I have my mom. This blog, actually this entire trip, and perhaps the entire rest of my life is dedicated to my mom for being the most wonderful, generous, persistent, smart, and savvy woman on the face of the planet. Without her this trip would be less than possible. It would be a huge disappointment. So, thanks mom :)

So with the ticket booked, we (really she) commenced the planning process, from figuring out routes to picking out which hostels sounded livable. I was in DC basically the whole time, mostly on the sidelines but pitching in with my ideas here and there. About a month before the trip, I came back home and (while studying intensely for the MCATs) worked with her about once a day to hammer down details.

The last couple weeks were definitely the craziest. Especially considering the MCAT was three days before my departure date, which gave me minimal crunch time for getting out the door in one piece. Luckily, I had the help of both my mom and my dad, and despite some rocky points (see next post), my mom and I (she is joining me for Colombia and Peru) got out the door at 7:40pm for a 9:55pm flight. Not bad.

So, why did I post such a lengthy intro? I guess for anyone who is reading this blog with a similar idea in mind--to travel to a lot of places in a relatively short amount of time--it takes so much more planning than you may realize at first. From things like getting all the right immunizations, to ensuring that you have your prescription forms with you to avoid being arrested for drug trafficking by TSA, it's really time consuming. But it's well worth planning ahead. I probably won't be returning home with Hepatitis, Typhoid, or Malaria...and hopefully I'll be back in one piece thanks to the last minute incidentals like flashlights (read this to see why).

Anyway, thanks to all for stopping by and enjoy reading about my experiences!