Some Travel Tips(or How I Got There and Back)

For anyone who may be interested - here are a few things that helped me or that I've learned along the way:

Motivation

Read this excerpt from Rolf Potts' Vagabonding. He nails it better than anyone.

One of my favorite magazines, National Geographic Adventures, has the slogan I've always liked of "Dream it, Plan it, Do it."

Financing

The key to long-term travel is to look for ways to stretch your money out by staying in budget places, cooking, and pairing up with people to share costs. Not every day, because nicer places and nicer meals are part of the whole experience, but all those dollars add up over the long haul. Also, bargaining helps. When I went paragliding in New Zealand, I told them I was thinking about either paragliding or doing the bungy jump, and got them to give me a much lower price.

I worked for several years before traveling which was the source of my financing, but I'm amazed at the number of recent grads who travel with seemingly no money, and have asked a few how they've financed their trip:

• Graduating, working overtime 8 months, then traveling 6 months.


• Getting a working visa in a place like Australia - working 6 months doing odd jobs like berry-picking and then traveling on weekends or for 3-4 months at the end.


• Taking out a student loan with the intention of paying it back with the signing bonus or first few paychecks.

Personally, while I'm glad I'm did my trip now that I'm older/more mature and was able to really absorb it all.... I definitely wish I would have done a trip after college - especially seeing how confident everyone is in paying for their trips.

Some people (mostly guys or couples traveling for over a year) are hardcore budget travelers; I was quite tame in comparison. (Better safe than sorry, for a single female traveler, IMO.)  In New Zealand, a popular mode of travel is the Campervan, which doubles as a bus and hotel and is extremely cheap. I've heard about people hitching rides on ships and helping with odd jobs like cleaning toilets for free rides. You can volunteer on farms for free room/board and travel on weekends. And apparently the new thing now is "couch surfing" which pairs up travelers with strangers' couches.

I've done none of that. But, I think the bottom line in all this is that there are many ways to do it, and you don't need tons of money.

Planning

• There are several "'Round the World" ticket agencies like Air Treks who offer budget open-ended tickets. There are a lot of great deals available.


• To figure out my basic itinerary, I did research from websites like Lonely Planet, talking to travel agents, and getting info from friends or friends-of-friends. I also looked at packaged tours like GAP Adventures to see their routes and get an idea of what itineraries are feasible/efficient.


• I kept some flexibility in my schedule so I could change my plans. It's nice to be able to adjust my schedule based on what's recommended or discouraged by people I met along the way. Plus it was nice to have some extra days if I got someplace and really loved it.


• A great book is The Rough Guide to your First Trip Around the World - with information on everything - planning, financing, visas, vaccinations, itineraries, etc.


• A good travel insurance company is World Nomads, which covers theft, loss and medical. Most private insurance at home does not cover travel.

Traveling Alone and Making Friends

I've traveled alone enough in business trips to know that it doesn't bother me. Actually, I quite enjoy it because I've met so many people from all over the world. Now I have friends on every continent (well, almost - 6 continents... no penguins).

Hostels with kitchens and patios were always a great place to meet people to explore a town with. (The Lonely Planet guidebooks usually do a great job of pointing out the "social" and "quiet" guesthouses, depending on what you're up for that day.) Plus, most places with something to offer tourists have day tours or 2-4 day tours available, which is another avenue to meet people.

I met loads of people who enjoy traveling alone, so as intimidating as it seems at first, I'd encourage anyone to give it a try.

Culture Shock, Part 2

The Pultizer-worthy chapter entitled Returning Home of The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World nails it:

Honeymoon, crisis, recovery, readjustment.  

The Honeymoon phase is obvious:  Hugging and catching up with people I missed... Getting my MINI out of storage and managing to get it home without killing anyone or myself... And going to yoga class to begin the lengthy process of re-aligning my back (mis-aligned due to four months of sleeping on a wide array of low- and lower-quality beds/benches/trains/boats/earth/couches.

Crisis probably began during my much-anticipated pedicure.  I wound up sitting in a chair between three of Orange County's finest who were all discussing facelifts, Botox and the nannies who take care of duties while they are out beautifying themselves and playing tennis... and then switching gears when one picked up the Ellen Degeneres/Portia de Rossi People magazine and starting a gay-bashing session.

Sitting stuck in this crossfire of intolerance and superficiality was in all honesty the hardest culture shock of the entire trip.  This type of display always annoyed me prior to the trip, but really made me boil with rage after returning from Cambodia and having conversations with people missing three limbs due to landmines... and sharing my dinner with neighborhood kids working all day to fund a basic education and try and support their siblings.  Crisis phase continued with the RNC speeches ripping on community organizers and - heaven forbid - "European ideas." 

Thankfully modern technology exists and I was able to get a temporary phone working soon enough to get to vent to friends, and I got internet working to watch the Jon Stewart clips and the rest of LOST (which was trippy and awesome).  The wheels of Recovery phase began to turn and as a result I am still in Orange County and not on a plane back to Asia.  I had a breakfast burrito at my favorite hippie/surf restaurant, watched American football (Packers won), and got my sneakers out of storage (I lost mine to Chinese flood) and had some proper workout sessions at the gym.

I also found my "Rough Guide" and read the Returning Home chapter and got to laugh about my rough first week.

The book had a few good tips for returning home, including treating your own home like a travel destination and getting involved in the countries you visited.  Fortunately my date to the Sydney Opera House was in town completing his travels, and we spent a few days being Orange County tourists with Disneyland, an Angels game, sea kayaking, and the OC nightlife varying from Huntington Beach surf bars with electric-blue jello shots to the posh Newport Beach cougar dens.  I'm also in the process of researching Landmine organizations and figuring out the best way to help the people I met and kids I fell in love with, which will likely end up being a combination of writing to my legislators about policy and getting involved in raising money to clear minefields.  

So for Readjustment Phase... I start tomorrow.  I am beginning the job search process, am getting back in touch with all my friends and extended family (I'll write or call soon - promise!), and am working on completing my photo album.  I'm getting excited about the possibilities and will keep you posted. :)

Final Night

Well, my trip has come to its end and I head to the Hong Kong airport in an hour to fly home.

It's been a great experience for so many reasons. I've learned a lot- like how to abseil into caves, swear in Dutch, and come up with creative ways to use equally creative toilets. =)

But more seriously, I've now experienced the cultures from all five major world religions. Reading a book about Buddhism probably does not achieve the same effect as talking to a former monk for a few hours about how he meditates, and watching a documentary on Islam is different than visiting a mosque and dining next to women wearing full niqabs, who smile at me with their eyes.

I've made friends with people from all over the world, and have probably learned as much about Europe, Israel and South Africa as the countries I've visited. And of course, I am thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to learn so much about China which I'm sure will play a big role in our future, as well as Vietnam which played a big role in our past.

At home topics like politics and religion are usually kept "off-limits" in business and family reunions (well, my family reunions), but in traveling they are usually some of the first topics of conversation.

But even aside from the travel, this has been the first time in my life where I've had this much time and freedom to learn about whatever I want, and I've visited places as diverse as a Petroleum museum in Borneo, the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam, and the Space Museum in Hong Kong... in addition to having a lot of time to read.

I'm looking forward to getting home. I am writing from a nice hotel lounge (I splurged on a boutique hotel in Central Hong Kong for my final two nights) and there is a business lunch occurring in the room next to me. Observing them gives me a rush of adrenaline - both excitement about getting back to work and nerves about reality.

I have been jotting down a few things I am excited about getting home to: Meeting a close friend's first baby, my 10-year reunion, finally seeing how Lost Season 4 ends, this restaurant in Huntington Beach that makes killer organic breakfast burritos, and of course my cat Toby and my family and friends. I haven't decided whether or not I'm excited to get home to this circus of an election, but it should make for an interesting two months, at least.

I'm excited to get back into a routine. I can't wait for yoga class and the gym. My feet have taken a beating on this trip and I'm looking forward to a serious pedicure and working on them for a few hours with a pumice stone (and maybe some Clorox bleach.)

For my final night, I made a reservation for one at a nice restaurant on Hong Kong's famous "Peak." When I was getting ready, throwing on shoes from Sydney, earrings from China, a ring from Bali, a wrap from Malaysia and finally mascara from the USA, I had one of those look-in-the-mirror-and-feel-a-rush-of-something moments that I'm sure many people do during big events in their lives. I said a silent prayer thanking God for the people in my life who supported me in this, and headed out.

Dinner was very nice, as was this trip.

Hindu Garden of Eden

Bali is famous for its beaches and surf, but I think its real treasure is a small bohemian town away from the coasts called Ubud.

I'd spent a few days on the beaches - mainly just reading, writing, and watching the big surf. My trip is nearing its end, and so my original ambitious plans for traveling all over Indonesia slid aside and I just relaxed.

Then I headed inland toward Ubud. The first thing I noticed was the smell - it smelled like a yoga studio. When I walked around I saw why, every house and store places offerings at its doorstep, which are small baskets with flowers, a dab of food, and burning incense.

Ubud is an artists' town and is full of galleries and shops with Hindu woodworkings, batiks, hand-made jewelry, masks and statues. There are lavish gardens all over, and fresh flowers on every table. I stayed at a guesthouse which brought a breakfast of fresh fruit and tea to my room in the morning.

I didn't do a whole lot other than wander around, shop and eat, which was all peaceful and relatively event-free until I got lost in the rice paddies. I followed the "Rice Paddies Walk" shown on the map courteously provided by Ubud's tourist office. It looked simple, but the trail got smaller and smaller, and I knew I was off the path when I saw a large naked bottom emerging from a stream. Oops. I was definitely not on the tourist path. Fortunately a painter who had set up camp in the middle of nowhere guided me back toward civilization... along a path which included a run-in with a cow and getting stuck in the mud. I passed a few farmers, who were staring amused at whatever the Indonesian word is for gringa.

Borneo

It was a sign of great and crazy things to come when my flight to Borneo kicked off with Flo Rida blasting through the airplane.

Borneo is the world's third largest island, and is shared between Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is home to many exciting things including orangutans and monkeys, the filming location of Survivor 1, and headhunter tribes.

My first stop was Mulu National Park in the thick of the Sarawak jungle. I felt like I was flying into a movie set with misting-over mountains and endless jungle. The first stop was Deer Cave, which was about the size of a Vegas casino and home to 2 million bats, that I got to see fly out in the evening for food, which they did like a school of fish all moving in unison. (The BBC Planet Earth series filmed a clip of it.) The trek through the jungle to Deer Cave passed another cave, which contained human bones which have never been moved for fear of evil spirits.

My tour also stopped by an "indigenous" community - the Penan people. (And by "indigenous," I mean exploited). Most of the Penan were visited by Australian missionaries in the 1960's, and have abandoned their hunter-gatherer lifestyle and native beliefs in favor of church, farming, and relying completely on Western tourists for money. I filed in with all the fanny-packs and cameras to check out the handicraft market, where items for sale included "God is Our Lord" beaded wall-hangings, and miniature versions of blow-guns used by men to hunt animals. (And previously, people. The Sarawak brochure said that men used to take heads to impress women.)

I watched the woman load up the hollow blow gun with darts and shoot them at a sweater hanging on a fence post. It was pretty awesome, but since I suspected the U.S. customs agents might find it less-awesome, I settled on a nose flute. A nose flute is an instrument made of bamboo and is played by blowing hard across a hole with one nostril. I figured it may liven up a party someday.

3% of the Penan people are still nomadic, and live deep in the jungle close to the Indonesian-Malaysian border. I had the pleasure of visiting this particular community with a German anthropology student who told me that in one of his first lectures, the professor detailed numerous ways that Western "help" actually does much more harm than good. I've read Ishmael (and more scientifically and historically, Guns Germs and Steel) so had heard several examples before as well. Visiting this community was troubling in several ways -though I guess I'd rather try and learn from the community that is already exploited/dependent on me than attempt to venture deeper into the jungle to find that "authentic experience" and further rub my Westernness off on them (which many of my fellow backpackers do, and proudly.) Anyways, it's a tough problem to find the "right" answer on, since there are obviously many people who benefit greatly from Western resources.

I stayed at a really nice jungle lodge with good cocktails and food, and a TV where I could watch the Olympics with people from all over the world which was really fun. On the night I was there, the U.S. lost to Nigeria in soccer, and the announcer triumphantly exclaimed, "The Americans are laying on the ground and crying! The Americans are going home!" (I suspect coverage at home may be slightly different?) That night I also got to make an attempt at using the blow-gun. Holding and shooting it was like playing a trombone, so obviously given my fine trombone-ing skills, I scored. (No animals, just balloons.)

On the last day in the National Park, I took a cruise down the river, where bats, butterflies and dragonflies flew overhead. The trees created a nice canopy, and there were so many vines hanging down into the river, that I was sort of expecting Tarzan to swing down out of a tree. A few days later in Kota Kinabalu, I overheard an American accent and it turned out to be someone better than Tarzan: a real life U.S. government agent like Jack Bauer (though he laughed and insisted "not really" at my suggestion and they never seem to show Jack Bauer writing lots of reports. Whatever, he was cute.)

I headed back into the jungle for a wildlife expedition, where I got more wildlife than I bargained for. In addition to spotting lots of monkeys and tropical birds, I ventured into a cave with thousands of cockroaches - so many that I couldn't touch the railing or wall because then I'd be touching cockroaches. Later I did a trek that involved leech socks and long-sleeved shirts, since leeches wiggle up through the mud and drop off tree branches onto unsuspecting humans. The evening concluded with some Aussies telling me some Scuba dive horror stories and one woman telling me how she got robbed in Italy with 2-weeks left of her 4-month trip. (Yup.) All led to some interesting or perhaps paranoid dreams, especially when you add in the psychedelic side-effects of my malaria pills, and monkeys jumping around right outside my cabin.

Finally I headed to one of the world's top 10 dive sites - Sipadan Island. Sipidan is a small island close to the Philippines that drops 600 meters straight down into abyss. I stayed on Mabul island at a very chill guesthouse on stilts, with all the makings of a good time: a crazy Brit, a guitar player, a nice cat, a mean cat, instant coffee and cocoa, plenty of rum, and the world's happiest, friendliest kids. Unfortunately the island was also home to a rare breed of rooster who clearly smokes 10 packs of cigarettes a day, judging by its horrific, raspy Cock-a-doodle-doo, which begins at 5 a.m. and lasts for 3 hours, slightly dampening the aforementioned "good time" of the previous evening.

The three days at Mabul/Sipadan were really laid back and enjoyable. I met tons of people, saw about twenty white-tipped reef sharks and turtles larger than me, and generally just enjoyed the island community and dives.

Islamic Arts

One of the drawbacks of traveling the megatrip way is that after eight exotic countries in a row, one begins to get a bit over-confident about the ease of travel and shows up in her first Muslim country wearing her least-conservative sundress. Oops.

I arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Phuket, Thailand (Where I did some amazing dives and got to hang out with some cute Aussies, but otherwise think Phuket is what you'd get if Paradise and Wal-Mart had a lovechild. I've never seen so much crap - er, consumable goods - available for purchase congregated on a tropical peninsula before.... And add to that the tourists, the prostitutes, and the tourists who are there for the prostitutes. A swell place... to run from.)

Malaysia is a former British colony and is officially Islamic, though Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity are also practiced in certain parts. Most women are veiled, and most veils are very fashionable with an array of different colors, patterns, decoration, and ornaments. I also saw quite the range of modesty: From the full-black-only-eyes-showing niqab, to no veil at all. So, there seems to be some wiggle-room for different religions and interpretations of religions. Kuala Lumpur is particularly Westernized, so women can really get away with wearing almost anything.

Islam arrived on the Malaysian Peninsula from Arab and Indian traders during the 13th century. (Interesting tidbit: I read that one of the reasons for Islam's great success was that - aside from the if-possible pilgrimage to Mecca - the Pillars/rules were relatively simple to follow compared to other popular religions of the time, especially for traders, farmers and nomadic peoples. Praying 5 times each day is much more practical than having a dedicated holy day or holy building at which to be present each week. ) Astronomy plays an important role in Islam and early Muslims invented the world's first observatories, in addition to many other scientific contributions.

What really blew me away (and increased my understanding and appreciation of the religion) is the Islamic art and architecture. I visited the Islamic Arts Museum, which was recommended to me by a guy I met in Phuket (and unfortunately didn't allow photos). It had a floor full of models of the famous mosques across Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Iran, China and India. There was a gallery of Qur'ans showing their marbled pages with swirls of gold, reds and blues. The ceramics, tapestries, metalwork and woodcarvings were highly detailed with geometric patterns, bright colors, and Arabic and Persian calligraphy. The exhibits were very well-done and informative, and the visualry made it really easy to get lost in an Arabian Nights dreamland... It was honestly the prettiest museum I've ever seen, and I think my next trip will be to North Africa or the Middle East.

Islam influences much of Kuala Lumpur's architecture, and thus, the city is gorgeous. The Central Square area contains several buildings with Mughal (domed roofs) or Moor (red brick and cream) architecture. The famous Petronas towers are based on the Eight-Pointed Star, and the five tiers of the top floors represent the 5 Pillars of Islam. The Star is also carved all over the city, showing up on buildings, sidewalks, and bridges. The centerpiece of KL is a massive park, with a bird sanctuary home to peacocks and rhinoceros hornbills, and tropical gardens filled with orchids, butterflies and monkeys.

On the day I visited the park, I saw a bride and groom wearing beautiful bright pink wedding attire, the bride in a pink sequined veil. So when a Malaysian woman at the locals market offered to dress me up in a traditional bridal outfit, I accepted enthusiastically. She gave me a turquoise silk wrap and put a sequined veil on my head, which ironically made more look more like the Virgin Mary than a Muslim bride. More seriously, I also visited a mosque with a strict policy of no limbs/no hair showing. Fortunately they provided cloaks and veils for tourists. There are pictures of course, which are just not going to be posted on the internet. Here are some pretty orchids instead. =)

Angkor Wat

My tuk-tuk driver picked me up from my guesthouse at 5 a.m. to go watch the sun rise over one of the coolest things I've ever seen, Angkor Wat.

The town was dark and silent, but as we approached the world's largest religious building we were joined by the hum of other tuk-tuks and buses full of tourists up early to see one of the Wonders of the World.

Despite being crowded, the grandiose expanse of Angkor Wat made the crowd feel minimal. A moat larger than any of those around Europe's castles surrounded the part Hindu/part Buddhist temple. I walked across the enormous stone bridge silently, just beginning to see the vague outline of the temple's famous lotus-shaped peaks in the horizon. The moat was perfectly still and dark-indigo colored from the reflection of the moon. After about 20 minutes of walking, I arrived in front of the lotus pond where I waited with others and my camera for the temple to come into view.

It was awesome.

Angkor Wat and many other Khmer buildings and temples were built in the 12th century. The Khmer Kingdom stretched through what is now Cambodia and Thailand, and during that time frequently battled with the Chams of what is now Vietnam. Two million people lived in the jungles surrounding the temples for over 300 years, before the king relocated the capitol to Phnom Penh and abandoned the buildings. They remained "lost" until the early 20th century.

Angkor Wat was originally built as a Hindu temple. The lotus flower is an important symbol in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It grows out of dark, murky waters and stands tall above, pink and flawless. It represents purity, and thus the "lotus position" is a key yogic and meditative posture - legs crossed, palms up, back straight like the flower. The five peaks of Angkor Wat are all shaped like lotuses, and the temple is filled with thousands of carvings of the flower and many mini-lotus sculptures. (Later, when most of the Kingdom was Buddhist, golden Buddha statues were added.)

Height and the Universe also important in Hinduism, a religion born in the shadow and awe of the Himalayan Mountains. The East wall of Angkor depicts a massive carving of the "Churning of the Milk Sea" - showing gods and demons playing tug-of-war with a snake. The movement churns the "milk sea" which surrounds the mystical mountain on top of the universe, Mount Meru. According to the beliefs, this movement makes the world work. It was carved on the East wall so worshippers could study at sunrise. Angkor's walls are also adjourned with 1800 celestial dancers - a reminder of what is waiting in paradise for men living a just life. The moat surrounding Angkor is also representative of the universe.

As both Buddhism and Hinduism were popular in this part of the world, one of the Kings built a temple to combine the religions in efforts to help everyone get along. It combined the height of Hinduism, the faces of Hindu gods, and the male spirit of Linga (phallic symbol), with a Buddha. The result was the Bayan temple, covered with 216 faces.

One of the coolest temples was Ta Prohm, which was used in the movie "Tomb Raider." It was built for the King's mother. Instead of trying to restore it to its original state (as the French and Cambodians have done with other temples), they left it as-is, and is now overgrown with mosses and trees. It was really beautiful.

Angkor Wat turned out to be the black hole of my money (though well worth it). Entrance to the temples is $20/day. Tuk-tuk drivers run $15/day, and guides run $25/day. And in addition to that, the Cambodian kids run a highly strategic sales operation which sucks tourists dry. Arriving at Angkor my first morning, I was approached by one boy:

"Madame, do you want some coffee?"
Um, no thanks, not yet.
"OK when you buy some later, please buy from me. My name is James Bond."

Later on:
"Madame, will you buy some postcards for $1?"
Why aren't you in school?
"I need money to buy books and pens. I work from 7-12, and go to school from 1-4, and have English class from 5-7."
Wow, what do you want to be when you grow up?
"A doctor." (big smile)

And then:
"Madame, where are you from?"
California.
"The capitol of California is Sacramento. The capitol of the United States is Washington D.C. Will you buy postcards from me? Just $1."
I bought some already.
"Mine are different. You're very beautiful. Please, just $1."

I received a few hand-written notes from some of the kids that were decorated with lotus drawings and thanking me for visiting Cambodia, telling me they like my smile, and wishing me blessings.

I know my money would probably be better spent on donations to the many NGO's who are doing a lot of great work, teaching kids to fish and not just feeding them. But I'm a sucker and I bought a lot of stuff from them. I figured with English that good they probably were studying and needing the money... or at least I hope so.