I Have Wings

Guess Who's Back? Back Again...

I've been back in the States for about a week and a half and am just starting to get settled. It probably doesn't help that after landing in Boston on Wednesday, I flew to Durham on Friday, to New York on Sunday, back to Durham on Tuesday, then to Las Vegas on Wednesday and, finally, back to Durham last night. Needless to say I'm exhausted. But now I get to stay here in Durham for awhile, catch up with friends and finish up my last term of business school. Being back is certainly a bit strange - even though I checked out for a little while, the world definitely kept moving along. Slowly, but surely I'm getting back up to speed.

Before I get too far into this, I should say that I've been amazed at how many people have told me that they've read this site and enjoyed following along with my travels. I just spent the last several minutes flipping back through the pages and I can't believe myself how much I experienced over the past few months. I started by pounding mochi in Hawaii and finished by firing an AK-47 in Saigon. Along the way, I tried my hand at surfing, enjoyed my first loco moco, rode an elephant, chilled with tigers, met the Thai Britney Spears, climbed the ruins of Angkor, ate a snake, danced with fire, motorbiked through Vietnam, and had a million other memories along the way. I truly enjoyed writing about them all - it was nice to sit back and reflect a bit at the end of the day about what I had done. For those who didn't discover this web site, the "how was your trip?" question is often answered with a simple "it was awesome" - I think we can all agree, that it doesn't quite convey the experiences I had. Time will tell if these adventures prove to be "life changing" for me. At this point, I'm willing to concede that they were certainly "life expanding."

In closing, although my travels have ended, I think I am going to keep writing. I really do enjoy it and although I won't be globe trotting, I think I can find some interesting topics and tidbits to write about. In true Thai fashion, it will be "same same, but different"... if you are interested check back soon or enter your email over to the right and I'll be sure to drop a note when I start things up again.

In the meantime, thank you for joining me on my trip!

A False Start

I haven't even left yet and things are already getting crazy!

First, my mom wakes me up this morning with news of the earthquake and tsunamis in Southeast Asia (more and pictures)- I was expecting some grief, but she was actually very cool about it. Guess the drinking water in Thailand (which I've been hearing about for a couple months) is way scarier than a 9.7 magnitude earthquake and 40 foot waves... In all seriousness, it all sounds pretty horrible and I'm glad Marc was stuck up in Bangkok (not hit at all) working on his b-school essays and no one else I know from Fuqua had arrived yet.

I also woke up to a whole bunch of snow and it didn't really stop all day long.

I got a call about an hour ago from American Airlines saying that all flights out of Boston had been canceled for tomorrow. I'm trying to get everything rescheduled for Tuesday -- so it looks like my trip has been delayed at least a day. C'est la vie.

The Schedule

Since I am about to send out the link to this site, I thought I should post a bit more about what I will be doing over the next couple of months. Next Monday (December 27th) I leave on a 2.5 month trip that will take me to Hawaii, Thailand, Cambodia and <possibly> Vietnam. All places that I have never been before.

I'm hoping that this journal will serve as a means to update my friends and family about my travels. Perhaps not as personal as postcards/letters, but hopefully my writing and photos will be a bit more timely and I can include more than would fit on your normal postcard... ultimately, I'm hoping that will be a good thing.

In any event, for those who want to follow along, here's the schedule as it currently stands:

December 27th: Depart for Hawaii
December 27th - January 3rd: Kauai'i with Christine's family
January 3rd - January 7th: O'ahu with Christine

January 7th: Travel to Bangkok (via Tokyo)
January 8th - February 18th: In and around Thailand (based in Bangkok and taking classes at Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration - i.e. Bangkok Business School)

February 18th - 21st: Angkor Wat (Cambodia) with Mom & Dad

February 18th - March 9th: Further travels in Southeast Asia (most likely Vietnam)

When I arrive in Thailand, I will be with 6 other students from Fuqua (as well as a number of UNC and Kellogg students) and meeting up with Marc Lefkowitz (who is living Bangkok for the next couple of months). My parents will be in Thailand for ten days starting February 11th and I will travel with them to Cambodia once my classes end. If anyone else happens to be cruising through Southeast Asia, be sure to drop me a line!

More soon...

Checking out the weather while stuck in the snow...

I'm exactly one week away from the start of my trip and very much looking forward to getting out of the snow! Speaking of snow, check out this weather:

 

The fog in Thailand was a little disconcerting until I remembered that it is only 4 AM there right now. I checked out the forecast for tomorrow and it will be 92 F AND SUNNY! Good times...

The Destination

More to come <hopefully>, but this is where I am heading...