30 Hours - and plenty to say

As I write this, I giggle at the fact that it's really only been 28 hours since my departure, but when you've had as much sleep as I have (which isn't a lot) and wake up in a pile of sweat that reminds you of being 8 years old, and cursing that dream that led you to pee your bed, you realize it's okay to take joy in a simple giggle.  I can't help but think about the last photo I took in Vancouver as we sped to the airport through English Bay.

I'm looking out my window at perfect example Singapore's "natural environment", and even though I know that the majority, if not all of the trees have been imported to create a certain vibe, I've got to say I like the vibe. The pale blue sky is brightening with every passing moment, and it's masked in a light whisk of clouds. Local birds are awake, as I listen to the "Doobie Brothers" lay down another track on my laptop.

Singapore Airlines

Air Canada officially sucks (fact). Singapore Airlines was the best flying experience to date. The only one that comes close is when I flew to Australia with my Mom and I got hooked up with a lasagna dinner (sweet!), and chilled in 1st Class. Below are 3 simple reasons as to why - you may not appreciate all/any of them, but it made the difference for me:

Great Service (with a smile)

The staff of Singapore Airlines are amazing. When I arrived at the check-in desk, I asked a woman (in a way that used the Norms of Social Reciprocity of course) for an aisle seat, because I had been booked on a window, and I'd prefer the leg room over the view. She said that she couldn't help as all the seats were booked. As I was boarding the plane I noticed the same woman, I gave her a smile and she remembered. She asked me to stand on the side and grabbed me an aisle seat (which also had noone sitting beside me so I had double leg room). Booya. During the flight - everything they did had a sense of purpose and not once did I hear the attitude that usually clings to Air Canada employees. Lastly, even though I don't have yellow fever - they were pretty hot.

Movies/TV & Video Games

Singapore Airlines basically picked all the movies that I wanted to see, and put them into there "Movie-on-Demand" list. I watched KungFu Panda, Prince Caspian, Iron Man (again). Between movies, I checked out their inventory of TV shows I could watch and it was all the best (Arrested Development, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, Simpsons, House, All the CSIs, etc.). Finally, I was able to re-live some childhood classic game boy games. Every seat came with a remote which allowed me to rock out on "Zelda: Link's Awakening" "Wario's World" "Tetris", "Pokemon". To say the least, I was having fun.  As you can see I was having a great time...

Real Food & Tiger Beer

My family will attest my strong dislike of airplane food. I'm not sure if it's whether I've expanded my taste buds or not, but the food was really really good. I had some grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, pasta salad and a couple other delicious meals. Lastly - beer was free and I drank a bunch. Enough said.

We made a quick transfer in Korea.  This is me landing in Korea...

Inspiration from Ernesto

My teammates and sweet friends from Energy Aware (the clean-tech startup I worked at this summer) bought me a copy of the "Motorcycle Diaries" to get me ready for my journey down south. I started reading the novel on the plane and this book is more fitting than its geographical relevance. I'm not going to spend my time comparing myself to a 23 year old Che Guevara, but there is a certain something in his writing that seems to ring true with me even a couple chapters in. He begins by explaining how his journey is "...not a story of heroic feats...It is a glimpse of two lives running parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams." 

He goes to comment on the impact of travel by explaining how "The first commandment for every good explorer is that an expedition has two points: the point of departure and the point of arrival. If your intention is to make the second theoretical point coincide with the actual point of arrival, don't think about the means - because the journey is a virtual space that finishes when it finishes, and there are as many means as there are different ways of "finishing". That is to say, the means are endless."

I draw the comparison to my year ahead because Ernesto "Che" Guevara is a simple university student, bored with his current reality, dreaming big and craving for significance of a magnitude that will satisfy his needs. He doesn't see his future as a rebel, but you get hints for his distaste for the current state of Latin America, and his desire to be a part of positive change. I too yearn for the same sense of significance and desire to make a difference. Although I know my journey, much like Che's is not a story of heroic feats, it feels right in every way and I'm excited for my ends to one day respond to the means of this journey.

Seeing Old & Making New Friends

After admitting defeat, and realizing my "Welcome Buddy" wasn't going to show up, I took a cab ride from the airport along the crafted gateway to Downtown Singapore, which also doubles as an emergency landing for airplanes (according to my driver). I arrived at Prince George Park Residence ready to get settled in and call it a night. Security directed me to the check-in centre where I got my keys, signed forms that said I wouldn't sublet the apartment, and was taken to my room by a volunteer. Along the way, he showed me where the bus loop was, kitchen, restaurants, etc. As we arrived at my door, the room opposite mine opened and out walked Hao. We looked at each other and laughed. "What are you doing here?". What are YOU doing here? Hao Su was an exchange student at UBC last year that I met on a number of occasions. We caught up on life and just laughed at how funny it was to see him, living literally one step away.

Hao was good company as I unpacked my luggage to discover my spray-on sun screen had decided to break and empty itself in my bag. After a quick clean job I was setting up my computer. I decided that 2:30 in the morning was as good a time as any to try out my "international plug". Well of course, the first thing I try to plug into it is the one piece of technology I didn't check the required wattage, and according to wisegeek.com, this is why I blew the fuse, almost electricuted myself and realized that a room in Singapore without a fan is not one you want to sleep in. Hao laughed and said that us Canadians always have to start with a bang. After talking with a couple offices, and realizing it's going to be slower than I thought to learn "Singlish" (Singapore English), I technical person showed up at my door and got my power back on. Even though I didn't get much sleep last night, it would have been 1000 times worse if I didn't have the fan to keep me alive.

About a 1/2 hour later, my Welcome Buddy Chu Hwai shows up at my door with 100 apologies and how he'd been at a different terminal waiting for the wrong flight.  We planned to meet up at 10am to get me a bunch of stuff for my room.

I'll be spending the next couple days doing errands, doing some orientation and seeing the city.  I'll post again as soon as there's something worth posting...

Word.  I love you all.

- Conor

13 Month Plan - (Take that C.A.P.P's "5 Year Plans")

Over the past few months I've had a number of people ask the question "So where are you going again?". In order to make things easier, I've created this post to shed some light on my plans...all 13 months of them.

Since I concocted this crazy idea to see the world back in November 2007 and wrote my first post, I'm happy to say that my plans are still relatively the same, only more concrete and sweeter. All in all, I'm gone from July 28, 2008 - August 28, 2009. As I write this, I'm heading out in 5 days, and I'm filled with excitement. I hope you'll take the time now and again to go through my photos and posts to cheer me through the journey. I've broken down the post to the 3 major areas in which I'm traveling: Asia, South America & Europe. Enjoy.

Southeast Asia & Japan 

July 28 - December 22

Singapore & NUS

The first leg of the journey is based in Singapore and I'll be attending the National University of Singapore (NUS) and living in Prince George's Park Residence. I've banked up a lot of my "Non-Commerce Electives" so I'm taking some great courses (Singaporean Theatre, Japanese History, etc.) along with International Marketing (with a focus on Asia of course). I'm registered in 3 out of my 4 classes, and registering in the last one upon arrival, but if all goes well, my classes will be on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - giving me a 4 day weekend every weekend to travel and enjoy Southeast Asia. While I'm based in Singapore, I plan to be doing a lot of traveling throughout Southeast Asia whenever the opportunities present themselves. I've included some traveling concepts that I intend on doing, but I'll see what things are like when I get there and adjust my plans to have the best experience.

Koh Tao: On the recommendation of my friend Colin, I'm going to spend a few days off the coast of Thailand in Koh Tao getting my PADI Scuba Certification at the Buddha View Resort. I'm going to do my best to convince a few other students to come with me to get the certification and enjoy a full moon party in Thailand.

Cambodia/Laos Adventure: NUS conveniently has a "Recess Break" in September so I'm going to book end an additional week off school and trek 18 days through Cambodia & Laos. I don't have a set agenda yet, but between everyone I know who's been to SE Asia and everyone who'll be in Singapore, I'm sure I'll find more than enough to fill my time.

Malaysia: I'm going to spend some time in Malaysia. Most likely putting my PADI certification to use, and hitting the shops in Kuala Lampur. 

Vietnam: I've been talking with UBC to help them with their International Highschool Recruitment, and after a meeting with them today, there's a good chance that I'll be making some presentations in Vietnam in November. I'm most likely going to head up a few days early, or stick around a couple days after to take advantage of the free flight up there.

Japan: After I've wrapped up the term in Singapore, I'm heading out on December 8th to Japan. I'm really excited for this leg of the journey as I'll be spending most of my time with my brother, Shinpei. Shinpei stayed with our family from when I was 2 years old to 12 and I haven't seen him in many years so it's like seeing my long lost brother again. After the flight from Singapore to Narita, I'll be flying to Nagoya and I'll stay there for a couple days with Shinpei and his wife, Yuriko touring around. Next, we head out on our big Japanese Road Trip Adventure. We head west to Kyoto (the old Imperial City), we'll then head NorthEast to Mt. Fuji, and then make our way north to Gunma (near Nagano), to stay with Yuriko's family. Gunma has some great mountains so we plan to spend a day on the slopes. Afterwards we'll head to Tokyo and spend the remaining days there (including a visit to Tokyo Disney...sweet!).

After Japan I'll be home from the 22nd - 28th of December to do laundry, hug family, sing carols and head off on the second leg of the journey.

South America

January 28 - April 22

The next part of the journey I'll be "Living it up down old South America way" (Arrested Development anyone?) with Steve Gares. I was originally planning to do the trip alone, but after talking with Steve about it a couple times early on in the summer it became clear how sweet it would be if we went together...so here we are. We're spending 4 months and covering some pretty big ground. In order to prepare for the trek, Steve and I are both trying to learn Spanish using Rosetta Stone. If you don't know South America all that well, I've posted a small video that gives you a better idea of the path we're going to take. You can also take a peek at our Google Spreadsheet, where we're organizing most of our planning.

Argentina & Chile: Steve and I fly into Buenos Aires right before New Years Eve. We're going to be meeting up with Phil & Jeremy Hancyk, which can only mean our first couple nights in South America will be debaucherous. After New Years, we're heading West to Mendoza where Phil has invited us to stay with his aunt for a couple of days. After enjoying all the wine Mendoza has to offer, we'll be heading to Santiago, Chile to see the boys off at the airport. We'll then be making our way down the coast to Isla de Chiloe and then trekking back east to Bariloche, Argentina, which has been described as having a "Banff-like" feel to it. We'll then make our way to the East Coast beaches of Argentina and bunker down in Buenos Aires for a couple weeks. When in Buenos Aires, we hope to take in the sights, sounds, tastes of Argentina. We'll go to some great museums, clubs, futbal matches, eat plenty of steak, drink lots of wine, try to tango etc. Our last stop in Argentina is making our way to Igazu Falls, which boarder with our next destination - Brazil!

Brazil: After mastering Spanish for 4 months, we're going to spend the better part of a month in Brazil where our Spanish is about as useful as my Dad's french. We're going to make our way to the coast as quick as possible and visit Paraty along the way. We'll have about two weeks along the Brazilian Coast to soak in the sun, get Steve his PADI Certification, learn some basic Portuguese and make our way to Rio de Janeiro for the biggest part on the planet - CARNIVAL. After all the festivities, we'll make our way back up the coast and fly to Bogota, Columbia.

Columbia: Steve and I plan to spend a few days in the capital before making our way north to the Caribbean Sea to a place called Cartagena & Santa Marta. There's some great hiking to do in the area, and depending our timing, we might make a trek out of Santa Marta to the "Lost City". We'll be doing some diving just off the coast of Cartagena, along with enjoying the history architecture and wildlife.

Ecuador: We'll then fly down to Ecuador to party on the equator and make a trip into the amazon and maybe do some piranha fishing. Ecuador is renowned for its abundance of wildlife and wild flowers, so I'm sure we'll have more than enough to see/do.

Peru: We've got quite a bit on the dock for Peru. We'll bus in to the capital city of Lima and kick it there for a while before making our way down to Cuzco. From Cuzco, we're booking a slot to climb the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu. After the 4 day hike, we'll make our way down to enjoy Lake Titicaca (I can hear my 7 year old self laughing), and then crossing the board to Bolivia. After Bolivia we'll be making our way back through Peru to Lima for our flight back to Vancouver. On the way, we'll pay a visit to the Nazca Lines which should be great!

Bolivia: We won't have much time in Bolivia, but we'll do the best with what we have. We're going to go see the Salt 

Flats which Steve and I are both pretty pumped for. Prior to the salt flats, we'll be visiting La Paz where I'm planning to bike down the Most Dangerous Road (don't tell my parents...). After our Bolivia tour, we're making our way to Lima to fly out of there on the 22nd of April.

London & Europe

May - August

The final third of the journey finds me based in London. I haven't done a crazy amount of research into what I'll be doing there, but the general plan is to be working at a Marketing/Communication firm in London and living with my sister, her boyfriend Ray, and Candice (good times with all of them for sure). As I get closer, I'll start coming up with places to go and see and most likely making my travel plans based on which destination has the cheapest ticket.

For those of you who like to post responses/comments - I have a question I'd like you to answer:

If you could go to any of the places I'm going to, where would it be and why?

Some thoughts:

There are some parts about going on this long journey that are bittersweet. Bitter being leaving my family and friends for so long, and leaving an amazing/fulfilling relationship that has made that last 9 months amazing will be really tough!!! But when I put everything in perspective, the sweet far out ways the bitter, and it's only a matter of time before I'm home (probably planning the next trip).

I am mentally and emotionally ready for this trip and I couldn't be more thankful to have the next 13 months as a part of my life's story. If I don't see you before I go, you have my love. If you're coming on Saturday - we're getting trashed, and I'll see you there.

Living, Loving and Learning,

- Conor