Welp...I am sitting at the San Francisco International airport waiting to board my flight to LAX from where I will jump on another flight to Tokyo, Japan. I will be starting a 7 month journey around the world hitting Japan, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, India and Nepal.
But before we get too caught up on the future, let's rewind back a year where it all started... For years I have been badgering Christina to go on a trip around the world. You all should know who Christina is by now but if you need a reminder...she is one of my best friends from high school, member of the Crew, back packed through Europe with me, moved to SF the same week and we have lived together ever since (including a studio apartment with a bed in the kitchen). We did want to stay in Europe during our last trip and become bar crawl guides...instead we opted to go be grown ups and start our careers but with a promise that we would go back before we were 25 - we just barely made it! For those of you who have been concerned, we can stand long periods of time together, have similar travel interests and both share a passion for food, wine and cheese. Some like to refer to her as my wife. Follow her blog at www.shatzysays.wordpress.com! Anywho...as we sat in the Opium Den one afternoon feeling the typical Sunday blues, we made a promise - We would go backpacking around the world within the next year. From there, we would start planning...researching where to go, what we needed to do to prepare, how much money to save, etc. We spent hours and hours planning this trip. Months went by and we finally booked our first flight to Tokyo.
We made a visit to the SF travel clinic and met our girl Lisa, a travel nurse guru. We walked into that office ready to spend $400 and be in and out in a split. Instead Lisa broke the news we would have to get over 8 shots that would cost $1500. I think our shocked faces broke poor Lisa's heart. Despite our disappointment, Lisa became our go to travel guide. Having lived all over the world, she had a lot of great tips. I think she was quite amused with these 2 girls that you may not have expected to be the type to backpack around the world - we looked like the blind leading the blind going on this trip. We bombarded her with a thousand questions every visit - the best including Christinas endless curiousity of how shots work and go in your body. Lisa - if you are reading this (which she probably isn't but I like to think she is), we love you!! I will dedicate a post on travel vaccines to you down the road.
We took this last week to pack and get organized. Randall came up to visit for the week and we put him and Sam to work with a list of moving tasks that needed to be complete.They were my saviors helping getting everything done! My dad decided to make an impromptu visit to help finish the move this weekend and drive us to the airport. On a side note, he and my mom have been my number one supporter to do this trip. They have pushed me to make this move and I would never have done it without their blessing. It only seemed fitting that he would be the one to see me off.
My dad dropped Christina and I off at the airport. Tears were shed by me of course and the minute my Dad drove off we fell into a hysterically laughing fit. A similar question of what the f*** are we doing was repeated several times. I was laughing and balling crying at the same time. It was a feeling of such relief and trepidation I suppose. After getting through security, we decided to do one last ridiculously SF thing and hit up the yoga room and squeeze in a quick 15 minute practice....yes I already sound like a granola wandering hippy....
I know you all must be sitting at work reading this and thinking how you wish you were heading off to Tokyo right now. But I must express how surprisingly hard this has been. A year ago I would have thought it all would be easy - pack up, say cya and board our flight. I felt my first wave of fear walking into my presidents office to tell him I'm quitting my job. Although the fear subsided - a week went by and then came a wave of relief...one more step closer to the adventure of a lifetime. As I began to tell more people, the more real it became. I continued to get more and more excited. But this past week has been filled with sadness and anxiety. Packing up my life in SF was hard. I love this city. I want to spend the rest of my life here. I have made so many amazing friends. SF is a city full of transplants so your friends become your family. They are your people that you call when you need anything - leaving that was the hardest part. Then came the question of what the hell am I doing???? I have no income, I just sold everything I own, what if I run out of money?? Lots. Of. Tears. Were shed this week. Although, I knew deep down that all I needed to do was force myself on that plane and from there just take it one step at a time.
So here we are. Sitting on the plane to LAX. Thinking about what the future holds. This may have been hard to get here but I already know it's the best decision I have ever made. I can't wait to meet new people, taste new food, explore a new outlook on life, learn so many new things everyday.
Our itinerary is Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Portugal, Morroco, South Africa, Namibia, Nepal (maybe :/) and India. If you have visited any of the places and have recommendations, we would love them!! We also are open to visitors! I plan to keep this blog up the rest of the trip sharing all our experiences as we go along.
Love all of you guys out there - especially my amazing parents and SF crew that have been so supportive and helpful in getting us ready for this trip. Talk to y'all in Japan!
This post was written last week - hoping to post about Japan today for everyone to have something to enjoy on their Monday morning!
XO
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