Leaving on a jet plane
and it's clear skies ahead!
11.05.2011
5 °C
View
Forever Summer
on chang2n's travel map.
Here it goes, Day 1 of my endless Summer. I should have gone with my gut instinct and left for the airport much later, but instead followed CL's advice which stated "International flights require at least 3 hours prior to departure". I won myself a half hour's delay. I was dropped off at 10am, for my 12:30pm flight to Taiwan and have already accomplished the following:
1. Found out that SE Asia travel is fairly strict. The counter agent started grilling me on when my return flight was going to be to which I told him I was continuing my travels elsewhere. He then demanded to see when my exit flight from Taiwan would be as they might deny me entry without a departure within 90 days. WTF? My homeland, not embrace my decade return?? Thankfully I had already booked my onward flight to Hong Kong. I have a sticky feeling that this unplanned and open-ended travel is not going to go as smoothly as I had originally (un)planned.
2. Requested in a very stealth manner for a vegetarian meal on Korean Air (Koreans = carnivores... or so I've been told). Supposedly they required 24hrs notice for any special dietary needs. I gave the elder Asian gentleman my well-practiced customer service smile and implored him to help any which way he can. Veggie meal - Check!
3. Strolled through security check in honestly 2 seconds. I have never witnessed no lines. I was the only person. Made friends with all the security personnel and asked for a red carpet treatment. This is why I know they were my BFFs: I forgot I had pocketed an additional Vaseline in my pocket and asked where the garbage was to dispose of this extra liquid which did not belong in my 1L bag. Response: Just keep it. I asked "do you want me to remove my shoes? jacket?" Response: naawwwhhh, go ahead.
So after all this, I caught a glimpse of the time 10:13am! Lesson learned everyone.
Thankfully Father Time has been kind and writing this blog entry has kept me busy.
This is essentially my home for the next little while... I'll spare you all the details of what's in there. But obviously only the bare essentials made the cut, i.e. Sunblock & Vaseline!
Oh yes, nearly forgot but since everyone keeps asking here's my tentative travel outline:
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Thailand
Indonesia
India
Kenya
Guatemala
Costa Rica
Panama
Venezuela
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Argentina
Mexico
(Insert Brazil with Mathieu in there in July 2012)
Days: 1
Level of Exhaustion: zero
Level of Excitement: a billion
Mood: See Level of Excitement
Posted by chang2n 11.05.2011 08:46 Archived in Canada
2N!! My level of excitement for you is also a billion!!! I hope you have the time of your life!
11.06.2011 by Jim