Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Day Before



I had lunch with an old friend yesterday that told me that I have been talking about this overland trip since I knew her. It must be about ten years ago then that I have been wanting to do this trip.

I have prepared as much as I can for this trip. But I guess that I will not know if the preparation was correct till I embark on the trip. I did a full health screen for the first time in my life. Nothing much new there as I already knew about my diabetes and cholesterol. I guess the new thing is that I have a gall stone, but I hear it is quite common.

I was hoping to do no work this March, instead I ended up taking on three of the largest jobs that I have ever taken. I really pushed the limits this March and I have caught a cold now. Lots of work also means lots of archiving and back up. I also have a new tenant for the studio. And it is surprising how many people suddenly want to borrow my videos and meet up. But those people I could not meet, I am sorry, time is tight. I hope you still want to meet me when I return!

I have had my teeth cleaned and my hair cut.

It is crazy trying to stuff five and a half months of living into one rucksack. Every inch counts. Like Apple has come out with a new smaller usb charger, I bought it. But I was defeated yesterday in that I could not confine myself to one large rucksack. I am taking a small backpack too.

I am excited, I am apprehensive, but I know that after ten years of saying I will do this, tomorrow, I will do this.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Email through the Chinese firewall

I was told by a friend that Facebook and Blogger is blocked in China. I am testing out the emailing of a post to Blogger to see if this is a solution around it.

Woohoo, it works!! This post and image got sent over the email system. But I will just have to be more careful over the email posts because I cannot edit till it later.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Prepatory trip to Hong Kong



A month to go and I am making a short trip to Hong Kong to leave some medicine with a friend so that I can pick it up on the way. Some more medicine will be brought by my parents to London. Having diabetes, has added to the logistics of this trip considerably. That and money. Credit cards are much more handy nowadays than twenty years ago when I went inter railing in Europe. People ask me why I cannot send my medicine to my friend in Hong Kong instead of flying over. The reason is that I am going to test out my credit cards as well.

Yesterday I went to Tan Tock Seng hospital. This trip has got me thinking about my health more than I would have had I not gone on this trip. I went for my first full medical check-up. I doubt that they will find any more issues beyond my diabetes and cholestrol, but I think that in future, I will have to go for check-ups more regularly. Like sending in an older car for servicing. I also went to the traveller's clinic to check out my vaccinations for this trip. It seems like the only thing I need to do is get malaria tablets. I have had the necessary vaccinations from my previous trips.

So far I have my train to Penang, my hotel booking over there. I had to book my train from Beijing to Mongolia, a tour in Mongolia, and the train from Mongolia to Russia on the trans siberian. I also have hotels in Moscow and St. Petersburgh. I am definitely going to Arles for the photographic festival. From a recommendation of an Italian friend, I have booked accommodation on a boat in Arles. It should be fun. The rest of the trip will be booked on the road.

After dreaming of this trip for over five years, it is finally coming up. It is really hard to conceive what I am in for, but I think it will be fun. And hopefully, like one friend said, I will be changed by this trip.