Some Thoughts before the Trip (New York, USA)

Ten days until takeoff.

The sky is bright blue outside my apartment, but it's still too cold to do anything fun. Early spring cabin fever it is.

I will fly to Hong Kong next Thursday, spend the weekend with some friends, and then backpack around the region: Southern China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. I've purposely not created an itinerary beyond this broad outline--I'd rather maintain some flexibility with my plans once I get there. I just have to be back in HK before May 16th.

I originally planned a budget of around $3,000 for the entire six weeks. Having spent some $1,600 already--roundtrip flight to HK ($850, which is cheap), immunizations ($230), a double-entry Chinese visa ($130), guide books ($50), travel insurance ($150), and some random backpacking items ($200)--that ain't gonna happen. Not even close. I also fully intend to fork over the $500 it takes to get a couple of bespoke suits from a decent Vietnamese tailor (as my roommate would say, if you don't spend the $500, you're practically losing money). Luckily, despite my long-term concern for the dollar's strength (politics aside), the global 'flight to quality' appears to be holding in my favor for now. Beyond infrequent luxuries like tailored suits, I should be able to live very cheaply once I'm in Asia. (Small comfort in light of my Iceland trip two years ago, around the time the krona reached its all-time peak versus $USD).

Besides adding stamps to my passport, I do have a few goals for this trip:
- Not to shave the entire time
- Not to think about jobs or grad school (I still have no idea where I'll be this fall).
- Eat everything offered to me (Ciprofloxacin tablets? Check.)
- Haggle with local merchants to reduce the price of everything
- Practice whatever's left of my French abilities (I understand that the older Indochinois still speak it).

But for the date on my plane ticket, I could leave tomorrow. I'm antsy to begin the meticulous ritual of packing a backpack (under 50 lbs, properly distributed), but I will hold off until next week. It makes sense to do one more load of laundry first.