Countdown to vagabond

Besides posting about random topics to this site, the original motivation was to serve as a travel journal for long term travel I wanted to do in 2008. After some research and soul searching, the time is quickly approaching. I’d like to quote famous words of LL Cool J (and later reiterated by the Notorious BIG), I am “Going going…back back…to ‘stani ‘stani”.

In less than two months, I hope to start my travels in India (aka Hindustan, so technically also a ‘stan). Depending on the political climate and general safety in Pakistan after the February 18th elections, I hope to cross the land border in Punjab from Amritsar, India to Lahore, Pakistan. Then head to Islamabad, and take the Kharakoram Highway (KKH) to Kashgar, China. That’s as much as I know right now, and I’m sure a lot will develop (and change) over the coming weeks. This will be my first trip to India as well as Pakistan, outside of Karachi.

I’m not exactly sure how long the trip will be. The list of additional places I want to visit is very long, and would take multiple years to complete. I am currently planning the first three months and see how it goes. This will be my first time doing long-term travel, first time “backpacking” vs. vacationing, and first extended time traveling in a 3rd world country. I am not entirely sure what to expect or how I will respond. However, I am very excited to go find out!

I have roughly 6-8 weeks to convert my life to that of a vagabond. Things that are keeping me busy:

• Getting ready to donate stem cells for transplant patient
• Trip planning: rough itinerary, visas, flights, gear, vaccinations, insurance….
• Setup life to manage remotely via internet: bills, mail, communication….
• Put everything I own in storage, sell some stuff, figure out what to do with my car
• File 2007 income tax return on time (uh oh!)
• Wrap up lots of loose ends

A few things have already been taken care of: setting up blog and photo site, adding visa pages to my US passport, getting an India visa, and submitting NICOP application. According to the website, it will take 3-4 months to get the NICOP card. But I am hopeful that it will come sooner.