After dealing with the frustrations of the ridiculous and hideous setup of Myspace, and attempting to bypass all the garbage with html language, I've discovered that this website makes things much simpler for creating a blog. This will be the new place for me to record my travels, and for others to check up on the news as I go.
For those of you unfamiliar with World-Fest '06, it is a 55 day trip, from June 18 to August 11. I will be traveling with a couple old friends, Scott and Jon, and a couple kids I barely know, Ryan and Rory, who are friends of Scott and Jon from Colby. The trip actually began with Scott, Jon, and Ryan, when they decided it was time to see the world. Scott told me about the trip and I was all for it. The timing was perfect, since I have just graduated and have not settled in a new job or living situation, though I knew I would have to work to save some money in time for the trip. Scott, Jon, and Ryan have all been out of school for at least a year or two now, and have been saving money for this trip. Scott, being the confident man he is, wasn't convinced I'd be able to afford the trip, and didn't begin to involve me in the planning process until the main destinations had been chosen.
The basic outline for the trip began with a round the world plane itinerary from a little travel agency in California. First stop, London, next Delhi, then Bangkok, then Bali, and finally, Sydney, before returning to New York. Fortunately, I was quickly brought into the group after this stage and have been well involved in the trip planning since. We have all taken control of various aspects of the trip, concerning ourselves with different places or issues. After many complicated discussions I eventually took control of our jaunt from London over to Europe, where we will start in Graz Austria, then go to Vienna, and fly back out of Bratislava, Slovakia. I have also made some contacts with people familiar with India, and even a man in India who has been very helpful. After most of the group collectively opted to begin India by going to Agra and Jaipur, I have begun looking at the second half of our time in India, going north to Chandigarh and Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. Hopefully everyone will agree with that idea. Thailand is still in need of planning, though we have arrived at a decision to go south to Phuket, and have strongly considered renting a van for transport, as plane tickets are expensive, and trains do not go all the way. Bali and Sydney have been left mostly open at this point, but will need little work to handle.
Rory was only added to the trip about a week ago, but has allegedly somehow managed to get all the same plane tickets he needs for this trip. I think I met him once, when I was visiting Scott and Jon during one of their legendary Doghead party's, but we were both drunk on green beer, and other than recognizing his face, I don't know him at all. I get the feeling that he may be under prepared, seeing as the rest of us have all gone through months of planning, and acquiring all the necessary vaccinations, visas, and various other preparations as we discover them in the process. There probably wont be any problem, I just hope he doesn't slow us down or create any complications in the trip if he has missed something. The e-mails between me, Scott, Jon, and Ryan are frequent, and communication of everyone's concerns and roles has been thoroughly discussed, but even now as we have begun sending our group e-mails to Rory, I have yet to see a single response from him.
So now we are down to the last 3 weeks of preparation. We still have much to plan, and now the extra complication of a 5th person, but I am happy with the way things are, and I am glad that some parts of the trip are somewhat open ended to allow us to make some decisions as we go. The remaining loose ends should be easy to tie off in the remaining time. I probably won't post another entry until just before departure, but I can assure you future blogs will be much more amusing that this one, complete with stories of adventure and digital photo's.
For those of you unfamiliar with World-Fest '06, it is a 55 day trip, from June 18 to August 11. I will be traveling with a couple old friends, Scott and Jon, and a couple kids I barely know, Ryan and Rory, who are friends of Scott and Jon from Colby. The trip actually began with Scott, Jon, and Ryan, when they decided it was time to see the world. Scott told me about the trip and I was all for it. The timing was perfect, since I have just graduated and have not settled in a new job or living situation, though I knew I would have to work to save some money in time for the trip. Scott, Jon, and Ryan have all been out of school for at least a year or two now, and have been saving money for this trip. Scott, being the confident man he is, wasn't convinced I'd be able to afford the trip, and didn't begin to involve me in the planning process until the main destinations had been chosen.
The basic outline for the trip began with a round the world plane itinerary from a little travel agency in California. First stop, London, next Delhi, then Bangkok, then Bali, and finally, Sydney, before returning to New York. Fortunately, I was quickly brought into the group after this stage and have been well involved in the trip planning since. We have all taken control of various aspects of the trip, concerning ourselves with different places or issues. After many complicated discussions I eventually took control of our jaunt from London over to Europe, where we will start in Graz Austria, then go to Vienna, and fly back out of Bratislava, Slovakia. I have also made some contacts with people familiar with India, and even a man in India who has been very helpful. After most of the group collectively opted to begin India by going to Agra and Jaipur, I have begun looking at the second half of our time in India, going north to Chandigarh and Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas. Hopefully everyone will agree with that idea. Thailand is still in need of planning, though we have arrived at a decision to go south to Phuket, and have strongly considered renting a van for transport, as plane tickets are expensive, and trains do not go all the way. Bali and Sydney have been left mostly open at this point, but will need little work to handle.
Rory was only added to the trip about a week ago, but has allegedly somehow managed to get all the same plane tickets he needs for this trip. I think I met him once, when I was visiting Scott and Jon during one of their legendary Doghead party's, but we were both drunk on green beer, and other than recognizing his face, I don't know him at all. I get the feeling that he may be under prepared, seeing as the rest of us have all gone through months of planning, and acquiring all the necessary vaccinations, visas, and various other preparations as we discover them in the process. There probably wont be any problem, I just hope he doesn't slow us down or create any complications in the trip if he has missed something. The e-mails between me, Scott, Jon, and Ryan are frequent, and communication of everyone's concerns and roles has been thoroughly discussed, but even now as we have begun sending our group e-mails to Rory, I have yet to see a single response from him.
So now we are down to the last 3 weeks of preparation. We still have much to plan, and now the extra complication of a 5th person, but I am happy with the way things are, and I am glad that some parts of the trip are somewhat open ended to allow us to make some decisions as we go. The remaining loose ends should be easy to tie off in the remaining time. I probably won't post another entry until just before departure, but I can assure you future blogs will be much more amusing that this one, complete with stories of adventure and digital photo's.
posted by James Dixon at 10:33 AM
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