When I draft my blog posts from the road, I save them by date so I can attempt to post them chronologically when I have internet available. It felt very strange to date this September 26 when I arrived at the Atlanta airport for my departure on September 24.

Recap of where I’ve traveled already this year, from the beginning:
29 Dec – 02 Jan – New York, New York
06 Jan – 07 Jan – Tampa, Florida
04 Feb – 13 Feb – New York, New York
18 Feb – 21 Feb – San Francisco, California
10 Mar – 15 Mar – Austin, Texas
20 Mar – 22 Mar – Cancún, Mexico
31 Mar – 02 Apr – Seattle, Washington
20 Apr – 26 Apr – New York, New York
10 May – 15 May – Amelia Island, Florida
17 May – 18 May – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
24 May – 25 May – Greenville, South Carolina
31 May – 01 Jun – Orlando, Florida
01 Jun – New York, New York
02 Jun – 04 Jun – Barcelona, Spain
04 Jun – 08 Jun – New York, New York
09 Jun – 22 Jun – Barcelona, Spain
22 Jun – 03 Jul – London, England
03 Jul – 06 Jul – Paris, France
06 Jul – Belgrade, Serbia
06 Jul – 11 Jul – Novi Sad, Serbia
11 Jul – 13 Jul – Belgrade, Serbia
13 Jul – 02 Aug – Paris, France
02 Aug – 04 Aug – Oslo, Norway
04 Aug – 09 Aug – Bergen, Norway
09 Aug – 12 Aug – Copenhagen, Denmark
12 Aug – 13 Aug – Rīga, Latvia
13 Aug – 15 Aug – Tallinn, Estonia
15 Aug – 17 Aug – Helsinki, Finland
17 Aug – Turku, Finland
18 Aug – 28 Aug – Stockholm, Sweden
28 Aug – 03 Sep – London, England
03 Sep – 11 Sep – Amsterdam, Netherlands
21 Sep – 23 Sep – Houston, Texas

I’m honestly exhausted. I also cannot fathom how much people have to fly to get Platinum medallion status with SkyTeam when I’m only hitting Gold this year! I’m currently on the longest flight I’ve experienced yet. Almost 15 hours from Atlanta to Seoul on Korean Air. My flight map tells me we headed straight north from Atlanta cutting up through Michigan, above Canada before crossing east above North America across the International Date Line. (Is that suppose to be capitalized?) We are now flying over either China or Russia between the Sea of Okhotsk and Yakutsk and I’m wishing it wasn’t 1:30AM here so I could see a bit of what we’re flying over. It’s brunch time back home and I just tried a Korean green tea porridge for breakfast in-flight.

Last night (technically speaking) was my second major departure from the United States for an extended period. I was just as miserably prepared and last minute as I was in May, despite meticulous list making and marathon errand running. I’m beginning to think it’s impossible to take care of everything before a trip with so many unknowns. The three things I forgot and remembered on the way to the airport: the unlocked Android Nexus One that Erik has been letting me borrow, my inhaler and my eye mask. The eye mask is easy. The rest will have to be planned around. I’m anxious — can you tell?

This is my first time in Asia. Most of what I’m expecting is from film, television, travel guides and friends. I’ve got a 13 hour layover in Seoul today which should help me get a little grip with being on the opposite side of the planet and everything that comes along with that. This evening, I fly into Denpasar in Bali where I will be meeting my great friend and travel companion for the next five weeks, Linnea, and my friend Robert Scales, who is now local to Bali.

My Asia itinerary:
26 Sep – Seoul, South Korea (layover)
26 Sep – 30 Sep – Bali, Indonesia
30 Sep – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (layover)
30 Sep – 04 Oct – Seoul, South Korea
04 Oct – 05 Oct – Manila, Philippines (layover)
05 Oct – 09 Oct – Singapore, Singapore
09 Oct – 13 Oct – Tokyo, Japan
13 Oct – 14 Oct – Singapore, Singapore (layover)
14 Oct – 16 Oct – Bangkok, Thailand
16 Oct – 20 Oct – Chiang Mai, Thailand
20 Oct – 22 Oct – Bangkok, Thailand
22 Oct – 27 Oct – New Delhi, India
27 Oct – 1 Nov – Mumbai, India
1 Nov – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (layover)
2 Nov – 21 Nov – Bali, Indonesia

Are you exhausted yet from reading about all of these flights? The first five weeks will be traveling with Linnea. My final three weeks in Bali will be spent alone and hanging out with Robert in the small fishing town of Tumbalen on the northeast coast of Bali where the resort he works at is located. I hope to learn how to dive and possibly even get certified so I can make deeper dives. This will be a huge personal challenge for me as I have a very respectful and humbled but nearly paralyzing fear of natural bodies of water. This earth is covered by significantly more water than land. I’ve done my best to see as much of the land as I can, I can only imagine what our waters hold. I don’t anticipate it being too difficult as I have been making small steps to combat this fear in the past few years by getting knee-deep in oceans and seas, boating, visiting aquariums. I’ll have others with me, teaching and encouraging me. The waters are also much clearer than the murky Atlantic waters I’m familiar with.

As much as Europe drained me both physically and financially, I am glad I did Europe before heading to Asia. It will be very foreign in every sense of the term. I expect to learn and be exposed to many new and strange things, cannot wait for the food, and eagerly look forward to my quiet weeks in Bali at the conclusion of my insane travel year. It’s now two and a half hours until we land at Incheon. I have high hopes for wifi and possibly bumping into Linnea before her flight to Bali, many hours earlier than mine. (Or possibly jumping on the earlier flight?) I’m going to catch up on movies and work on my geography with my seat back map!