Getting Ready

It is a chilly Sunday afternoon less than a week before Christmas and I am bundled inside my house in Valdosta making plans to travel to southeast Asia next month. I am planning to explore the Malay peninsula including the countries of Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam on a spontaneous unplanned route of undetermined length. Right now I can say my plan is to travel as long as I feel like it or until the money runs out, whichever comes first.

I don't have a definite departure date or even a final destination yet as I will be flying standby but I am thinking that I will probably take American Airlines as far as Tokyo where I will connect to Singapore on a Japan Airlines flight about two hours after I arrive Tokyo. I have investigated many routes and this seems the best way to get me into the tropics fastest and most efficiently.

Essential to successful traveling are flexibility, planning and packing. I pretty well have flexibility covered. I am planning as much as I feel necessary to get me to my first destination, and I have mentally streamlined my packing to the most basic essentials---a passport, a netbook, an ATM card and a camera. I would love to leave right away but I am also anticipating spending Christmas and New Years with family and friends. The thought that I will soon be out of the cold is getting me through.