The past couple days

The past couple days have been a little crazy, and I have to admit a little stressful. At the Syrian border, they weren't trying to let me in the country even though all of my stuff was in order. But the bus driver argued and got me in the country only to leave me 45 km outside of the city of Aleppo - my destination. At this point I was in a small village with no Syria currency and only $160USD. So I went to a cab - the only one for miles - and asked him how much it was to get to Aleppo. He told me $15USD - which is absurd. So I said no, thinking I could walk it. I was under the impression from the bus driver it was really close. After about 5 minutes with my bag and no sense of direction, I realized this was fruitless. Walked back to him and said take me. He laughed and let me into his mini-bus. First we went to a gas station and turned $20 USD into 900 SYP. Not the greatest exchange rate, but that's alright. Once he started driving, I understood why it was $15USD - now 700SYP - because it was far - though I still got took. Once in Aleppo, I asked him to take me to a hotel, any hotel. He dropped outside of a market. Pointed to the southeast and said the hotels were over there. So I started walking looking for an ATM. I FOUND ONE. I stick in my card put my pin in and ask for money. It says "This transaction cannot be completed." OMG!!! So I go to the next. Same thing. And the next. So now I'm thinking - I need to get out of Syria ASAP. I don't have enough money to stay here. But first I need to find a hotel. So I continue to wonder around and find one for 800 SYP a night. That's fine, but I only have USD. The guy at the front desk says that's fine, go to the banks tomorrow and change your money. It's Friday, a holy day (I think this is the reason he gave, but not sure), and they are all closed. So I feel a little better. Thinking a bank may be able to get my money even if an ATM can't. Or I can at least change it. I'm also thinking maybe the ATMs at the airport will work. So things are looking up from the "not having a hotel to sleep in situation" of earlier. I figure I should sight see. There was a giant mosque that I had seen on the way in that I was curious about. While walking there, I see someone who looks foreign, so I asked him if he was able to use the ATMs. He said yes, the one in the Sheraton. I asked him where the Sheraton was, and it was the building right next to use. In my defense, it looked like a government building with the guards it had. I walk in, and it is the nicest Sheraton I've ever seen. Similar to a Vegas hotel with the very expensive shops. I find the ATM. It works fine. I get money, and decide to spend a couple more days in Syria.

I will have new pictures and stuff about my last couple days in Istanbul later. I'm in an internet cafe now and trying to conserve time.

So I promised to get you something...

I told a lot of people that I'd get them something from somewhere on my trip. If you're one of those people, or you'd like something, and you think I might get it, please comment to this post. I remember some of what I'd said I'd get for people, but you should comment to make sure you get what you wanted.

All that said - I have very little space. So if you want something big - that's not from Ireland (my last stop), it's not happening.

Day One - Istanbul - The journey begins

The morning started at Frankfurt airport with a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream cone. This was a good start to a day that would be great. Once on the plane, I started talking to a Turkish lady who was sitting next to me - who at first thought I was Turkish, which I thought was kinda cool. She told me in broken english the best places to go in Turkey and about how great Istanbul was. She was so nice, which I've found is a very Turkish charactrisic. I really don't like to generalize so I won't say all Turkish people are nice - because I don't know, and I'm sure there are bad apples out there, but everyone I've interacted with in these first couple days has been really nice.

So I step of the airplane and get my Turkey Visa. This was the easiest thing ever - I walked up to a booth that had no one in line gave the guy $20USD and he stuck the sticker in my passport. No form or anything like that - it was great. The immigration line was long, but also a painless process. So I grab my bag, walk out, and see a Citibank ATM. Queue angels signing.

When I went to Italy after college, I landed with like $5USD in my wallet. This was stupid, but I figured it'll all work, and it did. This time I had a fair about of dollars, but no Lira. This made life easy and cheaper than using one of those changer people.

Taking the metro out of the airport to the city was easy and upoun getting out of the train, I am greated by a Turkish man giving me directions to my hostel. He was just out there and looked to be helping people find there hostel. I ran into a couple Americans on the walk because all of the hostels are next to each other. I'm saying at the Bahaus House.

Going to my room, I realized I had forgotten a pad lock, which I was able to buy at the front desk. This helped affirm my belief that if I had forgotten anything, I'd be able to buy it.

I dropped my bag off then was off to sight seeing. I went to the Blue Mosque, which is one of the most see tourist attractions. It was very impressive from the outside and cool inside as well. It's an active mosque so people were going in and out praying, which was cool to see.

Next I walked over to the Grand Bizhaar and saw a girl that was staying at the hostel. She's been traveling for about 5 months and told me some cool stories about the Trans-Siberian rail-road, making me a little disappointed about not being able to take it. We had a doner for dinner that came in at $2TL which is about a $1.30USD. It was alright. We had sought out the cheapest doner we could find, and the taste corresponded. After dinner, we went on a quest for beer. We saw a couple places that were a bit pricey ($6.50USD a beer) so explored further only to get really lost. Eventually we made it back to the hostel.

I went back to my room and discovered the hostel sold beer!!! And it was only $5TL. This is why I love hostels. So I sat next to two German girls and a guy from the Netherlands that were all very cool. We discussed many things, and of course, Obama came up, I had seen the ad on the right while on the train and wondered what it was for. They all supported Obama as he appears to have a lot of love abroad. Among the other topics was the difference between East and West German. Both of the girls that I was talking to were from East Germany and were 14 in 1989 when the wall came down. They explained how they felt different from the West and how some of those differences still persist today. These discussions is what I was looking for from this trip. A couple beers later I was fast asleep.

Conclusions of the day:

• (While on the plane) OMG - I'm so not ready for this. What have I gotten myself into?
• (When I see the Citibank ATM) This won't be so bad.
• (When I find the hostel) I can so do this.
  
• (When I have dinner with the Aussie that's been traveling for 5 months) This is going to be amazing.
  

Packing List

Things I think I'm bringing

• 75L Backpack

  • This bag is a little smaller than what I would have preferred, but it was cheap and will force me to pack lightly. So it's not terrible.

• Thomas Cook's timetable book

  • The fact that this book exists still amazes me. It has all the train schedules for non-European countries.

• Umbrella/Poncho

  • I think I'm going to SE Asia in the rainy season. These will be needed.

• Med kit

  • This is obviously important. If I get a cut, or get sick, or other random issue – this will be important.

• Pepto

  • This may be the single most important thing that I take with me. I've been on trips where I had the runs, and it is killer. Pepto has been my savior.

• Toilet paper

  • In the same breathe as the Pepto. This can be a savior, too.

• Plastic mug

  • Read on a blog this would be good to have. A little skeptical, but hey.

• Zip lock bags

  • Mainly to hold wet stuff and keep things divided.

• Packing squares

  • I'm very unorganized normally, so I saw these as a tool to try and correct that.

• Running shoes

  • I have this crazy vision of getting in shape while abroad. Plus running through a couple miles of a city or along the countryside will be an awesome way to get to know an area....hopefully it'll happen...

• Casual shoes

  • No special reason

• Sandals

  • Mainly to avoid the need for a lot of socks

• The Gadgets

  • My netbook (Eee PC 1000HA)

    • My netbook is one of the greatest purchases I've ever made. Through Skype and gChat, I'll be able to see my family and friends who I've already started missing before I've even left.

  • My Kindle

    • This is another great device. I just recently re-discovered the joys of reading. The Kindle will let me do that easily while abroad without having to worry about the weight of books.

  • Ipod touch

    • I love music. Like love music. So this one just makes sense. I had a really hard time deciding between the Touch and the Classic, but the games on the Touch let it win out. Plus I have a ton of music on my netbook so I can keep the music on my Touch varied.

• Clothes

  • This isn't completely decided, but I'm thinking 4 t-shirts, 2 long sleeves, 2 jeans, 2 shorts (one khaki, one knit) and a light jacket.

• Hair clippers

  • I hate having long hair, and I'm not sure how available hair cuts are going to be abroad. So I just want to be safe with this one.

Introduction

I have been working in consulting for the past two and a half years, but will stop working on March 22. I plan to attend the Graduate Business School at Stanford next fall to earn my MBA. The time in between I intend to spend traveling around through the Middle East, South East Asia, China, and Europe.

Why now:

The main reason I wan to take this trip is because I love traveling. I did a similar style trip through Italy in 2006 after graduating from the University of Maryland. It was one of the best experiences in my life, and I look forward to having many similar experiences on this trip. Secondly, I think this is one of the few opportunities I will have in my life to travel for this length of time. Once I'm out of business school, it will be unlikely that whatever job I have will let me leave for 5 months to travel. Even if I was between jobs, I assume/hope that eventually I'll find a woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with, and getting our schedules to match or potentially traveling with children will be impossible. So that leaves the present.

Why These Countries:

I wanted to travel to countries that I've never been to before. I have already been lucky enough to spend time in Ghana, study abroad for a semester in Japan, spend three weeks in Italy after graduating, and two weeks in France a few months ago. I've also visited Singapore, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. Except for potentially Singapore, I wanted to experience new places and cultures.

I first got the idea to travel to Egypt when I took an Arabic class. From there, I began thinking about traveling all around the Middle East. I soon got more ambitious and wanted to plan a longer trip where I'd travel to other countries I have always wanted to visit. My options at first were Africa, Pakistan and India, or Southeast Asia. There are too many disease concerns and war-torn areas in Africa to make it a very viable option, and I learned quickly that to travel through the Pakistan/India region, including Iran, there were going to be multiple visa issues (especially after visiting Israel). Southeast Asia made the most sense. I found out that to visit Myanmar, I would have to fly in and fly out of the country. Cost is obviously a factor for this trip, and I want to choose cheaper transportation when available. To avoid two extra flights, I decided to enter Southeast Asia through Bangkok.

I've been interested in seeing China for a long time. First, China is the most populous country in the world, and its economy is still growing. China is similar to the United States in that different regions have their own unique identities and cultures. It would be really interesting to see how each region is different from the next. I wanted to but was unable to go visit Hong Kong while I was in Japan, so I definitely plan on checking it out. After a month in China, I'll fly out of Hong Kong to London.

One of the few good things with the economy right now is that travel has gotten much cheaper. I will be able to see more of Europe than I already have. I really enjoy museums and other cultural things, so I can definitely see and do a lot of that while I'm there. I will then fly to Morocco, where I have a friend I will stay with while I travel to the major cities there. After five months, I think I will be ready to travel home and get ready to start my Stanford MBA program.