My route back to North America – after my recent change of plans – has been a long one. First, upon leaving Thailand, I had to make a stop in Bali and after a few interesting days there, I had to fly to Singapore. The reason for all of this bouncing around had nothing to do with some absurd flight route that was offered by some budget airline for some bargain basement fare. I actually needed to stop in Bali and Singapore before returning home.
So, after having spent the past week in Singapore, I am supposed to fly out tomorrow morning. My ticket is for a series of flights that will eventually land me in Cancun, Mexico, where I plan to spend a few days back in Playa del Carmen before finally returning to Florida.
However, it appears as if my journey back to North America is not going to be so easy as I just received an email notification that the first leg of my flight – Singapore to Tokyo – has been delayed. Not only has it been delayed but I will now almost certainly miss my connecting flight to Houston as a result. And not only will I miss my flight to Houston, but the only other available flight out of Tokyo tomorrow (on United or Continental) is a flight to Honolulu, from where there are no other available flights to the mainland for at least 36 hours.
So the point is, you may not hear from me for a long, long time. Or, I might become Hawaii’s newest resident and invite you all to a housewarming party next weekend.
Anyway, I must say that I found it quite interesting that as soon as I learned that my flight plans had begun to unravel, the first thought that entered my head was “I should write a post about this.” And then, as I began to write this post, starting off with a detailed account of my recent whereabouts, something else quite interesting occurred to me.
I spend much of my time writing about the places I’ve been, the places I currently am and the places I plan to be in the future, but I have no idea where most of you are right now. What kind of relationship is this?
Of course, many of you have your own blogs and so I do know the whereabouts of quite a few of you, however, I’d love to know where all of you are. I just think it’s time we get to know each other better.
I’m well aware that trying to keep track of everyone’s location on planet Earth is a near impossible task, especially considering that I can barely keep track of my own location (I inexplicably informed a friend last week that I was in Brunei instead of Bali), but I want to give it a try. I do believe that at least knowing this tiny bit of information will help strengthen our relationship. Don’t you?
So, to all of my readers, all of you whom I appreciate even more than my favorite Indian curries…let’s get it on.
Where are you in the world? Be as specific or vague as you wish…country, city, continent ….planet.
And keep an eye out for that invitation! I’m thinking the white sands of Hanauma Bay on Oahu would be a good place to get the party started.
Back in 1999, I left home for a 3 month trip to Asia that has still yet to end.
AAAHH!!!! You’re in Playa now!? I guess it’ll be quite a while until I get to meet you in person…
I’m currently in Monterrey, but in July I will be headed for Tasmania! I hope to get a lot of travel done over there.
How easy is it to get around Australia? and maybe the rest of Oceania?
Hey Lalo – Australia is a bit expensive to travel around but sometimes you can find good deals on flights or you can find others who want to drive somewhere and split the costs. Buses exist as well but are not terribly cheap and the distances are very big between many places. I would look at flights and hope you can find a few great deals that will allow you to cover a bit of ground.
Hi Earl!
Your posts are great and they have been more than helpful in answering the questions I had. I’ve always dreamed of travelling the world, hiking through nature a lot and experiencing as many things as I can, and now it seems it is easier than I thought.
I’m Sebastian, from Romania;
I just found your blog and I’ve read about half of it over the week-end… I reckon I’ll read all of it this week.
I’m currently studying for a BA in Physics and then I was thinking of getting an MA in Earth Sciences and Oceanography, mostly because it seemed like an interesting field that could involve a lot of travel. Do you know if there are jobs in this field available or if those degrees would increase my chances of getting a decent job on a cruise ship? Have you had any worthwhile jobs on other ships besides cruise liners?
Thanks a lot and smooth travelling!
Hey Sebastian – Welcome to the site! What I normally say is that you should study something that you truly love because at the end of the day, you can turn almost any knowledge and skill set into a job overseas. I know of one person who studied Oceanography and Deep Sea Environments and has been offered jobs in the Caribbean… the point being that once you have your degree, you just need to network with other people until you find the perfect position somewhere out there in the world. As for cruise ships, that degree won’t help directly as cruise ships are more service oriented but there are also plenty of research ships out there in the world that I imagine need people with that kind of knowledge.
The point is…there are plenty of opportunities for those who are willing to put in a little effort to find them!
Well, 2 years ago your travel plans were changing and you asked where your readers were. Not sure if you’re still interested, but my sweet hubby and I have just finished up 5 months of cruising Mexico’s southern Pacific coast on our sailboat. We have been traveling full-time by RV and sailboat for almost six years, and we are now at a crossroads. We may return to our RV for the summer months and visit the western US states, all of which we love. Or we may stay aboard our boat here in Puerto Vallarta for the summer and then do some inland travel in Mexico when it gets excruciatingly hot in July — to Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Puebla, San Miguel de Allende and Taxco. Not sure at this point, but wherever we go we’ll be posting pretty pics and fun stories on our blog, for sure!!
Hey Emily – I’m always interested! And congrats on your 5 months of sailing, must have been unreal
Keep us updated as to what you do decide in the end!
Melbourne, Australia. So jealous of your travels!
Hello Earl!
I’m Mimi and I’m from a small town in the suburbs of Chicago, where I currently am and have been for virtually my whole life. Of course, considering I’m fourteen, that’s not exactly a huge shocker, but hopefully I’ll get opportunities to travel when I get a few more years under my belt. I’m quite a fan of your blog, by the way. Lots of great information and potential destinations. How is Romania?