Here We Go

So what's a girl to do after she's quit her 9-5 job and let her lease expire? Travel Southeast Asia for six months, of course. Wait, what?

This is actually the backup plan. Before I left for my last trip, I was planning to pack up and move to Colorado upon my return. But when I followed up my realtor and she told me she was telling all her clients to offer over asking price and the houses were selling in a day or less, I decided I could stand to wait a little longer before being anchored to such a substantial purchase for which I was likely overpaying and would lose money on in the long run. Makes more sense to travel without a mortgage and bunch of bills that you still have to pay back home. 

So why Asia? Seems totally random, right? Well it's been on the back burner in my brain for a while and each time I hear of friends returning from short term trips to the area, I mentally move a little closer to a journey of my own. So I started researching and after filtering through all the advice from European gap year kids giving advice on full moon parties and 'shroom shakes, I finally found more that piqued my interest. 

The general plan is to start in June and go through Cairns, Australia then to Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam and get home just in time for Christmas. Along the way there will be some voluntouring, some personal reflection, creative inspiration, lots of yoga and endless vegetarian food. And no, I've never read the book Eat, Pray, Love nor seen the movie so it had no influence over my itinerary. Although now I'm curious after friends have cited the similarities so I'll probably end up reading now it before I go. 

Well there goes my life savings right? Actually, I did the math and I can travel Asia cheaper than it costs me to live on a daily basis in the states. 

So another travel blog. How's this one different? Well, most solo travel blogs I've found online are dudes so I'm in the minority on that one. Also, I've found several of them to be pretty hedonistic. "Look at how awesome I am and how awesome this place is and don't you wish you were this awesome?" Which is fine; extended travel is an awesome thing that very few people get to experience and you're supporting foreign economies either way. I just want to give a little bit back along the way and am hoping to get a more authentic, immersive experience.

I'm also focusing on traveling as sustainably as possible and avoid the typical trail of trash in my wake. For example, just the amount of plastic wasted alone during the two trans-Pacific flights of my last trip drove me nuts so I'm bringing re-usable bamboo utensils and a collapsible silicone cup with me this time. 

The only thing I've 100% confirmed is my month of yoga training in Mysore, India, which I discussed in a previous post but I'm planning a few other things and some things I will figure out as I go along. Stay tuned!