Sailing Away (metaphorically)

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

I came across this probably very over-utilized and cliched quote on my most recent journey, namely the one that took place at my desk, scouring the internet for all useful advice about backpacking, traveling alone, what to pack, where to go, what to do, how to not get robbed, what medical insurance to buy etc etc etc. And, despite the aforementioned chagrin with which I use it here, I really do think that it nicely captures my attitude. I am sailing away from safe harbor (as my poor mother is painfully aware), but while nervous at times, I'm also immensely excited for the adventures that this next year will bring.

Let me backtrack. For those who do not know, I was the very lucky recipient of one of Harvard's Traveling fellowships. My fellowship was actually awarded to me on the basis of a hypothetical project in Madagascar which then became infeasible when the country suffered significant political turmoil this past year. Eventually I relocated my project keeping my principles of doing work combining health and the environment to Indonesia to work with an organization called Health in Harmony. I'm very excited and hopeful that the work I do there will be beneficial for both me and the organization.

Before I start working at HIH in January however, I will be attempting to learn Bahasa Indonesia for the month of December at a language school in Yogyakarta. And before I begin my tutelage, I will backpacking around Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos with my good friend LG (yay!). We're going to try and cover a lot of ground in just under a month, so it should be a whirlwind trip of epic-proportions. Stay tuned.

To backtrack just one more step, before I meet up with Laura in Bangkok, I'm going to be spending a few days in Hong Kong staying with the very generous brother of a friend. I hope to thus combine getting over jet-lag, breaking up my journey (a little), and seeing Hong Kong into a solid 3 day mini adventure.

After ages to prepare and a solid week of buying lots of things at various stores and returning lots of things to various stores, I'm finally reaching a state of readiness (although I doubt I'll ever be completely prepared). This is good because I leave on Monday.

Till Hong Kong....