Plans firm up

Okay, so some stuff has fallen into place lately:

First, North Korea is pretty much out. The financial requirements are really, really steep, and they need all that money up front. For the cost of less than a week in NK, I could easily live for a couple months in India or Thailand. Seven incredible days < a month of cooking lessons I'll profit from the rest of my life. Also I don't trust my own government not to do something stupid while I'm over there, but I think I would risk it if it wasn't for the cost. Can't go everywhere this time.

Second: Dates are now firm: I leave Boston on July 7, spend a week in Chicago, then leave there on the 13th for San Francisco, and after a couple days with Rog, Jennifer, Will and Ted out there, leave for the East in the wee hours of Sunday the 16th. I'll meet up with Amy in Bangkok, who will arrive about a day before me. Which leads me to...

Third: Sadly, Amy will NOT be traveling with me beyond the first month. I'm happy for her that her job situation in Boston resolved to her satisfaction, but I'm disappointed for myself. I had images of us enjoying monsoon season in India together, curled up under the awnings of an internet cafe with Iron Dragon to keep us company. We'll still get some of that in Thailand, just not as much as I hoped. This means come mid-August, I'll be on my own- which is fine, too. From what I read, finding traveling companions is super easy on the hostel circuit, and being self-directed definitely has an appeal.

Fourth: In a surprising turn of events, I'll be bringing my cell phone with me. Turns out the model I bought works just about everywhere I'm going, at least in major metropolitan areas. So whereas I don't encourage folks to call me randomly while I'm abroad (I'll have it turned off most of the time anyway) it will be available as a means of communication in the event of an emergency. I'll confess that on some level this is a disappointment to me- I was kind of looking forward to being out of touch in most respects, but of course, that's why it comes with an off switch.

My job ends this week. I have many, many emotions about that but I won't go into them at length for fear of this becoming one of THOSE blogs. I will say this: I'll miss working with Mark and Tom. It's been a great six and a half years and I loved it while it lasted. Right now the next two weeks are going to be frantic and filled with a zillion small but necessary tasks, not the least of which is... moving.