I have finally told my family, well my Dad in particular that I am going to SEA for a month. He didn’t seem too upset but always the same question…”why?”. Why am I going? Well, I don’t really know other than…why not?

When I found out that my friend Kim was traveling to SEA to do some kite-boarding http://kmpossible.travellerspoint.com/8/ I was extremely jealous! I have always wanted to travel out of the US and have never felt that I could afford it.

Hearing her planning was all I needed to push me to save the money and ‘just do it’ as Nike says. So, I have set the plan to leave the 23rd of October and return on/around the 24th of November. My current itinerary follows but is certainly subject to change:

Oct 24-Nov 1 Arrive in Saigon and head to Mui Ne Beach with Kim to watch some Kite-boarding (I don’t kite so I’ll be lounging on the beach trying to keep from getting too sunburnt!

Nov 2 – Nov 8 Possible Hilltribe trek out of Bangkok, Thailand

(This is subject to change due to several reasons

1. I don’t know if I am in good enough shape to hike four days straight for 4-5 hours/day in Thailand’s heat/humidity.
2. Availability
3. I might find something better to do….

Nov 9-24th Make my way back to Saigon. I have considered taking the overland route through Cambodia, but there is also the possibility of flying to Hanoi and traveling overland through Vietnam back to Saigon?

So, as you can see the plan is pretty loose and I really don’t know what the hell I am planning other than the fact that I am going!

If you have any thoughts/suggestions to the itinerary, please feel free to comment!!

My ticket is purchased to/from HoChiMin City. After months of searching web-sites for the best deal, I found a great price with Asiana Airlines. I am completly stoked about this trip. I have been trying to work out the details of the route with all the places I want to see, I should have planned for an extra 4 weeks! Just don’t know how I am going to fit everything into a mere 4 weeks…

I am going to try to post a few entries to this blog between now and leaving simply for the purpose of learning the site and getting used to posting pics, etc. Please bear with me, I am sure that the next couple of entries aren’t going to be greatly enjoyable to read but a necessity (for me) in order to feel prepared to blog on the road!

The Wrong Line

Anyone that has ever gone to the grocery, McDonalds, Library, or anywhere that you have to stand in a line will know that I ALWAYS pick the wrong line…..without fail. Today was no different!

I arrived at SEA airport with way too much time on my hands. Something about feeling like I always need to be early put me at the airport at the crack of dawn today. I enjoyed a nice Starbucks breakfast of oatmeal (yummy) and have now consumed two venti cups of coffee. During breakfast I chatted with a young man curious about my Eee PC.

Arriving at my gate, there was a long line at the desk and a pretty full seating area. I stepped into the line to ask if they were looking for volunteers to take a later flight. I finally got to the desk shortly after an announcement asking for volunteers! Yeah….my lucky day. I have tried this on numerous occasions and have never actually gotten ‘bumped’. Since I dont have anywhere that I have to be by any certain time (except to Mom’s for dinner), I figured that today was the day.

Arriving at the counter, I got the most inexperienced attendant that I ever could have gotten She got me ‘off-loaded’ from my flight and was having all sorts of trouble getting me booked onto the next flight. The other attendant at the counter checked through THREE people and I am still standing there waiting for this lady to get me onto a flight. I really didn’t care WHICH flight at this time….just book me on a flight before they are ALL sold out! I am thinking the whole time that although I dont mind taking a later flight, I certainly dont want to spend ALL DAY at the airport…

So, I am finally sitting at my new gate….waiting to board with a FREE ROUNDTRIP ticket in my hot little hands!!!! YEAH….

Maybe I will get lucky on my flight home too….

General observations:

A mom with TOO many kids (there are four of them, all boys. They have sat quietly the whole time I have been typing)
One other person on laptop
2 People eating
3 on cell phone
4 reading the paper
5 staring at nothing in particular
8 staring at the idiot box (that would be the TV)

Flight is getting ready to board and I need to go to the bathroom….update you soon.

Ok, so I know that this is lame! In my defense, I LOVE my coffee…. I am packing my truck for storage today and my Cuisinart is one of the last few items that hasn’t yet made it into a box, tote or bag. I feel like I should write an ‘ode to the coffee maker or something. I am really going to miss my fresh ground coffee for the next 4 Days, 8 Hours, 17 min….. Yes, that’s when the flight from Seattle to Saigon (HCMC) leaves.

Time has crept up on me and although I am physically ready to go, I am still not sure that I am mentally prepared for the trip ahead of me. I am not sure what I expect out of this trip other than to open my eyes to how our lives here in the US are so very different from those in Vietnam. I have read other people’s blogs during nearly every free moment that I have found over the past several months while planning this trip and I am no closer now to knowing what I want to see, do, experience than I was at the very start. People keep asking me ‘why’, and ‘where’ and I really still don’t know the answer to those questions. I am hoping that I’ll find the answers as my trip progresses. It is quite possible that I will discover the answers after I have returned.

Sleep seems to be evading me lately, tossing and turning when I should be sleeping. My mind constantly going over the ‘to do’ list that keeps dwindling day by day. Then the constant questions like, ‘did I pack the right things’ or ‘will Aco (my dog) be ok’ and the ever pressing ‘will I be ok’ .