I've start a blog, that means it's official, right?

So I've decided to go to Asia for a couple of months. I'm really excited. I will feel so unbelievably dumb when I get off that plane. Oh man, I can't wait.

This is what I've got planned so far.

Oct. 26 - leave NYC
Oct. 27 - arrive in Hong Kong, say what's up to Danny, "I'm going home, I hate it here. Oh wait, I just made a friend named Bono, fine I'll stay" Tenebaum
Oct. 28 - go with him to a town outside of Seoul, South Korea to visit Brian "Someone should really tell them to stop playing into the Asian stereotypes so much" Jenks (said about the use of "Happy Happy, Fun Fun!!!" everywhere)

Oct. 31 - say peace out to the boys, go to Seoul, then travel around Korea
Soon after that - go to Japan.

Exciting stuff here. I'm going to be WWOOFing. It stands for Willing Worker On Organic Farms. The link has some example host posts so you can see the stuff I'll be able to do. Pretty much it started with hippies on organic farms needing the help and travelers pitching in and getting room and board in exchange. In Japan in the winter there are still a ton of things to do. There are healing centers, food classes, natural health clinics, all that hippie shit! I love it. Some schools have positions open where you hang out with kids. For 4 hours a day? No problem! So I just got my membership and I've been spending time checking out cool sites to talk to.

After that - go back to Hong Kong.
After that - go to Thailand
Dec. 5 - clean up elephant shit for 2 weeks!

Ok, Part II of the trip is a 2 week elephant conservation volunteer program at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I don't know anything about elephants except that they're pretty big and they smell bad. But I think elephants are one of the raddest animals out there and I'll definitely learn a ton (ha ha, ton, like elephants, cause they're big).

My mom was cool with everything until she read this...
"Health Care: You will be visiting area's where, although rare, there have been isolated reported cases of malaria. Be prepared. Good quality, inexpensive medicinal drugs can be easily purchased in Thailand."

Aw mom. I promised her I wouldn't get malaria and die. So she's alright with it now. I pinky-sweared. I was serious.

Dec. 18 - stop smelling like elephants and check out the rest of Thailand.

After that - things get tricky...

Possibility....
#1a - Dec. 21st - Mr. Tenebaum gets done with classes, meets me down in Bangkok, we travel around S.E. Asia till he goes home to the States for that thing people call... college? Check out Laos with their little boy carrying AK-47 checkpoints.
#1b - Ms. Alki "I submitted an abstract to a conference in Hawaii and I'll come to Asia if it gets accepted" Delichatsios joins me for a bit before going to Hawaii. We get cheap Malay massages on beaches and swim with huge green sea turtles.
#1c - Mr. Jenks wants to hang out in South East Asia after his New Years celebration, Seoul style.
#2 - I go back up to Japan and do some more hippie stuff
#3 - I go back up to Hong Kong and then go to China and check out that big wall they've got.
#4 - I'm totally sick of Asia and/or Erica gets really close to having a baby and I go home.

So that's that.

Right now I am...

1) waiting to hear from Alki about her fate as my travel buddy.
2) trying to figure out a phone situation. If you think you know about SIM cards and 850/900/1800/1900mHz frequencies, let me know!
3) figuring out if I have enough money to do all of this
4) working out so I'll look super hot on those Thai beaches! In December! Woo hoo!
5) trying to decide what to do in each place. If you have ideas or suggestions, let me know!

And if you're thinking, wait, Beth, weren't you going to go to NZ for a year? What happened to that? Why are you going to Asia for three months?
Here's your answer...

1) Yeah, I was planning on going to New Zealand for with a one-year work visa and I was totally content with that. I already have the visa ready.
2) However, my sister got pregnant and is going to be having a baby in February and I really want to come home for that.
3) Danny is studying in Hong Kong. Woah, never been there. He'll be there until December.
4) Brian is teaching English in South Korea. Woah, never been there either. He'll be there until next August.

So I had to figure out a way to see Danny and Brian and get home for the baby and go back and I didn't want to spend a bazillion hours on a plane. And while looking at prices I saw the All Asia Pass by Cathay Pacific and you pay a flat fee for roundtrip airfare NYC - Hong Kong and then you can add up to 18 Asian cities to the pass at no additional charge. So then my imagination starting going nuts. And now I'm going to Asia for three months. Wish me luck.