4 Days

By Nithin Coca

Sitting here in the rain/snow/cold, the reality is starting to sink in. I'm leaving in four days for a trip around the world.

Last night, we conducted the first day of filming for our future documentary. Pre-Interviews, about our predictions for the trip. We thought that it would be really interesting to see how our predictions correlalate with what actually happens during the trip. But we also added a twist - we had a mutual friend, Todd (Ryan) Rochford, conduct the interviews in private. And then we sealed them.

So we will not know what each other predicted until after we come back. This allowed everything (except drunk Mike) to be honest because we knew no one would see these for a year, and that Todd would be true (or just forget everything). I can't tell you my predictions, i'm actually also writing extensive pre-trip predictions for my possible book project.

My backpack is packed, I have almost everything I need for the trip, minus a jacket and dehydration salts. I've booked some hostels for my 3 weeks solo voyage. My brother is making us reservations to get into the best places in Italy. Everything is set, and in three days, I will stop posting here on the pre-trip portion and move onto Portion #1, where I will dominate the posts until Ryan and Aaron come over in April. Also, from looking at the lack of posts from my fellow travelers, this section will become desolate.

So come on over to Portion 1, as the real journal's finally begin!

16 days - Update

Only 16 days till I leave!

Quick update. I've moved back to Kansas City and have been spending the last week and a half getting logistics prepared. It's been a pretty eventful time, and I've gotton the following accomplished.

1. Renewed my drivers license.
2. Got an international drivers license.
3. Got my ISIC card.
4. Bought a silk sleeping sheet and a money wallet.
5. Organized all my crap from Washington DC.
6. Closed my bank account.
7. Applied for a Capitol One Credit Card (which has the best international exchange rates!)
8. Opened a new checking account that refunds my foreign ATM fee's.
9. Ordered a backpack!

My backpack is the most exciting thing I've done, without a doubt. I went with the Eagle Creek TransContinental Explorer, a 2005 version. Here is a picture.

I choose this backpack for a few reasons. The reasonable size appealed to me (5200 cubic inches), as well the larger than average daypack, which I think will be very useful. Eagle Creek got a lot of great reviews from other backpackers, and from the many stores that I went to. Oh yeah, and the price was great - less than $110 shipped because it was on clearance (regular price $200, and the price in a local store here in Kansas)

I was debating between this pack and the Kelty RedCloud 5600. Aaron got a Kelty RedCloud 6600, a humongous pack. We will see who made the better choice.

Soon, I will start up a travel gear review section and submit reviews for all the travel gear that we have puchased thus far. But first, we need to get out abroad and use some of the gear! Only then will we know how good it is. I still gotta a lot of stuff to buy and do before leaving - but, in 16 days, I will become the first tripper to move our of the phase system (I am currently on phase 7 - immunizations) and into the portion system.

Yeah! Nithin.

Phase ??? Completed

After a few hours of researching flights, hostels, bus routes, subway tickets and more Ryan Brandle and I have finally entered stage ???. What is this mysterious stage you ask.... Well I really have no idea. I figure I'll just wait until Nithin or Mr. Ryan takes the effort to find that kind of thing out. In the mean time, I'll just throw down a quick explanation of what the last few hours of planning have accomplished. As you might know, Ryan Brandle and I are not leaving at the same time as the other cool cats. In fact, we are actually the last of the bunch to exit the Americas. Because of this, we have been a little more relaxed, and as of earlier in the day we had not purchased any flights except the one to Ireland. However, this has now all changed. Here is the story...

The original plan for Sir Brandle and me was to stay in Dublin for a few days and then shoot over to Malaga (Spain) to meet up with the boys. However, the flight from Dublin to Spain in early June jumps up to about 80 euro, which ends up being a bit more costly than a budget traveler would like to spend. So, for the last few months we decided wait for the flight to go on sale. Unfortunately for us, this never happened. However, I decided to consider a kind of crazy idea of getting into Spain through another country. To make a boring and long story short it ends up that if we fly from Dublin to London and then from London to Spain we save about $45.00 USD. Thus after looking at multiple options of what to do in Dublin and London this is the official original itinerary that we came up with.

Ryan and Mikes Itinerary

May 31st ----- Fly from Chicago to Dublin, Ireland
June 1st ------- Land in Dublin at 8:30 am: check into hostel and recover/whatever
June 2nd ------ Dublin: tour Dublin/whatever
June 3rd ------ Bus to Cork, Ireland: stay with Ryan’s Friend
June 4th ------ Cork: continued adventure in Cork
June 5th ------ early bus back to Dublin catch a flight from Dublin to London around 1:00 pm. Land in London around 3:00 and wait around until 6:00pm for out flight to Granada, Spain. Arrive in Granada around 10:00 pm and find a place to stay.

As you can see, the plans changed a bit and now we are flying into Granada instead of Malaga. No biggie, Granada is supposed to be a happening place anyway. That’s all I have for now because “I’m not a talker”

How To? Part 2: The Different Schools of Planning

This is part 2 of my five part How To? series. In this article I will go into more depth about the initial planning process. Ideally, you should try to do initial planning anywhere from 6 months to one year before you planned date of departure.

There are three main schools of though when it comes to planning a long term trip. The first school, which comprises the majority of people, is the “I hate planning” school. These are the types of people I talked about earlier, who love to talk about the fantasies and fun or traveling, but are turned off by the amount of effort that must go into planning. Even minimal planning, which can lead to a fantastic voyage, are too much for these people. Either they won't go on a trip at all, or will do the “lets just go and see” voyages, which are a bit too risky for my part.

The second school is the “I'm too scared to leave anything to chance,” the other extreme. While rare, these individuals will plan every detail of the trip, from where you're going to exactly which cafes in Rome you will be frequenting for breakfast every single day. At their extreme, these individuals can take the joy out of traveling. Often, the “scared” types will opt for packaged tours which take care of all the details.

True veteran travelers belong to the third school, the “planning is half the fun,” school. We (yes, I'm a card carrying member) love to research travel destinations, read books about the history of places, learn the language before we go, and more. Some in this school no no greater joy than finding the cheapest airfare or best hostel deal – even if it takes hours of research. Yet we like to leave a lot open – information is the main planning goal, not setting a strict itinerary. “How can we do?”, rather than what are we doing?” is our motto.

All three schools have their benefits and faults. If you naturally have a hard time leaving too much to chance, then maybe a packaged tour is right for you. Some of the best travelers I know fall into the first school; they never plan, nor do they research, yet they always have a fantastic time and learn the tools of the trade while abroad, not at home. They look at us “planning” folk as strange folk, because they believe that you can never research traveling, so why even try?

Since I am in the 3rd school, and find that learning and reading about not only destinations, but also hostels, hotels, and airlines, can be nearly as much fun as the actual trip, I believe that adequate, but not obsessive, planning can only make a trip more enjoyable. You can never (nor should you try) to plan for every contingency that occurs during your trip. When I was in Southern India in December of 2006, I carried a Lonely Planet Guide with me, and made a point to check out the historic attractions of the region. Nothing I read prepared me for what happened on December 26th, when the Tsunami slammed into the coastline only miles away from where I was. The devastation completely changed my plan, historic and cultural sights seemed insignificant compared to sheer loss of life and livelihood that had occurred. The next few days were spent reassuring my friends and family that I was alright, and aiding as best as I could not knowing the local language, the aid efforts.

There is not best way to plan. Success rates vary within all 3 schools, but the real determinant is will. If you have the will and drive to take a tour, no matter how you go about planning, in due time, you will be enjoying the experience of a lifetime.