"Experience is the one thing you can't get for nothing." - Oscar Wilde

(Yeah...tell that to my brokerage account...)

Anyway...it's snowing here. Blech. I hoped to miss it, but it beat my departure by a few days.

But I guess even snow and 40 m.p.h. winds have their pros - I spent most of the day in bed, under my electric blanket, alternating between sleep and reading a book of Tundra comic strips. When I finally got up, I went to the couch, crawled under a blanket, and booted up my computer. The rest of the day has been spent looking at travel websites (see sidebar for some of my favorites) and drinking tea/eating warm cranberry orange bread.

I did venture outside for a foray to one of the public libraries nearby, but I was only outside about 15 minutes total (walking to and from car) and I got books on warm locations (Mexico and Central America) so it almost deferred the frostbite.

So, yeah, spent the entire day planning first leg of my on-my-own trip. I'm not so worried about South Korea - Beth's been there for a few months and I'm most interested into bumming around with her anyway, so I'm not looking into the tourist sites too much. Besides, there's almost nothing in the library for that country, so I'll just have to trust Beth.

But Mexico and Central America...that's a different ballgame. I'm thinking Mexico's gonna take about a month; but following Ronald and Alex (through stories, blogs, and emails), I'm already resigned to the fact that it'll probably take longer. However, to have the best intentions trampled, one must first have intentions. Here're mine:


Fly to Austin, TX; Take Greyhound from Austin to Mexico City (this gives me a chance to see the part of the countryside I don't really feel a need to see close-up); A few days in Mexico City, including side trips to Teotihuacan and Taxco; On to Guadalajara, with a side trip to Tequila (woot); Puerto Vallarta would be next, hopefully including certification in scuba diving (double woot); Then Acapulco...why? I don't know; Oaxaca follows, because they have good chocolate and I'll need it by then...plus an awesome cooking school; I'll go up towards the Yucatan Penninsula at this point - Saint Christobal de las Casas and Merida are the towns of interest - no Cozumel or Cancun for me, thanks very much.

And then on to Central America.

(You're right, I have nothing more interesting to contribute to your reading than simple plans...my life is sleeping, reading comic books, and planning my trip for crying out loud!)

Anyway, that's about all the planning I'm putting into my Mexico leg. Some people will read this and think "that's it?!?!" And other people will look at it and say "dude, that's waaaaaay too planned." To both parties, a pox on you. This is what keeps me sane as I go through vaccines and getting my passport and yadda yadda yadda.

I need a bathing suit.

Lace