Two Sunrises Over the Pacific

Upon arrival to the international terminal in the San Francisco airport late Monday night, Ruben and I met Elliott and Christa standing in an incredibly long line for ticketing check-in. Thankfully, we were there about four hours early (enough time for a two rounds of beers and a few hands of Hearts). After the patented group picture with all of our gear on, Elliott and Ruben made their way to a much shorter line for the passengers on the 1am flight to Taipei, Taiwan. Meanwhile, Christa and I continued to wait in our (much) longer line.

Whether it was the wait, our anticipation to spend time abroad, or being Veterans who have been on ridiculously long flights without any sense of luxury, we decided to purchase the upgrade from coach to elite class. With an upgraded ticket in hand (and a few less US$ in our summer budget), we were bound to Taipei on a 13-hour flight.

After we had a few last-minute beers, we saw Ruben and Elliott off and made our way to our terminal. There were a few Wall Street Journal-Asia inside the gate, so we both read up on the latest coverage of the protests in Thailand. Good news or bad, there was no turning back! We quickly found ourselves with glasses of wine, toasting to "jumping the pond" and upgraded seats!

. . .

Fast forward a few hours: I now sit in our room at the hostel outside Bangkok nearly 24 hours after starting this post, so I am going to upload some pictures of our time in transit: before the flight and of our enjoyable layover in Taipei, Taiwan.

NEXT POST: Arrival into Bangkok, cab ride to our hostel, and exploring the city!

Pre-Departure Briefing.

I didn't plan on posting anything until I found something more relevant to say about my upcoming travels, but I desperately needed a break from packing, sorting, and moving out of Berkeley. (Lucky for me, I have some great friends who are able to watch over my Subaru, Vespa, and some randomly-boxed-up-keepsake-crap. Thank You!)

So, for those of you getting the news about my travels abroad this summer for the first time, let me give you a quick pre-departure briefing about my plans. Despite hot weather, loads of rain, and the current political unrest, I leave for Bangkok, Thailand in less than 48 hours for a six week study-abroad program at Thammasat University in Bangkok. Thankfully, I am not traveling alone, so allow me to introduce Ruben, Elliott, and Christa--my travel companions! Ruben, Elliott, and I will attend classes together in Bangkok, but we all leave together about a month before our classes start for some relaxing days on the beaches of Thailand, a trip north to visit my cousin, and a two week adventure to Vietnam and Singapore.

After our arrival, Christa and I hop on a plane to visit my cousin Rachel and her husband Nate living in Chiang Rai, Thailand for a few days. Christa is accompanying me because she plans to conduct research for her senior honors thesis at UC Berkeley on a topic related to Rachel's work in Chiang Rai. After about 10 days there, we fly back to meet Ruben and Elliott in Bangkok.

Then, Ruben, Elliott, and I fly to Hanoi, Vietnam, and we plan to visit Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, and Nha Trang as we utilize our wits (and an incredibly slow train) to end up in Ho Chi Minh City. After this two week adventure from north to south Vietnam, we hop on another plane bound for Singapore to meet Christa and her boyfriend (Eric, who is flying to meet her when we leave her in Bangkok).

After a few days with our entire group in Singapore, Christa and Eric will leave for San Francisco and Ruben, Elliott, and I fly back to Bangkok for our six week program. We're looking forward to an incredible time in every country and during each leg of our trip. As well, we'll have a few surprises to send through The Dandygram.

While I am abroad (May 18 - August 2), I'll be using The Dandygram as the primary means to stay in contact with friends, family, Facebookers, and anyone else interested in following my trip. So please feel free to share this blog! With a new camera, I will frequently share stories on The Dandygram using posts loaded with pictures, videos, and stories of my adventure. I remain ambitious in saying that I will post something everyday, but if it is not possible (because of limited wireless internet), I will have a notebook to capture the not-to-be-forgotten stories!

With just hours left (33 to be exact) until my departure, I must get back to the inevitable last minute packing, laundry, and therefore limit my distractions to being with the friends I won't have a chance to see for quite some time. Oh, and I still need to call my MOM!