Welcome dear friends and family to my travel log/t-blog, Around the World in 150 Days or so. I'm not sure that my trip will take me around the world, let alone in 150 days or so, but I'm sticking with the title.
I will try to post regularly here with pictures and words from my journey. Please check in once in a while and feel free to comment.
I am scheduled to leave on February 2, 2011 from the Port of Oakland on a freighter ship, the "Hanjin Pretoria". Here are some details on the boat:
I will spend fourteen days crossing the ocean, losing a day in the process and therefore arriving in Hong Kong on or about February 17, 2011. I will not be able to contact anyone during that time. I expect to do a lot of reading, writing and staring at the ocean in my time at sea, so please feel free to offer any literary advice. From there I hope to travel overland to the Vietnam-China border and then head south down the Vietnamese coast. I will be meeting Lauren (my sister) in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia in early March and we expect to travel together in Cambodia and up to Laos, largely following the Mekong River.
I am sketchy on details right now, as I have intentionally been trying to keep myself open to go wherever the spirit takes me, but I would like to spend some time in the Yunnan province of China. If I feel up to the task, I will shoot up to Beijing and take the Trans-Mongolian/Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow and on to Europe, where I can hopefully find a boat to cross the Atlantic. Either way, I will be in Flagstaff, AZ by June 18, 2011 (see you there FFFers!).
Please keep in touch. You can comment on this blog or email me at brett.allin@gmail.com. Hold down the fort while I'm out.
Don't leave your Uncle T-Blog hanging.
ReplyDeleteBrett, I love you. This trip sounds wonderful, I especially think the contactless time on the freighter will be good. I cannot wait to see you in June, buy me a sweet present on your adventures.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I am really jealous.
ReplyDeleteAlso, note that the freighter is flying a Liberian flag. That means it can get away with absurd amounts of pollution that, had the ship flown almost any other country's flag, would violate standards.
I hope you write a book about this adventure. I can't wait to read your blog entries. Ya te hecho de menos, Bretito.
ReplyDeleteThanks friends. And Robbie, "Liberia" means freedom, including the freedom to dump contaminates. Nonetheless, point well taken. I'll let you know if I see any obvious crimes against nature.
ReplyDeleteLovin it. Infinite Jest (abt 200 pages in) or 2666 (on deck) should give you enough to chew, though I can't give you the perspective of one who has finished either (yet!). This fall I loved Blindness, by Saramago. Otherwise I've been reading a lot of classics--can't go wrong with Marquez or Steinbeck. East of Eden is an epic the way an epic should be.
ReplyDeleteS.A... that's you Pete, ain't it? Well thank you kindly for the suggestions. Are you still in the Bay Area? This is my last week of work, so if you want to meet up before 2/4 (apparently that's when I'm leaving now), I would love to get a drink with you and Chris. I'm at (nine-two-five) 216 96 19.
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