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JFK Airport, 5am, 8/10/11

To the Sky

New York, 6/8/11

After a date in my neighborhood, multiple goodbyes, and drunken packing in between, I go to bed at 3am. Up at 4. Catch the 4:54 LIRR from Penn Station to Jamaica, Queens and the Airtrain to JFK from there.

I'm flying American Airlines well against my will. However, it's the cheapest options and where I have most of my airlines miles. After flying AA to Melbourne, I know they offer the same level of luxury for round-the-world flights that they do on the commuter shuttle from JFK - Logan. I'm hungry after staying up all night. Great news is a cheese omelet quickly appears in front of me. Even better news is American Airlines knows I like my eggs served with an Elmer's Glue sauce. A cold ham sandwich, cloyingly sweet chicken teriyaki, and a cash bar follow. The movies aren't much better, although Johnny Depp and Isla Fisher are quite funny in Rango.

Not to worry though. I sleep almost the entire 13 hours to Tokyo's Narita Airport. So despite being an All-American Varsity Sleeper years ago in high school, I've still got it. Jet lag be damned.

This is about right...

Final hours

New York City, 6/7/11

It's an incredibly busy few hours before the trip. My throat is still achy and dry with inflamed tonsils like spiked cotton balls. A healthy cocktail of Amoxicillin and Mucinex should do the trick. Due to all the goodbyes, I'm packing way too late and probably way too much. Plus those cheap happy hour beers beers from Chez Brother Jimmy's are not exactly making for focused packing.

My rough list is as follows, covering two months from June 8th - August 10th, 2011:
5 t-shirts
5 button-down shirts
1 polo shirt
9 pairs underwear
7 socks
1 pair cargo pants
1 pair cotton & linen pants
1 pair jeans
2 pairs shorts
2 bathing suits
1 long-sleeved shirt
1 sweater
1 Patagonia quarter-zip fleece pullover
1 North Face rain coat
1 disposable poncho
1 pair flip flops
1 pair sneakers
1 pair Converse All-Stars

1 Canon PowerShot SD1000 7.1MP camera
3X 8GB SD memory cards
1 30GB iPod Classic, barely working
1 new headlamp
1 compressable EMS daypack that bunches into something the size of a baked potato
Travel towel, high-absorbency
Travel Journal

Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring
Let's Go Thailand on a Budget
When You Are Engulfed in Flamed, by David Sedaris
Deck of cards
Passport
Malaria Pills (5 weeks)
Advil
Benadryl
Imodium
Pepto-Bismol
Cipro Antibiotics
Amoxicillin Antibiotics
Mucinex
Probiotic pills
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Razor
Chap Stick
30 SPF Sport Sunscreen
25% Deet Bugspray
Hand Sanitizer
Sanitizing Cloths
Antibiotic Band Aids
Neosporin
Nail Clippers

Leaving Home

Westport, 6/7/11

Thank God the Norwalk Travel Health Clinic doesn't carry the vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis. Although the disease certainly doesn't sound pretty, I'm not sure that $750 on one vaccine is truly within my budget. Especially with Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Tetanus, and Malaria Pills (which are $295). After all the shots, my left arm is approximately 3X its normal size, so it's unfortunate that the beach couldn't come any sooner.

I've been notified that, if I purchase 8 more over-the-counter drug store meds, I will automatically become a local CVS franchisee. It is taking everything in my being to prevent dad from purchasing every single CVS medication, ointment and spray prior to my trip. Even though my bag is already 90% drug store, we visit two more CVS stores today. If dad had his way, my bag would be approximately 176 lbs and I would tour Asia in some sort of self-medicated purgatory. I have enough Imodium to give a blue whale constipation and enough Deet bug spray that my scent can probably be detected in the States.

Despite spending the afternoon witnessing my father's application for TLC's Strange Addictions in the category of Drug Store Gluttony, we do end up taking a moment to breath to have a delicious goodbye lunch of fish tacos, arepas, ceviche, empanadas, and mango-pineapple batidos at Norwalk's Valencia Luncheria. Most of the conversation involves the many ways I will die, get kidnapped, be impaled, drown, eaten by a shark, raped, tarred & feathered, amputated, devoured by locusts, boiled to a crisp & served at a small tribal dinner, or develop leprosy. I remain resolute and try to calm dad down. Because, honestly, I know better. No matter the situation, a couple Imodium should do the trick. And I have plenty of it.

The Start

Westport, CT 6/7/11

The high pitched squeals are growing in frequency and volume and now we can clearly make them out from inside the house. We go outside and see the bushes surrounding the apple tree at the bottom of the hill rapidly moving. Heading down to investigate it, I see Lizzie pacing violently back and forth, engaged in rattlesnake-mongoose-style fight with a large, fat brown and gray woodchuck. Both attack each other with vigor, with the woodchuck planted firmly in his hole, which he uses frequently as a safety camp. Lizzie circles the chuck, moving in to take a bite every few seconds. The barking and squealing is growing louder so the neighbors must think we're killing our meal for the evening.




Despite my effort to break them up with a kitchen broom (keeping a healthy distance as I was too late to undergo rabies inoculations), the battle rages on, neither of the combatants caring about getting hit with a plastic cleaning tool. Lizzie eventually prevails, grabbing the chuck by the neck, plunging him out of his hole and cutting of his wind supply. Before we grab her, Lizzie sprints through the yard triumphantly, fresh kill in mouth, thrusting him back and forth, salivating and smiling in her victory. We bring her inside, while the disfigured vermin lays flat on our yard, waiting for one of us to come remove him with a shovel as to prevent future canine snacking.

Such began my two month adventure.