And I'm off!

To my family, friends and whomever it may concern, I have officially begun my journey.   I am one hour and forty four minutes into my dream trip.  I’ll preface this blog by explaining exactly what it is I’m doing. 

Here is a rough itinerary (pay attention for those of you who may want to join me along the way!):

April – Thailand (complete Rescue and Dive Master)
May – China & Malaysia (meet up with Dad and brother Ben)
June – Indonesia (meet up with Chris W)
July – Thailand (complete IDC and IE to become scuba diving instructor!)
August – Travel remainder of SE Asia first half / France & Spain second half (meet friends Shirleen, Chris H & Kirolus in Spain – oh yeah kids that’s right…it’s in writing so you have to)
September – Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, France (meet up with Mum)
October & first half November – Paris for pastry school
Second half November –  South Africa (meet up with Karen, Christy & friends post Karen wedding )
December – Ethiopia (meet up with Miles and Sarah) / other parts of Africa TBD
Late December - see if Xerox will take me back and head back home

While some of you may view this as a mix between an Eat, Pray, Love and Julie and a Julia trip / story, I must with the utmost respect tell you to piss off  ;o).   It’s not to say that I haven’t had my fair share of unsuccessful relationships, a broken heart, identity crisis, food gorging, longing for more in my life etc, etc….it’s just that this trip has not stemmed from some momentous occasion.  In fact it seems to have stemmed from a lack of occasion.  I am 32, I don’t have any kids, I don’t have a mortgage, and I never did the travelling trip in my university years that many of you did.  I went straight from university to work for Xerox and have been there for close to 8 years.  I have to admit the company has done something that not many do...agreed to give me a leave of absence for up to a year to do as I please with an open door to come back when I'm done.  Basically, I am taking a vacation for close to a year...YAY!!!

This leads me to my next point. I have discovered that there are those who travel and there are those who vacation.  In sharing my trip of a lifetime plans to family, friends and colleagues, there was a great divide that seemed to occur.  It’s not to say one is better or worse than the other.  It’s just the preferences that people have. 

Those who are travellers responded with words of support and wisdom about their own experiences, a little bit of envy but happy for me comments, and a general positive reaction.  These are the types that when they get vacation time, it is not as likely to find them at an all inclusive.  They want to experience more than one location / culture within a country and are willing to put up with more planning in order to do so. 

Then there are those who vacation.  These folks responded to my plans with a lot of questions and a whole lot of confusion.  For example:

“So you’re just going to quit your job?”
“I don’t get it.  You’re just going to travel…for a year…to do what?”
“You’re going to travel on your own?  Well, that will get old in a month.”

Those who vacation are the types who you will be more likely to find in an all inclusive.  They enjoy the ease of one stop shopping and are ok with staying in one spot.  In my humble opinion, often times this is as a result of working too hard so they really need a mental break, having a family so it’s more difficult to travel and/or not having much experience travelling so they either don’t have the desire to break outside what they are comfortable with.

Alright enough about that, on to Cathay Pacific.   I feel the need to discuss this wonderful airline since my experiences with predominantly North American airlines has generally been a nightmare (with the exception of Porter).   My flight to Hong Kong was a dream!  Not only did I have a 3 seat row all to myself on the flight (which doubles as a twin bed for someone my size 5’2”), but the food, service and entertainment system were also all fantastic.  If you have the opportunity to fly with Cathay, it’s worth every penny more.   And with that, I’m off to sleep…

Tuesday, April 19^th

It has taken me a few days to get this blog going so I’m posting all of these at once in one long first entry. 

Bangkok (April 14^th)

I’ve officially landed in Bangkok and have checked into my hotel – Novotel at the Bangkok airport.  This place makes the Royal York in Toronto look like a HoJo’s.  My room is huge with a Jacuzzi tub, marble counters, air con and 24 hour room service.  I have just settled into bed with two Singha (don’t judge, these are going to help me get to sleep on Bangkok time which is 13 hours ahead of Toronto time) and my favourite Thai dish – coconut curry soup.  I am in heaven.  I figure I should enjoy this now since I know my digs going forward will be nowhere near as nice.

Koh Tao (April 15^th)

I have arrived in Koh Tao…finally!  That being said, my journey here has been extremely easy.  Once off the ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Tao, I was picked up by the diving centre where I will be doing my Rescue, Dive Master Training (DMT) and Instructor Development Course (IDC/IE):  Ban’s http://www.idc-koh-tao.com/.  The sun is out and it is beautiful here but the heat is going take some time to get used to.  Although my room is humble, the view is fantastic (pictures to follow soon)!

Before I go on, I need to give my Canadian scuba centre some props - the Toronto Scuba Club in Toronto:  www.torontoscubaclub.com.    I did my Open Water class and pool, Advanced Open Water, EFR & Rescue Diver class and pool with TSC.  I have met and been trained by both TSC principal instructors, Chris Williams and Peter Mikhail.  Both are wonderful to work with and very different in their approaches.  Most of my training has been with Chris who is a very thorough instructor and has a ‘mother hen watching over her chicks’ way about him in the water.  While on the other hand Peter has a bit more of a relaxed teaching approach and his sense of humour shines through in the water.  Either way, you come out very confident and comfortable with your skills.

And with that, I am going to sign off to go meet the instructor for my Rescue Diver open water checkouts.    More updates soon…