One would think that upon satisfying a craving, the craving would cease to exist. In regards to travel, however, I think the opposite is happening. Instead of feeling content with China, I want more, lot more.
The first question that had to be answered was, when?
My plan was to travel with my one willing friend so as to avoid making my first international trip alone. His work schedule required that the trip occur during the one week of vacation for Chinese New Year. By adding an extra five days, this would constitute a sufficient amount of time for our journey. And so, the seed of the plant that would satisfy my travel craving was born.
The next question was where?
Originally, my mission was to plan a trip to Spain that would keep me occupied, sheltered, and fed. I started Spanish several years ago in high school and desired to keep learning. The best way, in my opinion, to make the transition from China to Spain would be across the Trans-Siberian Railway. The trip would start in Beijing and end in Moscow, stopping along the way at several cities in China, Mongolia, and Russia. From Russia, I would take more public transportation to get across Europe. It would be a two week journey along the railway and this suited the when part of the trip perfectly.
I utilized my connections in China to try and locate a position in Spain. In my pursuit, however, I stumbled upon news claiming that unemployment within Spain for people around my age was sitting at about 50%. Regrettably, such news led me to dismiss the idea of traveling to Spain in the near future.
The final killing blow for a Trans-Siberian trip came upon learning that winter temperatures in Russia reach a staggering -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The idea of spending two weeks wearing several layers and retreating inside as soon as the sun decides to hide for a brief moment did not sound appealing at all.
So it was back to square one. Some time was spent getting lost in the world map. I gave consideration to places like Australia, Japan, Tibet, and South East Asia. The final decision of South East Asia came down to unexciting things like costs and visas so I’ll spare you that process.
The problem with South East Asia is that it isn’t just one destination but a collection of many destinations. Southeast Asia is made up of countries including Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. To decide where to go, we did as engineers do, and approached the situation as a puzzle. Where should we start and end our journey so that our flight would not be missed? How would we spend the optimal amount of time seeing each new location? After contemplating this complicated puzzle, we managed a plan. Our trip would start in Phnom Penh with some travel within Cambodia and then east to Ho Chi Minh and north through Vietnam to Hanoi. We would cross the China border together and then we would part ways with him returning to work and me making my way through China back to Shanghai.
I took it upon myself to plan an itinerary. I visited Wikitravel and read every page they had to offer about Vietnam and Cambodia. From all the places we could visit, I narrowed the plan down to a simple route that could be finished in the time allotted. The only part missing was how to return to China. As I looked at the map I realized that if I turned west in Hanoi in the direction of Laos and Thailand, instead of returning to China, a whole new world of possibility opened up. And what did I do? I turned to the west.
