On the way to the airport today, anticipating a tearful farewell with the family at the departure gates, I showed Dan the packet of tissue that I had prepared and said:

“Baby, see the tissue here. Later I’m sure to get emo.”

“We’re getting a bird?”

“Huh? What’s a bird got to do with saying goodbye?”

“An emu is a bird right? You said that you were going to get an emu.”

This is the type of conversations I’m going to be having over the next one year. Swell.

YL

written by  DanYilin on March 28, 2009 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: go.
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Bewitching Cloud Patterns

Inflight announcement on Cathay Pacific on the Singapore – Hong Kong leg: “Ladies and gentlemen, we apologise that the film “Twilight” will not be available on this flight. As a replacement, we will be screening “Four Holidays”. Thank you.”

Nooooo! We had lined up our in-flight movie list days in advance! Bummer. We grumpily clicked through the movie selection a few times and finally settled on an alternative – which will not be publicly mentioned here lest our good reputation be harmed (ok ok, we watched High School Musical 3. That should make us come across as young and cool – even if it’s only 8-year old girls who might agree.)

The transit in Hong Kong was pretty quick – just about an hour – and we found a quiet row of comfy chairs just outside the transit lounge to do some quick blogging and Facebooking (free wifi is like, the best thing on earth now.) We heard a large local family approaching from a distance and thought they were just passing through when to our horror, the distant clucking translated loudly into “Come come everybody, let’s sit here together!!” and they prompted descended upon us as though we were invisible. Hello? Do we look like blue spongy seats to you?! (okay, maybe Dannie does…)We promptly decided that it was time to head to the boarding lounge.

The flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, also on Cathay Pacific, more than made up for the first one. The aircraft was new - well-designed with comfortable adjustable headrests and seats that slide forward instead of reclining (so that you don’t get Heimlich-ed by your tray table when the passenger in front of you lowers his backrest.) The entertainment system was incredibly spiffy with a great selection of new movies (Slumdog, Quantum of Solace, Bangkok Dangerous, etc.) and TV series. I was happily indulging in the girly romantic dream of Twilight until I turned and found Dan creepily staring at me in an attempt to convey all-encompassing love and uncontrollable lust (inspired by Edward Cullin, no doubt)… and then calmly proceeded to burp into my face. My big swirly fluffy cotton-candy pink bubble of sweet romance immediately died a quick death.

All in all it was a pretty good flight with great food and prompt service – the cabin crew actually respond and bring you anything you need (unlike some airlines who call and price themselves as full-service and tell you to get your own water from the self-service stations.) Kudos to the guy wedged next to Dan in a window seat. He downed 2 cans of beer, water and drinks with every meal and asked to pass to get to the bathroom only after 11 hours on the flight. Impressive bladder control powers.

YL

written by  DanYilin on March 28, 2009 from Los Angeles, United States
from the travel blog: go.
tagged CathayPacific
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1) Get reacquainted with backpack bought 2 months ago. Remove pricetag.

2) Place clothing items carefully selected 1 month ago inside. Attempt to zip. Freak out at sight of bag violently trying to vomit excess content.

3) Check inventory against suggested packing list in backpacker's guide. Balk at recommendation to bring ONE t-shirt and ONE pair of bottoms. Decide that cutting down to one third of original load suffices as compromise. Sadly remove new pair of Mango pants bought 1 week ago.

4) Fight urge to re-include new pair of Mango pants.

5) Re-include new pair of Mango pants. Feel guilty.

6) Decide to be practical and replace Mango pants with 2 pairs of el-cheapo cargo pants from Cotton On.

7) Decide that one shall not attain the undesirable reputation of Pepe Le Pew so early on the trip. Reinsert one more third of original contents.

8) Peruse surrounding war zone of electric cables and equipment. Instruct husband to pack those into HIS bag.

9) Seek husband's valued opinion on whether it's silly to bring 6 muesli bars from Singapore to USA. Take 3 seconds to consider husband's advice and then ignore.

10) Smugly zip, secure all clips and straps on bursting bag and snap on travel lock. Load backpack and check self in mirror. Recoil in horror at reflection depicting T-Rex species with massive torso and short arms staring back.

11) Turn around and see that husband's bag is still half empty despite completing his packing.

12) Unlock, unclip, unzip, unpack and review contents to decide what to transfer to husband's bag.

Repeat from Step 2.

written by  DanYilin on March 27, 2009 from Singapore, Singapore
from the travel blog: go.
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Tonight, the Imaginary Interviewer (II) will be speaking to YiLin to find out more about this fantastic journey that she and Dannie are about to embark upon. As Dannie and his trusty Vader Lightsaber are out having good clean non-alcoholic fun at Dempsey Hill with his pals from work, his imaginary interview will be featured sometime later.

II: You guys have been talking about doing this trip for a really long time. So when are you really going to walk the talk huh?

YL: We’re booked to fly this coming Saturday morning. Why pick 28 Mar? It’s really quite simplistic – if we left on a weekday, no one would be able to send us off!

II: Is this a Round-The-World trip? It is over one year after all.

YL: We would have loved it to be RTW but we are just traveling the Americas i.e. North, South, Central America and the Caribbean. One year may sound long, but it’s barely enough time to even cover this region. It’s certainly possible to try to see the world in a year but there’s not much value in rushing to see everything and not fully experiencing the unique culture, physical beauty and way of life in each place. Oh yeah, we’ll be visiting Hong Kong too (which I’ve never been to – shocking for a Singaporean, isn’t it?) simply cos it’s included in the price of our Cathay Pacific air ticket.

II: Why the Americas and not Europe or Asia? You like Mickey Mouse ah?

YL: It has always been my dream to visit South and Central America for their natural beauty, historic places and rich culture. The rest is based on very practical considerations, really. It’s cheaper in the long-run to travel the countries in the continent at one go instead of making impossibly expensive 2-week vacations from Singapore every few years or so. For North America, the beauty of the national parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone, and the coastal shorelines beckon, as well as key cities like San Francisco and New York. By the way, I’ve already met the Mouse and have no desire to see him again, or any of his cutesy friends.

II: Okay, no visits to overly-cute cartoon animals (you DO look like someone who would kill Hello Kitty in one evil blink.) So what made you want to do this trip?

YL: Well, I can’t imagine living my life NOT doing this. Everyone says life’s too short, you only live once, carpe diem, yadda yadda… the usual clichés. But few people actually do something about it. On the other hand, if you were to live for 90 years, wouldn’t life be too long to be spent halfheartedly going through the motions day after day and postponing what you really wish to be doing? I felt that I was slowly but surely rolling down a straight path all laid out before me - career, marriage, kids – and the further I went, the more speed I would pick up and soon I would be hurtling on a highway into the future so fast that any attempt to brake and change my path would cause collateral damage to people I would have picked up along the way. Know what I mean?

II: Any sources of inspiration that got you going? Care to share?

YL: Hmm, the ‘Lonely Planet Story’ by founders Tony and Maurice Wheeler was one. I was amazed at how they accomplished so much with hardly any money to start with and eventually built an empire out of their travel experiences. I find Paulo Coelho’s writing very insightful and enlightening with regards to life and dreams – I’ll probably share some meaningful quotes in this blog. My all-time favourite is this one by Mark Twain:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Pity it was too long to be inscribed onto my iPod.

II: Any apprehensions about the trip? Besides the budget issue, which you’ve already whined about in your first entry.

YL: That I wouldn’t want to come back. That I would get addicted to living like a nomad. That I would be selfish in not wanting to keep my end of the promise that one year is all we would allow ourselves at this point of time. I read about this guy who did a trip so that he could get the urge to travel out of his system and return in peace to his daily life. But he couldn’t – and he’s still traveling.

II: What about apprehensions about traveling as a couple?

YL: Well, yes and no. Constant traveling is going to wear us out, patience will wear thin, good moods will falter, people (i.e. ME) will get snappish and might say mean things. But marriage doesn’t give us a licence to be mean and rude to each other. We never let these get to us and we will humbly make an apology when it’s called for. That’s one of the ways that being with Dan has made me a better person. (My siblings can vouch that I would have rather eaten my pencil case than say a word of sorry to them when we were younger.) Dan didn’t quit his job just so we could argue in Chile or Argentina instead of Bishan.

II: What would be the main thing that you would want to have accomplished from this journey?

YL: To have inspired others enough for them to make the first step in realising their own dreams.

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” – Helen Keller
(This is what’s inscribed onto my iPod.)

written by  DanYilin on March 26, 2009 from Singapore, Singapore
from the travel blog: go.
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Myth No. 1 - Dannie & Yi Lin Are So Lucky!

People always tell us "Wah, so lucky! Can travel around the world!" We don't get to do this because we are born lucky. Lucky is when you win a prize in a lucky draw. It's not about luck. It's about making a commitment to a dream to make it happen.

But we do agree that we are blessed. Blessed to be in a marriage where we are willing to support each other's dreams, to the extent of making huge personal sacrifices (like giving up a good job.) In my case, blessed that my employer is willing to give me time off to chase a dream. Blessed that we're in good health. Blessed that our parents and families too have good health and we can leave without worry. Blessed to have loved ones and friends who support our dream in so many ways - from looking after the flat, opening our mail, giving us travel tips, thoughtful gifts to help make our trip a great one, offering to help us get in touch with people overseas, praying for us. And simply giving us the encouragement to GO cos they know this trip means alot to us. Thanks guys. Love you all. (I'm getting teary just writing this. Sniff.)

Myth No. 2 - Dannie & Yi Lin Are Rich

Haha, seriously, this couldn't be further from the truth. We are not rich. We are not using our parents' money. We have a budget to live within, which includes keeping expenses at home going (e.g. insurance premiums, car loan, service fees, home utilities, etc.) We just worked hard and saved even harder. I guess we've never lead a fancyschmancy lifestyle anyway ever since we got together (too bad for Dan that he met me when I was a freshly-minted pocket-poor ex-lawyer) so it's wasn't very painful giving things up. There were only a few items which we had to forgo... like, erm, Rockband...sigh.

Myth No. 3 - Dannie & Yi Lin Are Going On One Big Long Holiday!

Yeah, sure - if we take 'holiday' to mean a break from work. But we're not vacationing. We're traveling. It's hard work figuring out when and how to travel. It involves planning, studying, researching, budgeting, discussing, worrying, hoping, wondering, deciding, etc. It means we don't know where our next bed or meal is going to be for the next one year. Even communicating with other people is going to be a problem. But that's the difference between being a tourist and a traveler, and we know it's all going to be worth it.

Myth No. 4 - Dannie & Yi Lin Are So Brave!

We prefer the word "courageous" but really, we're frickin' scared lah. I've got paranoia built into my genetic system (gee, thanks Dad) and am damn scared of getting mugged, hurt, shot, ill, crashing, etc. But short of needing a camel to carry our massive first aid kit which is equivalent to an entire Guardian Pharmacy, stocking up on whistles and personal safety alarms and sitting through a series of painfully expensive vaccinations, we're just arming ourselves with common sense and praying for divine intervention when it's needed. And of course, the mother of all worries - making the money last.

Myth No. 5 - "I Could Never Do What You're Doing!"

Myth debunked: YOU CAN. Maybe not now, at this point of your life, but you can. Really. It's just a matter of deciding how much doing a big trip means to you and what you're willing to sacrifice for it. We probably couldn't have done this earlier in life - it wasn't a priority then anyway. Now, besides the obvious like not getting paid for the next 12 months, we're giving up precious family time and the opportunity to be hip young parents... and when we finally do attain parenthood, I've absolutely no idea how we're going to afford the tykes.

But that's a future problem - to be solved at a future time.

Upcoming blog entry: a little bit more about our trip and a glimpse into our packing nightmare...

YiLin

written by  DanYilin on March 25, 2009 from Singapore, Singapore
from the travel blog: go.
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