The Grey Pen Goings

Navigation through a World that's Wild at Heart and Weird on Top.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Packing

They say youth is wasted on the young. Well I say unemployment is wasted on those looking for a job, for these last days in Prague have been an exorbitant, wonderful waste of time. Tuesday night, for example, I cooked an 18 ounce steak which was accompanied by a bottle of red wine and Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. Yesterday I lingered through packing while watching a ripped copy of Little Miss Sunshine. And earlier today I spent an hour listening to three pieces of music (Bach sonatas) for my novel, trying to come up with correct phrases and metaphors to run through them. Hot damn, if it ain't the pirate's life for me.

Packing's been a bit difficult, namely because the big suitcase I flew over here with is being stored in London for my father to pick up on his return leg. For the majority of my trip I'll be traveling with a regular-sized backpack and a little suitcase 2' by 1' by 1'. Not exactly a lot of room for two months of clothes (or books!). What makes this more complicated is (a) We'll be traveling both in tropical climes--India, Thailand--and much colder ones--China, Korea, and (b) Any clothes I might have left in Prague I am in fact bringing to give to relatives.

So crunchtime says a Kundera book will be sold instead of kept. I've had to sort through the knickknacks and oddball souvenirs I've picked up along the way, trying to figure out what I'll forget or think is crap in six months. It's funny how quickly our opinions on things can change--the poems I exchanged with an ex-lover now sit in my cupboard like falsified documents demanding to be shredded.

My basic itinerary looks something like this:

February--in India. From the 4th to the 14th in Kolkata for my cousin's wedding. Plan to visit Sundaraban Tiger Preserve amongst other things. From the 15th to March 3rd we'll be based in Dehli, with trips to the Taj and Rajasthan planned. I suppose I should mention that "we" is my brother and I.

March 3rd to March 1oth--Thailand.

March 10th to March 16th--China. Beijing and areas surrounding Shanghai. Hopefully chilling with Kan Yan.

March 16th to 19th--Seoul, South Korea. Tour guide=old roomie Michael Greene.

March 20th to 21st--Tokyo. Why only a day? Travel burn + almost no extra fee to keep flying.

March 22nd--Texas.

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