bienvenue

Hi, folks. Welcome to my soon-to-be travel blog. Even though takeoff isn't until mid-May, there's lots of packing and picture-taking to be done at home.

As you might know, I was the happy victim of our economic downturn. My job is up May 1, and shortly after I'm going to hightail it out of the country for a trip through India & Southeast Asia. I'm going solo (unless you want to come) and plan to stay for two+ months.

Why India and its friends? For one, I'm ready for something new. The Western world is great and all but I think it's time I saw the other half. I've had a thing for India for awhile (have you read The Namesake?) and I can't get enough of the food. Plus, there are mountains in the north and the south, and lots and lots of trains--pretty much everything outside I'm into.

Malaysia made the list because of its name. Back in the 6th grade day, Mrs. Eton's (edit: Egan's) geography class included all the capitals of every country in the world (minus the former Soviet Union, so I don't know the capital of Moldova). An even shorter me was sitting in the back of the room and getting very disappointed as we went through the list. "The capital of the Philippines is Manila." "The capital of Thailand is Bangkok." Then Mrs. Eton pointed to Malaysia, and said, "Now we come to the good stuff. The capital of Malaysia is...Kuala Lumpur." And that's how I've said it ever since. Kuala Lumpur. Do you believe that's the name of a real place? That there are people who get to write "Kuala Lumpur" every time they address a letter? That they get to say, "I'm catching the early bus to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday"? I've read that the cool kids call it "KL" but that's just so everyone doesn't get jealous/the shivers every time they hear it. So now it's my turn--I'm going to Kuala Lumpur. Yep.

Indonesia is the part of every museum that I like the most except for the mummies. When I'm reading blurbs about festivals in Bali and gamelan music I just feel like I'll get to see it someday. I have this vision of me in a jungle, and the jungle is in Indonesia. Also, there are volcanoes all over Indonesia, and those are like mountains on crack.

If I get the chance, I'll hop on over to Laos and Vietnam for the beaches.