Flying into LAX

Well, I left Austin today to begin my journey. I'm flying to Brisbane, Australia, and have a layover of several hours at the Los Angeles airport.  On the way here, the plane flew pretty close to El Paso, where I grew up. I didn't see El Paso, because I was on the wrong side of the plane, but I immediately recognized the mountains heading up north from there. My suspicions were confirmed when we flew over Kilbourne Hole, and the other hole next to it (can't remember the name right now but I'll probably look it up later and post it), which were impossible to mischaracterize. I recognized it immediately, and the road that leads to it from Canutillo.

After that,  we followed I-10 for a while, and I'm pretty sure I recognized Silver City and the Gila Wilderness. But I didn't think to take pics. Also, my phone didn't have a place to charge on the plane, so I was trying to conserve juice.

The next thing I was trying to spot was the Grand Canyon. But no dice. I think we flew too far south to catch that. I remember seeing it from above, and flying over massive fires near there, several years ago when I was on my way to Hawaii. But on that flight,  I went through San Francisco, not LA.

The plane arrived in LA a few minutes ago,  and supposedly the flight to Australia was one gate over. But, really, that was where we got herded onto the tarmac to take a shuttle to the tiny terminal where the Australian flight is (and where I am currently huddled on the floor next to the only available power outlet to type this).

I suspect that the woman who herded us onto the shuttle didn't speak much English. Both the guy in front of me and I asked her if there were places to eat in that terminal, and she said yes. Bullshit. I considered asking her in Spanish, but hesitated because who am I to assume that she speaks Spanish, even though she probably did. 

This terminal is a desolate island of human despair. Just as well...LAX is so fucking expensive to eat at that I'm probably better off fasting. I do have a couple of snack bars, and I've dutifully snarfed one down. I'm spoiled by the cheap food at the Austin airport, where I had a Thundercloud hummus veggie delight, and ate in front of the Saxon Pub listening to live music.

So here I sit on the floor (not even aspiring to the Group W bench), waiting for Godot to come and tell us that the plane is ready for us filthy primates to infest. Salut.

On The Tarmac at LAX

On the tarmac at LAX, taking the shuttle to the Virgin Australia terminal.

Planning for world journey, Part 2

So now I am getting ready to leave for Brisbane in just a few days.  I have reserved a hostel there, but nothing yet for the rest of my visit to Australia; I will mostly wing it.  Then I plan to journey to Beijing, where I will stay for a bit before I take the Trans-Mongolian Railway,  From Mongolia, I will continue into Siberia, where I hope to take the Trans-Siberian Railway, but I only have the first leg booked.  After I enter the Republic of Buryatia, I will plan the next phase of my journey.

Prepping for my longest journey yet

I have been planning to take a long-term trip around the world.  It is looking like it will be a minimum of a year long, and maybe longer.  I was at a crossroads in my life.  I was applying for some jobs, but didn't get any (not even an interview), and, not having a job currently, I realized that my schedule is wide open, so why not travel?  From some of the stuff I have been reading, travel can be cheaper than just day-to-day life.  Also, gas is cheap and the dollar is up compared to most currencies.  So I am cashing in some savings and getting ready for the big kahuna, the kahuna of kahunas. Maybe I wouldn't have the opportunity to do this again, so I guess I'll go for it.

There have been some serious up-front expenses.  I have been planning the first part of my trip, which is probably going to be the most expensive part.  It cost me $1800 for a year-long insurance policy (required to enter Russia but nevertheless a good idea), and $700 to get visas for Russia and China.  I decided to go with a service agency for the visas since the process is daunting and bureaucratic, which almost doubled the cost.

Then I had to buy gear...almost all my gear and clothing is maximized for space since I have to fit it all in my backpack.  I got an Osprey Farpoint 70 backpack, which has an outer storage compartment that unzips to become a day pack.   The inner part holds 55 liters, and the outer part (the day pack) holds 15 liters.  So the day pack will be my carry-on, and the rest will be checked luggage, when I fly to Australia.  I've been packing and re-packing, cutting down on more and more stuff, questioning if I REALLY need something before I decide to take it with me.  I have winnowed my stuff down to where both packs are almost full.  The main pack has about 20 pounds of gear, and I haven't weighed the other one.  But I probably need to cut down just a tiny bit more so I can have room for dirty laundry and food for along the way.  There won't be much space for acquiring stuff along the way, though if I buy a coat in my travels (I'm currently not taking one and am planning on layering, this ought to do me down to about ten degrees F), it will be in an area where I am wearing it most of the time.  I have two high-capacity USB batteries since I will probably be in places where I have no electricity for long stretches.  Also I have electricity adapters for just about any outlet.  Most electronic equipment works on either 240 or 120 volts, with either 50 or 60 Hz.  So everything I am bringing with me that plugs in (not much) conforms to that standard, so I can use each piece internationally, and don't need voltage converters. I also have a plug-in box with four USB outlets, which ought to be enough for me and maybe someone else who needs a quick charge.

The visa for Australia was easy and almost immediate.  It is an electronic visa tied to my passport number, so there is no physical document.  Most of the other places I am planning to go don't require US citizens to apply for visas, so I should be good at most places.  Russia and China put the visas in my passport, so I had to send my passport off to their embassies and wait to get it back.  I also have an emergency second blog on Wordpress at Stuart's Travel Blog in case I can't use this one in China (Google and Facebook are blocked there, from what I have read).  After Australia and my initial entries into Russia and China, the path is wide open and I can go anywhere I wish.  My visa for Russia is for three years, and China gave me a ten-year visa.  Both allow multiple entries during that time.

So the bulk of what I have been doing lately is moving out of my house in preparation.  That has been a daunting task, as I've lived in one place for fifteen years.  I've been packing like crazy.

Fleeing in Missouri, 4/18/2015

So I was on my way out of the Mark Twain State Park when I passed a car parked on the other side of the road. As I passed the car, I saw it was a cop. Then, in my rear view mirror, I saw him start his car and make a U-turn to follow me. I thought, "Crap, what did I do?" I looked at my speedometer and I wasn't speeding. I went over the next hill, saw him fade out of view below the horizon, and then I made one of those stuntman hauling-ass right turns onto a side road and GUNNED IT. I saw him in my rear view mirror going straight on the highway. I parked for a while, then ended up going down a bunch of side roads in the middle of nowhere for about an hour. I was completely lost, and could not get a cell signal for GPS. So I just aimlessly drove around for about an hour, and finally figured out where I was.

Domtar? 4/18/2015

What's a Domtar?  Looks gnarly.

Ashdown, AR, 4/16/2015

Strolling around downtown Ashdown, Arkansas.

Entering Arkansas

Approaching Vivian, LA

Oil City, LA

Caddo Lake, LA

Some items for car camping travel

I recently bought some items for my next car camping adventure.  I'll include images and links that have reviews of the items.
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I hope to strap this five-gallon shower to the luggage rack on top of my car so it can heat up during the day, then use it for showering when I stop in a secluded location.

Here is where to buy this Summer Shower.

I also bought a large vertical tent-like apparition to take showers in (it's sorta shaped like a port-a-potty, only tapered at the top and not quite as big).  But I might not bring that with me on my next trip.  I'm thinking the hassle factor of setting it up to take a shower might not make it worth it, though it would shelter me from the elements.  I can probably just take showers wearing shorts if I'm in a public place.
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Here is a rice cooker/crock pot that operates off of the car's cigarette lighter outlet:

Here's where to buy this Car Crock Pot.
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Speaking of the cigarette outlet, here is a device that converts from a cigarette lighter's output to USB:

Here's where to buy this Car USB Port.
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I'll report on how well these devices work as I use them.