I feel like my life is a series of take offs, landings and
holding patterns. Whenever I’m home I feel as if I am in a holding pattern,
waiting patiently circling the airport for my turn to land and to be assigned a
gate. So since I came back from Russia back in December I’ve been patiently
waiting and planning for a new big trip. I’ve made some smaller trips in
between, to The Oregon Coast to visit my family beach house and up to Vancouver
Island in British Columbia, Canada twice, but nothing really compares to my big
international trips!
For a month or so I had been planning a trip across Canada
on the Trans-Canada railway from Halifax to Vancouver with stops in some of
Canada’s biggest cities. I thought it was only natural to cross Canada by train
since I’d crossed both Russia and Australia by rail. But as I started to book
my tickets and take an in depth look at my accommodations on board the train I
started to really have major concerns. The cabin was tiny, barely enough to
even stretch out your body and barely enough room for a small bag. And then
there was the fact you would have to eat dinner with four other people every
night. Since I am not a huge foodie and really don’t like fancy food (I’d
rather eat fast food honestly), I had even more doubts. Plus, the thought of
making small talk with four other people for an hour or so over crappy food
gave me even more hesitation. All this for triple the price of the
Trans-Siberian railway. So, I decided to cut my trip back to only going across
Eastern Canada.
I contemplated my trip across Eastern Canada and had some
really great plans, but for some reason I could not get excited about it. Maybe
it was because my new virgin passport would be devoid of stamps till at least
fall when I may return to Russia. As the days went by I became less and less
excited about a visit to Atlantic Canada and Eastern Canada. I did not want to
waste money on a trip I was not 100% into. After a lot of thinking, I pulled
the plug on the whole trip and went back to the drawing board.
I could return to Russia again?! But, I’d just been there in
December, plus the Russian Ruble has been on a tear lately, gaining at least
20% in the last few months against the dollar. And then there was the whole
Russian interference in our elections that still had me bothered. So, Russia
was out until at least fall or maybe next spring. But if I were not to go to
Russia and I wasn’t going to Canada, where on earth would I go?
The question of where to go weighed heavily on my mind for a
few days until I came up with an answer. My acupuncturist who is from Taiwan
had always told me I should visit Taiwan and explained to me about the
friendliness of his people and the beautiful natural scenery. Since I’d been to
a lot of other Asian nations, Taiwan really intrigued me. So……..after a lot of
thinking I decided Taiwan and Asia would be my next destination.
Now after several weeks of planning I sit here in the Eva
Airlines Business Class Lounge awaiting my flight to Taipei at 1:30am local
time. It will be a nearly 13 hour flight across the Pacific. I will touch down
shortly after 5am Thursday April 13th.
After I complete my trip around Taiwan I will hop across
down to Hong Kong where I spend a few days seeing one of the most famed cities
of the world! Once I’ve seen Hong Kong, I jet across The Pearl River Delta to
Asia’s answer for Las Vegas, Macau, a Chinese special territory that belonged
to Portugal. After I’ve lost money gambling in Macau…….just kidding I really
don’t gamble, I’ll head to Seoul and then to Beijing. I must say I am pretty
worried about the air in Beijing. Checking the air quality forecasts the
predictions range from unhealthy air to very unhealthy air. I guess I’ll just
have to adjust and find a pollution mask! Stay tuned for more as I begin my
travels!
