New blog and preparations.

Okay, I am back to blogging. My life is getting hectic. A lot will be going down in the next few weeks and I am getting prepared. Today is Dragon Boat Festival Day in Taiwan and its a national holiday here. I don't have to work so I have some time to get this blog ready and practice using my new netbook.

In the next few weeks I've got a lot of ground to cover. On Saturday I move out of my apartment. Then I will join a hiking group and climb up Yushan or Jade Mountain, the highest mountain in Taiwan. After I get back from that trip I'm going to move into Caleb's old apartment near my school.

Then at the end of June I'm going back to America to see my family. This should be a nice break before the big trip into Southeast Asia in mid-July. When I get back from America I will stay in Taiwan a week then fly to Singapore. From Singapore I will travel through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and finally China before a I take a boat back to Taiwan. This is just the first blog post on this epic journey.

Preparations
I bought a big red backpack in Taipei. It holds 65 liters. This should be more than enough to carry everything I need on my trip. Its actually a little bit too big and I hope its not too full when I set off for Singapore. I spent a Saturday afternoon looking for the right backpack. I must have visited 20 different shops around Taipei before settling on this one. I made some modifications to it. There are lots of loose straps that hang about on the back. This annoys me and looks sloppy when I see it on other backpackers. I bought some velcro and devised a little strap so that I can roll up all the straps and hold them in place with the velco. I also found some highly reflective yellow tape, the kind that bicyclists use at night, to put on my bag for safety. It is sometimes harrowing when walking on dark roads without a sidewalk at night.

I'm still trying to decide how many clothes I will carry. The next few weeks will be a kind of test run because I will essentially be living out of my backpack after Saturday. The few items that I have in my apartment are being put in boxes and they will be stored at Miguel's until I return, approximately in November.

It is a bit sad leaving Taipei now. I have made some good friends here in the last year. I hope that things are the same when I get back. Everything will certainly change. I hope that the next few months give me more perspective.