Belize, China & Mongolia

After Day: 225 Yet Before Day: 226

The only travel plans I had made as of last weeks triumphant return from Mexico was a 10 day trip to Belize with a couple of friends from April 20th to the 30th. A short little excursions by my standards. Knowing I should start planning something I dove right in to my local Barnes and Noble, powered through at least a dozen Chai Tea Lattes while flipping through country after country of Lonely Planet books, and finally on a whim decided to make my way to Downtown L.A. and throw down the $75 for a double-entry Visa to China. I just picked it up this morning, and it gives my passport pages a whole new travel worn look with a page covered in Chinese characters.

I drove home, Jumped on Kayak.com (easily the best place to find cheap flights to anywhere) and booked a ticket. I leave at 12:55pm on May 2nd, crossing the international dateline by virtue of which I lose a day of my life, and land in Beijing on the evening of May 3rd. I have seven weeks worth of wandering the Far-East planned hopefully to include some horseback riding and camping in Mongolia, making it up to the Rooftop of the World in Tibet, eating bowls and bowls of noodles, and seeing as much of the gigantic Land of the Rising Sun that I possibly can. I have seven weeks total in Asia (roughly the same as I spent in Argentina and Chile) then its back to the US for some hardcore training on June 20th.

For those of you that don’t always read everything I write (can’t say I blame you, many times I don’t even read it) I am also planning a 222 mile hike along the John Muir Trail this summer with my mother and the recent addition of my step-father, Mike. We have our wilderness permit set to let us leave Yosemite valley on July 17th, so needless to say I had better be in shape or my ass will generally be kicked. Unfortunately the backcountry of the Sierras doesnt have internet access, so on this leg there won’t be any updates until the end.

I have started some training though, loading up my backpack and heading up to a stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail doing some day hikes and breaking in my new REI hiking boots.

The next 4 months are going to be spectacular! Ill be glad to have everyone along as my pictures will continue to improve (look at some old entries if you don’t believe me), and Ill do my best to continuously get in trouble for all of your entertainment.