The 38 Hour Trip: Raw thoughts & schedule

Note: I am posting this blog from 2 days ago, I wrote it in my journal but didn't have time to type it out).

December 3, 2010 - written from Anchorage, Alaska airport waiting for our plane to be refueled

I flew out of DC to NYC to catch my extremely long flight departing from NYC to Bangkok, Thailand. I had an extremely busy week preparing for my trip that consisted of the same old routine that everyone in most large working cities is used to: running around to last minute meetings, conference calls, working, finishing up documents with very tight deadlines, final exams for school, being on a crunch to pay off bills, calling phone company to fight with them about excess charges and fees that somehow "accidentally" made their way on my monthly statements, and lastly running errands and  packing. I must say, I am extremely proud of myself for having completed EVERYTHING on my to-do list. To be honest, I did not expect to. Upon completing the list I vividly remember looking back down on it saying "I'll be lucky to get through part of this list". I'm happy to have proven myself wrong! I guess I proved to myself that I work really well under pressure.

I find myself in an extremely emotional state. Its a very mixed group of feelings ranging from nervousness and stress about leaving so much work behind in DC, to raw excitement about what lies ahead, to thinking about my family and amazingly cute little nephew Adam. I have not really had a chance until now to sit down and thoroughly reflect on my trip, where I will be traveling, what my work there will entail and what to make of it all. Between being too busy to actually look up South East Asia prior to my trip and having the desire to just come here and "learn as i go" verses having any preconceived notions, lead me to literally just come with no clue as to where I was going, staying or visiting.  I want to challenge my own assumptions, notions and thoughts. But more importantly, I want a clean canvas on which to draw my thoughts of what I will encounter in weeks to come.

I am writing this as I look out the terminal window at blankets of snow that over the ground in Anchorage, Alaska (-4 degrees). I just bought some smoked salmon from a nearby vendor as I wait to re-board the plane. I am overtaken by nostalgia and cannot seem to stop thinking about my father and our family deep sea fishing trips in Portland Oregon (I lived there for several years as an early teen). An image of my father with an extremely large and prideful smile carrying two 5 foot long Salmon that he just caught is all I can picture right now.  For some reason, this image brings tears to my eyes as I recall how blessed and lucky I am to have had so many great life experiences at such a young age, thanks to my parents and their seemingly never-ending joy for discovery, exploration and education.

Fellowship Schedule:
December 5-21 - Chiang Mai, Thailand

• women's prison to hand out books
• visiting orphanages and NGOs
• visit local vendors and markets
• visit Burmese refugees "Karen people" in the mountains

December 21-25 - Calcutta, India

• Mother Theresa orphanage
• Give away supplies on Christmas eve

December 25-Jan 2 - Kathmandu, Nepal

• Excursions, hiking on Mt. Everest. 
• Visit Happy Home orphanage

Jan 2-7 - Pokhara, Nepal
Jan 7-11 - India
Jan 11-14 - Bangkok, Thailand

Ok-- boarding plane again! Destination: Bangkok!

Building things with random tools..

My message on Facebook to friends and family:

The time is finally here. I am sorry that I did not have a chance to touch base or see many of my friends, family and contacts in DC prior to my trip-- but trust me, I have been too busy for simple things like: food and sleep! I am leaving today for bangkok. For all of you who asked me to repost my blog, here it is. I promise I will try to keep it up-to-date, fun, and informative. When I return, i will be in my final semester at Georgetown so I will jump into work work work and thesis-- but really looking forward to all the exciting (and random) things that are coming my way. Interestingly, many people are asking me: "how do you plan out your life and career?" My answer is simple: "I haven't really." I have been just following life, allowing each day and experience to help inform the actions of the next day. God, nature and the world have been my teachers and direction. Literally, life to me feels like a tool-box, I blindly pull out tools and then figure out how to use them and what do build with them. This Fellowship is another tool-- I hope that with it, I can build great things. God Bless.

Ready to embark on my journey

The time has finally come. The weeks up to this trip have been extremely busy, but very rewarding. I have been occupied with meetings, work, wrapping up my second to last semester of my Masters program (I'm studying Public and Social Policy at Georgetown University), working very hard with our amazing pro-bono staff on Al-Mubadarah, travels to visit my family, and catching up on month old bills.

I leave today to Bangkok. To be honest, I expected myself to be more overwhelmed with emotion-- but for now, random thoughts are running through my head (namely about leaving work and DC for 1.5 months). I intentionally did not spend much time looking up South East Asia prior to my trip as I do not want to travel there with certain expectations about what I hope to see and expect. I will let my wonderful hosts, nature and God be my tour guides as I venture around a part of the world that has always intrigued me and sparked my intellectual curiosity. I have made a commitment to myself to keep an open mind and allow myself to just soak in the culture and environment and "go with the flow" (a HUGE change from DC culture).

To my wonderful parents: I love you and thank you for raising me to value diversity, culture, education, travel, but above all, for teaching me how to soak it all in and process it.

Running off to the airport, I will update again soon. I hope that through my blog, I can take you through my journey with me.

p.s. my arms are still aching from all my immunization shots!

Breaking Barriers through Travel Fellowship 2010-11

I am ecstatic to be a recipient of the Breaking Barriers Through Travel Fellowship! I will be traveling to and visiting orphanages in several countries in South East Asia including India, Nepal, Thailand, and maybe Cambodia. I will be traveling from December 3 - January 14th. I will be staying with a wonderful and dear friend Heidi Ajlani.

I will be keeping a blog of my travels and sharing a part of the world with you all! I am looking forward to a very enriching and moving cultural, professional and personal experience.  It has always been a dream of mine to visit that part of the world-- Here I come! Looking forward to eating plenty of fruits, veggies, and natural foods!

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." ~Mark Twain