The Game Plan!

July 28, 2009

So here is a rough idea so far that we have for our trip..

Tickets are booked: we leave Thursday, Sept 17th (day before my Dad's birthday, sorry Dad!) to Quito, Ecuador. Our return tickets are for Thursday January 20th and we leave from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! That's four months and a few days of traveling! Teja and I both booked through STA Travel, which provides discounted tickets to students. Umm..right, I'm no longer a student. Thanks, University of Delaware, for not having an expiration date on the student id. :) Anyways, these tickets are great because they are flexible, so it's only a small fee to change the dates... meaning if you need a little flexibility in your trip (that would be us), these are great tickets to have. Don't be 100% shocked if I stay a little longer. ;)

So, the route will be something like: Start in Quito, Ecuador, work South through Ecuador into Peru, working South through Peru, then heading east into Bolivia, heading South through Bolivia to Chile, working South through Chile all the way to the bottom, then into Argentina, working North through Argentina, and eventually Northeast to Brazil, finishing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

We plan to mainly travel overland, which means avoiding flights and opting for buses instead. Reasons would be because not only is taking a bus cheaper, but hopefully we will see more along the way.

We will be backpacking..yes, all my essentials for 4 months will fit into a backpack...We will be staying in hostels. Two important things to note: No, I do not have a backpack (yet). And no, I've never stayed in a hostel. Guess what? One of the main reasons for this trip is to get out of my comfort zone. You know..that little part of like that makes things like this scary..daunting..life-changing.

Volunteering: We plan to do some volunteering while we're over there. We are set to volunteer at Santa Martha Rescue Center in Ecuador Sept 21-October 3 (about 2 weeks).

http://www.santamartharescue.org/ Rescue center for animals-we will be at the Tambillo location.

Ideally, Teja and I would like to do some volunteer with children closer to the end of our trip, but plan to see how everything works out with timing.

Preparation:

Vaccines: I have an appointment at a Traveler's Clinic in August at Beth Israel in Boston. They'll give me the necessary vaccines..Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, prob a new Tetanus shot, Malaria pills...they also counsel you on water purification, and cool stuff like Traveler's Diarrhea!

Travel insurance: Gotta figure out how much I'm covered by my insurance when out of the country. STA travel gave me a Traveler's Insurance pamphlet and it was just about the most frightening and anxiety provoking thing I ever read. All about how much coverage you get if you lose a hand, an eye, a foot (100%, so it's all good) and accidental death or dismemberment..

All this other random stuff..suspending my cell phone, freezing my gym membership, getting my finances in order like loans and other bills. Shooting to have enough money when I return to maybe move somewhere...


Speaking of finances, a friend asked me where I was getting all this money to finance a trip like this. Well, as I explained to my friend, it's called working, living at home, and saving, saving, saving. Since I finished my master in December 2008, I have been working two part-time jobs adding up to 36 hrs/week. I also babysit a few weekend nights a month. What will happen to my jobs, perhaps you're wondering. My nannying job was set to end at the end of August due to my travel plans being set when I started the job (even though that changed several times, it all came full circle) and I will be giving my notice at my job at Suffolk University. This is completely a self-financed trip.

I've joked with people saying "Oh wouldn't it be funny if I quit my jobs, decided to travel South America for a few months, then moved to California, all during a recession?" Well, haha, 2 out of the 3 will be happening. :) We'll see about the California thing post-South America. I'll probably be too broke to make a move, but we'll see! Trying to remind myself that I have my whole life to work...