prep work

the prep desk

i just got back from my hawaiian workation. 

and now all of my thoughts are on my next adventure. 

i want this trip to be more outdoorsy than my last. 

i think part of this comes from that fact that one of my favorite parts of my last trip was when i was camping for three weeks in the australian outback. pulling up to the side of a dried up river bank just as the sun was setting, and waking up to 19 kangaroos outside my tent. 

this outdoorsyness factor is what scares me most. i am not outdoorsy in the slightest. so  the list i have developed of ‘what i need to get’ is extensive. tent, stove, boots, gps, sleeping pad and bag etc. 

i have been researching product reviews and gear guides for quiet some time. this is a trait i get from my mom. when i know i’m am going to buy something, i research the shit out of it. because of this, i have a pretty good idea about the types of stuff i need. but since i completely lack the skill and physique that usually accompanies that type of product knowledge, i feel like a complete dinkus when i go into stores and start asking questions. 

all i am confident in so far, is that i plan on heading to beijing in july. 

i can see myself arriving in beijing. couchsurfing in the city for a week, doing some day trips to highlights close by. then i plan on making my way by train into mongolia, and up to ulaanbaatar, the capital city. i will probably stay in a hostel for a couple days in the capital before staying with some cser’s. i will try and gather as much information as i possibly can in UB(ulaanbaatar) before i head off on my own. and this is where my imagination goes wild. i might head north to ulan ude or irkutsk, russia. or east towards all of the ‘stans’. 

i spend my free time adding to my already massive lists, searching for couchsurfing hosts in northern china and mongolia, pricing plane tickets, reading blogs about people who have travelled similar routes, and checking visa application procedures. 

the trip that i am planning doesn’t feel real yet. probably because camping and hiking aren’t really apart of me. and probably because my days are spent living in a mansion with toddlers and preteens...just about as far from where i plan on going as i can get. 

i don’t know if i will just go for a couple weeks, or months, or if i will be home for christmas. but that’s what i like. it’s one of the things i liked the most about my last trip. the not knowing. that when someone asks me what my plans are like for the next week, i can say that i have none. that i can travel with them for a bit if i want. the freedom, the unknown, the adventure of it all.

these next few months will be packed full of trip preparation so i will do my best to keep you posted.