Post 39: Two one way tickets please - Flights booked!

Fellow Adventurers,

The day has finally come to cement our plans and buy our tickets. We decided to depart Philadelphia on Sunday the 6th, following my last day of work on Friday, which will give us some time over the weekend to say our goodbyes to friends and family here in Philadelphia. I had a minor hiccup when it came to the names on our tickets, but I quickly resolved that with a call to Southwest and they were able to clear it up for me.

As for our flight to Caracas, we discussed for a good 30 minutes about the pros and cons of different arrival times in Caracas, and even if we should visit Venezuela at all. Angel Falls is top of the list for June, so our decision was an easy one. Hitting the "accept" button put me at an ease I have not felt in many months. We embraced for what seemed like minutes after our tickets had been confirmed in the same way we have 4 times before over the course of the last few years, our love really is bound by the road.

We will be departing a day later than we had originally planned, leaving Miami at 7:54am, arriving in Caracas around 3pm, after a short layover in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Though we have not decided on, nor made plans for our route to Cuidad Bolivar, I thought it best that we arrive in Caracas during a slower time which would leave us more options as far as planning that route goes. With this change in plans, we will be able to spend a little more time with Derek and Steph in Miami, which will be nice. I will have to readjust our schedule a little, but it shouldnt be a problem at all.


November 6th: Philadelphia to Orlando @ 19:35

November 13th: Miami, USA to San Jose, Costa Rica @ 7:54
- San Jose, Costa Rica to Caracas, Venezuela @ 10:20 / arriving around 14:45

(next day update) - My hearing aide finally arrived after some shipping difficulties with USP(o)S , and it is honestly better than I would have ever expected, which is a major relief to me. Thank you Amazon.com and MDHearing Aid, you saved my ass from having to fork over thousands to audiologist and insurance companies, I am forever grateful and plan to buy a second as soon as possible.

With our tickets bought and this minor fiasco of being able to hear out of the way, all we have to do now is wait, save as much as possible, and finalize our rooms before our November 6th departure, which is now less than 2 months away!

Now the real fun begins. More soon!

G+J

Post 38: the day

Fellow adventurers,

Though this week has been all over the place, I rest tonight assured that today will bring many reasons to be happy, and relieved. For my hearing and my heart. Today is the day.

G

Post 37: a minor bump in the road

Fellow adventurers,

Well, I was not lying when I said this week would be eventful, nor was I when I said posting here would become more frequent as our departure came closer.

Today, my now-ancient-and-on-its-last-legs hearing aid was met with a little moisture due to some heavy rain here in Philadelphia and decided not to work again on me after many tries. I should have been more responsible in handling this before but money was always an issue and my thoughts were more directed towards other desires. Sans-hearing-aid, I am unable to interact very well with people, which would make my next two months of work and the 5 after that of travel even more challenging. Considering that these devices go for on average, around $3,000, I nearly panicked, as that would be a great feat to overcome moneywise. 

In my anxiety over how to resolve this problem, I did what I normally do when faced with trouble....I visited Amazon (how ironic...), and to my amazement found one for a little under $200 with a perfect 5 star rating on reviews. Anything must be better than what I was using before, and from what I have been reading, this may be greatly beneficial to me. Everything seems legit as far as the product goes, and I really have no other choice if I want to continue with our plan, so there was no hesitation in trying.

I spoke to J briefly this evening to express my anxiety regarding the whole situation at hand and we again discussed purchasing tickets on Thursday night. Her answer of "absolutely" brought a much needed smile to my face after the aforementioned event. It is about time to take that leap and just go for it, regardless of outcome. I would find great regret if we did not accomplish this goal that we have been working and sacrificing so much for this year.

Updates within the next few days to let it be known if my gamble paid off, and hopefully to announce some departure/arrival times for early November.

G

Post 36: Tickets this week.

Fellow adventurers,

We are nearing the 2 months til departure point, and over the weekend we had some time to discuss our situation. A mutually conclusion was made to purchase our Philly to Orlando / Miami to Caracas tickets this upcoming Thursday. Though we have yet to figure out some financial and planning aspect of the trip, we figure worse case scenario is that we may run low on money and may have to shorten the trip to a minor degree, or cut back on some parts of it. Either way, we are going. I have a belief that we will not end up in that situation and will be able to come home with more money than expected, but as I say often, better safe than sorry. In Peru, I brought less money than expected and came home with more than $100 to spare.

I am sure Thursday will be one of many eventful moments over the next few months. I have taken Sept. 19th off and plan to get my Yellow Fever vaccination at Penn Medical out of the way then. I will rest my wounds watching Star Wars on bluray and take a little breather before what will no doubt be a very long and tiring October, full of last minute planning and preparation, and 2 week notices!

Another note, I have decided to opt out of bringing my netbook, as it is too heavy and too valueable to myself to lose. The plan as of now is to buy a cheap 8'' or smaller netbook that has at minimum a webcam and USB accessibility. The only real functionality needed is internet capability and access to my portable hard drive. A webcam would be great as it would allow me to talk to people back home. I plan to back up all my current files onto my computer and bring the drive empty, so I can fill it with content from the trip, pictures, videos, etc.

Back to work tomorrow for what will be a short week, updates to come soon.

$10000 down
$6000 to go.

65 days!

G

Post 35: Septembre!

Bonito...

Fellow adventurers,

Just a quick update here, to report we survived the earthquake, hurricane and flooding that has hit the northeastern US in the past week or two. No, that is not really the reason, the truth is that a great sense of excitement has struck me, as it is now September, which means I get to put in my 2 weeks notice NEXT MONTH! I do not recall ever looking forward to anything as much as I do that event, its been long in the making.

We have continued to discuss the route and are still feeling a bit of unease about Venezuela. We may end up just spending the extra money to avoid the hassle and fly straight to Colombia after our time in Canaima, as opposed to our previous thought of busing it through the country. The thought of roadblocks and bandits does not really sit right in my mind.

The itch to purchase tickets has never been greater felt. Escape is at the tips of my fingers and it is irresistible, its all I crave. 70 days could not come soon enough...

$9000 down
$7000 to go

G