Planing

So this is the part where I explain where I'll be going and how, what I'll be doing and when (especially with whom....) , and above all, why?

- What is this fuzz all about? A trip around the world, you sucker!

- Where: around the world, you sucker!

- Ok, but where exactly? Oh, you meant in which countries? Well, just check this map made with Windows Paint®, which is an undeniable sign of lack of quality. Sorry about that. There are weird points without any links, and the localisation of the cities of some points doesn't respect the Geographical Guild. But I had a lot of fun creating this map! 

Using Windows Paint® helps me find balance in life.

- How? Unfortunately it was not possible to rent a pedalo boat from Saint Malo and paddle until Buenos Aires, so I booked a flight. The same for crossing the Pacific. But for the rest, ferry and train, so back off, eco-freaks! Some ferry from Japan to South Korea and then China, and, when the time is right, the transsiberian train aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way to St Peterburg.

This implies needing serious surgery to get rid of all the bedsores on the bottom.

- Aren't you going to feel alone at some points?

Thanks, I appreciate. But I should be fine, thanks to the Couchsurfers I'll meet along the way! Yes, I plan to stay at stranger's places, as to avoid hostels and drunk Britons doing a gap year. (Me, anti-patriotic?)

About the 'come visit me' part, feel free to... come visit me! (Damn, I'll never get the Albert Londres Prize if I don't change my prose pretty soon). Hopefully die Grosse will come for the Japan and the transsiberian part, otherwise I'm up for anything, as long as I'm making new friends (like Dr Zoidberg).

-Sure I'll come visit, but when? Well, this is the boring part. The planing!

3 weeks not eating Argentinian steaks:

Buenos Aires and the North West (Salta, Quebrada de Humahuaca, Córdoba & Valle de la luna, Mendoza)

3 weeks going aaall the way up Chile (and then aaaaall the way down...)

Mid-March: Santiago, going up, then going down. Parts with some trekking and walking on volcanoes.

3 days crossing the ocean, going back in time and getting f**** jet-lagged.

06.04: Santiago → Los Angeles (2 hours w/LB²)

07.04: LA → Hong Kong (6h)

08.04: Hong Kong → Osakaaaa (Japan)

5 months pretending I'm interested in the Japanese culture

April till mid-September: studying for half a semester at the Kyoto University (ranked 24^th best in the world, you suckers), during which:

10 days laughing at South Koreans, some time end of July-beginning of August.

6 weeks going home (wishing I had stayed there)

Theoretically, mid-September till mid-October:

2 weeks in China, then 7 days of transsiberian train to Moscou, then St Petersburg, Vilnius, Warsaw and then Berlin, gracefully avoiding Belarus, its nasty government and the 50€ visa fee. Should arrive in Berlin on the 15^th of October.

- Ok... But what will you be doing? 

Well... Discovering new cultures and new ways of life, understanding how other people live on other parts of the world, finding my inner peace, traveling in remote places, seeing wonderful and different landscapes, learning another language,... 

(Ok people, this was to reassure the family. I basically just want to get drunk all the time and test all the Love Hotels in Japan)

- This all sounds nice, but why all the stress?

Well, there was nothing good on TV.