Greetings from 11,000 feet

I haven't slept for 2 days. Yesterday is still today in my head. It reeks of automobile exhaust since it seems half the cars on the road spew black or grey smoke. I'm finally in Peru.

I've already met tons of travelers from a variety of places; Canada, Dubai, Brazil, Chile, Australia, to name a few. Once I got into Lima at midnight, I went through customs with no problem and then found a Starbucks to hang out at. Many people were doing the same thing I was: killing time until their 6am flight to Cuzco. As we wasted the wee hours of the morning away, the airport slowly started to bustle with life, indicating it was time for me to go back through security and catch my local Taca flight. By this time I was already dead tired.
Eventually I made it onto the plane. It wasn't crowded so I moved to an empty two seats so I could rest, but sleeping on an airplane is more like a series of uncomfortable and unsatisfying power naps. I kept waking up to the pilot saying we were delayed because of weather in Cuzco. After about two hours of that, they kicked us off the plane and said they'd fly when they could, oh no!

I had no idea what was going on, people were yelling at employees since apparently other airlines were flying to Cuzco no problem. I just hung around and talked to other travelers, meeting a few people who spoke fluent spanish as well so I could just ask them how the progress was going. After many hours and much commotion we FINALLY got back on the plane at around 1:30pm (it was supposed to leave at 6:40am). I sat on the left side, which ended up being a very good choice. All the nice views of the mountain and Cuzco were on the left side of the plane. We flew in and did a 360 to land. Here's the video:

 

I expected the doors to open on the airplane to reveal air so thin that I would barely have enough energy to take my packs off the plane! Instead, I thought I felt something, had no problem walking with my packs, and pretty much went along with my day as if I was at sea level. Damn scare tactics, I was so ready with my herbs to increase bloodflow and my sea bands haha.

I continued to hang out with the travelers I met at the airport, and we left the airport and walked across the street to get some local food, what they call a menu (pronounced in spanish). It´s a multi course meal that here included a soup and an entree for only 5 peruvian soles! That's what happens when you're not in airports and tourist central. Of course as we left the airport area we got bombarded by cab drivers and switched multiple times before we got one that seemed the cheapest and most legit.

I dropped my stuff at my hostel, which is pretty nice, and immediately went back out into Cuzco. Some Brazilian girl was couchsurfing and we all toured around with her host as a guide. We even saw the small place he lived in (literally a series of one room apts that went out to this atrium) and took the bus back. Those busses are crazy! The bus stops aren't marked, they're just "known." So he had to just tell us that we were at a bus stop. The busses are really just vans with a sliding door, and there's usually some young kid open and closing the door for people and collecting money. The 10-15 minute bus ride back into town only cost 60 sole cents

Anyway, it's time to pass out so I can function tomorrow.

The adventure has begun!

Today I left for Peru. After over a month of preparing in Dallas, I've finally started my adventure. The last few days have been pretty hectic trying to get everything together and get it through my head that I'm actually leaving for 5 months.

One thing I finally did was pack my backpack COMPLETELY. Before yesterday, I had packed it up with "most" of my stuff and figured that I would have no problem, but when I really had to put everything in it, it got a little crowded in there. So many little things that make it cramped.

As I packed everything up, I started to get worried. Everything definitely fit, but boy was it tight. I was hoping for some extra room in there for snacks and whatever else happens during travelling time. I decided it was best to unload some of the things I would be using more often into my daypack (which had since been rolled up and put in my big pack). I have this awesome little northface rucksack that's really small for storage but is surprisingly large when you're actually using it, with all the full backpack features like cynches, small pockets, and the like. I unloaded things like my tablet and ukulele, which were respectively some of heaviest and biggest single items in my pack before, albeit the lightest and smallest of their kind!

Only problem now is I have 2 backpacks to carry! Well it looks like one goes on the back, and one goes on the front. At least for the airport travel. During some treks I might try to get everything in the big pack again. I tried to hang the dayback of the back of the other pack, but it was going to be very unweildy and perhaps swinging all over the place throwing me off balance.

Speaking of balance, I have around 30 pounds to carry around with everything packed! I was hoping for something more like 20 pounds, but it seems like that wasn't gonna happen. I went through and took out a few unnecessary things, but that's not many things. A 50 L pack is not that big compared to your usual backkpacking packs of 65 and 80 L, but at least I can put mine in the overhead storage bin with no problem!

This morning, after not much sleep caused by making sure all my electronics were charged and synced up right, we were off! Here are some pics of us going into the airport.

Right now I'm on my second flight from Miami to Lima, Peru. I'm definitely enjoying myself in business class. So far the best part about it is really the food. Not that the food is that good, it is airplane food, but it's a multi course meal with as much alcohol and other drinks as you please! Those flight attendents are quite busy serving us during the beginning of the flights. I got lunch from Dallas to Miami and dinner from Miami to Lima. I think they might actually give us another little meal before we land. We were supposed to get into Lima at midnight, but we were delayed over an hour over what the pilot said was a "paperwork issue." Whatever, I have plenty to do now that I've realized I haven't practiced my spanish at all. I practiced a bit with the guy from Peru sitting next to me...I got some work to do.

When I arrive in Lima my flight to Cuzco is at 6am on a local flight...so I'll have to rough it economy class for the hour flight :p. What I'm really worried about is the elevation once I get to Cuzco. I don't know what Lima is, but Cuzco is over 11,000 ft! I hear I should drink lots of Coca tea at the Lima airport to loosen myself up haha. I have 2 days to acclimate to the elevation before I actually start my inca trail hike to Machu Picchu. I'm starting this trip with a bang, and I have no doubt my legs will feel it.

 

Travel Hacking

One thing that made this whole trip possible was my realization that I wouldn't have to pay for this ticket. It took a while to figure that out and do my research, but boy has it paid off. At first I had no idea where I wanted to go and how I was going to do it, but when there's a will there's a way.

I mentioned my idea of a trip to my friend Mark and he told me about "credit card churning" or "travel hacking" as some call it that got him some free flights and hotels around southeast asia. The basic idea is to get a credit card that has a sign up bonus where if you spend X amount of money you get Y amount of points for some reward program. One of the best ones at the time were some American Airlines cards where you could get 75,000(!) bonus points if you spend $1500 on the card within the first 3 months. Even better, you can get more than one of those cards that has a slightly different spending limit. Then I was remembered reading a post on Gizmodo a while back and found out that I could get a HUGE reward ticket with AAdvantage points. I called American Airlines and planned out a mock itinerary so they could give me a quote. They said 160k for economy and 220k for business. Ok, with 2 of those 75k credit cards and little extra, I could easy make that happen.

I called my mom about my plan and after talking with her I discovered that she had over 100k miles in her account already! She travels a lot and has credit cards that get her AAdvantage points as she uses them. Now I could see that 220k business class ticking becoming more in reach, and my mind was set. To do this, however, my mom would have to get the credit cards under her name and her AAdvantage number, and then she could buy the ticket for me.

Fortunately she agreed to help out, and since she runs a business hitting those limits wasn't too much of a problem. In a matter of less than 3 months she had around 250k miles in her account. Nice. I finalized my itinerary and prepared to make the big call to the AAdvantage rewards desk.

I woke up the morning before I called AA and had a little scare with the top headline of the news reading "American Airlines files for chapter 11 bankrupcy." I called immediately; I didn't want to get caught with a bunch of useless rewards points for being 1 day late! Fortunately, for customers that doesn't really mean anything other than maybe they'll have less flights sometime in the future.

After many hours and days of talking to the AAdvantage reps, I finally had a priced out itinerary that still only cost 220k miles, whew. It was such a large itinerary that their system was having some trouble processing it, resulting in much time on hold.

Of course nothing is without its surprises, and I got caught off guard twice! Apparently I hadn't done quite enough research.

Surprise #1: Every flight in the trip counts as a "segment," even if it's just a connecting flight. The only place this screwed me was when I was trying to go from Rio to Mumbai. There are no direct flights there, so I go Rio -> Madrid -> London -> Mumbai. Oh well, I'll have some time to catch up on everything I will have neglected while traveling.

Surprise #2: I still have a pay for taxes on the ticket? Over $700?! No one told me that! But I should've expected it hah.

Introducing...

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my travel blog where you can find all sorts of fun info on my travels, adventures, and how I'm actually doing this. If you don't already know, I'm a 24 year old who just graduated the University of Michigan in December 2011 with a Computer Science Engineering degree, and I have 6 months until I start my job in the bay area! What better to do than travel the world?

I always planned to take some time off after I graduated, but it wasn't until last summer when I actually started thinking about it. Props to my friend Mark for giving me all sorts of links and information on "travel hacking" which allowed me to get enough AAdvantage miles by last November to get my entire around the world ticket on business class for free! Which actually means 220,000 AAdvantage miles plus tax which ended up being hundreds. Still a small price to pay to go all the way around the world I thought. I naively thought I could keep my expenses low if I just got my plane ticket, but I have already discovered that this is most definitely incorrect...and I haven't even left yet.

Here's my itinerary as of now, with details on what I expect to be doing in each place. The ticket I have does have flexible travel dates, but realistically that depends on availability which is already pretty slim for the beginning part of my trip, but once I get to China and onwards I might be able to change how long I stay in each place.

Peru: Jan 24 - Feb 13
First I head over to Cuzco and do the inca trail, then I head down to Puno and lake Titicaca. Then I still have 10 days or so and need to figure out what I'm doing. Probably some Arequipa, Lima, sand dunes, and maybe some Amazon.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: Feb 13 - Feb 28
One word...CARNAVAL!! I'll have a few days to do some other things but the first weekend I'm there is all about carnaval. I already have a costume that I can pick up once there and dance in one of the parades with a samba school. No idea what I'm doing after carnaval. Maybe I'll leave Rio for a bit...

India: Feb 29 - March 22
I think I may first go to New Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur first, which are some common tourist destinations. If I have enough time I'll take a train back to Mumbai for Holi: The Festival of Colors that is on March 7th and visit my friend CK who lives there. Then I'll have a while to explore more of India, still figuring this one out.

Southeast Asia: March 22 - April 18
I arrive in Bangkok, but I plan to go to Singapore for a weekend right away to visit my friend Mark. After that I plan to bus/train to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat. Then maybe Vietnam. Then I'll actually spend time in Bangkok, especially during Songkran, which is some water festival in town where everyone shoots each other with water guns. Yep sounds like fun.

China: April 18 - May 10
Damn China is big. I fly into Hong Kong for a week, and then I go to Beijing for two weeks. From those places I can take smaller transportation options to other surrounding places.

Japan: May 10 - May 24
People tell me it's really expensive over there in Tokyo, but I found this link to a hotel that I could stay at: http://www.newkoyo.com/index.html, or maybe I could couchsurf. They advertise their price so hard I might have to book way in advance. I also plan to go to Kyoto and probably some other places around Japan.

Australia: May 24 - June 7
I fly into Sydney, but my no means do I intend to stay there the entire time. By this time it'll be a little cooler than the hot summer months of Australia.

New Zealand: June 7 - June 17
Fly into Auckland. I'll probably go to the south island for a while too, but before that I'll have to visit the guy who made my ukulele.

LA: June 17 - June 26
There's no direct flight from Auckland to Dallas, so I figured I'd spend a week in LA.

Right now I'm in Dallas, TX planning, shopping, and preparing for my epic adventure. I have plenty more to tell about everything that's going on, so look forward to future posts!