Bob here.
We are officially within 7 days of leaving. This time next Sunday we will be en route to Vietnam. So, I thought it would be a good time to actually post a serious blog rather than another spoof.
I can still remember the day Sep sent me a Facebook message asking if anyone was interested in going to Vietnam. At first I was quite apprehensive, I didn't know what to think. My typical vacations have always been based on drinking and sitting on a beach. I remember thinking, 'I don't know if I'd like a trip where everything I'm taking will be in a backpack and also where we won't have any reservations'. But, I have to say, I can't wait to go. The excitement of not knowing exactly what to expect is unmeasurable. Over the past few months, I've done a lot of reading online about Vietnam. I've been trying to learn as much as possibly about their history, culture, and daily life. If everything I've read is true, it will be an experience like no other.
One thing I didn't expect after booking our flights, was the amount of planning and thought that goes into a trip like this. Typically, I would pack whatever I thought looks good and not worry about weight, size, or functionality. Not on this trip. When you know you'll have to carry everything you're taking, it dramatically changes things. Not only that, but when you plan on washing your clothes in a sink in a climate that has 90% humidity, you tend to look past the cotton shirts on the racks.
When Sep posted his blog about some of the things we're taking, we hadn't received our packs yet. To the left is a picture of my full pack. Total weight of my pack is about 29 lbs. I believe Sep's pack came in about 35 lbs. (I have a feeling something that weighs 3 lbs will mysteriously find it's way into my pack!)
Over the past month or two, I've talked to all of different people about our trip. Surprisingly the conversations have both been positive and negative. I've had a lot of people say "Why in the hell would you go to Vietnam for vacation?!". A lot of these comments either came from people around my age or from people that were in Vietnam during the war. I can understand why both age groups would make comments like that. I think people my age would likely prefer to do the beach and partying scene. Been there, done that. In reference to people that were involved in the war, I can understand their thoughts and feelings too. Like Sep mentioned in an earlier post, we both hope to talk with some Vietnamese people about their views on the war. I can't wait to hear their stories and see their museums. It will be very interesting to see how their views and stories differ from what we're taught here in the States. The majority of the comments and conversations were positive though. It's amazing how many people say, "I've always wanted to do something like that!". My question to them has always been "Why don't you?". When you look at some of the pictures that Sep has posted, I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want to go see this beautiful and cultural country.
Everyone I've talked to said they can't wait to see the pictures and hear the stories. Great news, we are planning on updating this blog throughout the trip so family and friends can follow along with us. All of this of course hinges upon having internet. As we've mentioned, we are taking a bunch of camera gear and disk space. I think we are up to total of 2 terabytes of hard-drive space that we will have to fill up. To the layman, that is 2,000 gigabytes! One thing I noticed in some previous travels, is that you can take a million pictures, but if you can't remember where or what it is, you really lose out on remembering the experience. To fix this, I purchased a GPS unit for my camera. It is also compatible with the other 2-3 dSLR camera's that we'll have. When we import the pictures into our Mac's, the GPS data and software, will automatically plot out the pictures on a map. Awesome! Since we are planning on having several coffee-table books made from our pictures, this will be great information to help the visuals of where we were. We will also be posting some of the pictures to my MobileMe gallery. This will give us more levity to upload pictures for everyone to see. The link to the gallery is:
I want to take a minute... or rather, a paragraph, to thank some people. First off, Sep, thank you for the invite and opening my eyes to an experience like this. Also, thank you for the all of the help on planning. Without your experience and knowledge, I likely would have shown up to Vietnam looking like a Chinese person at Disneyland with a Polaroid camera wearing jeans. Thank you to my family and friends for being supportive and putting up with my relentless conversations about the trip. I'm sure some of you can't wait for us to go just so I stop talking about it. Unfortunately for you, I will likely plan another trip shortly after returning. So, I'll have another destination to talk your ears off about. Regardless, thank you all!
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