Insurance, Flights, and Volcanoes

Unless you're living under a rock, I'm pretty sure you know all about the recent volcano eruption this week in Iceland. Apparently the planet Earth is breaking apart at the seams. We've had like 10 quakes in the past month over size 7. And now a nice blanket of ash for Europe. I'm just hoping it doesn't stop my trip dead in it's tracks. I've bought some level of insurance, but that's mostly for medical evacuation and so forth. It won't cover a major natural disaster like this. Sad face. I also bought my flight from Istanbul to Hanoi. A nice little 15 hour travel time. If we're lucky, I'll be going. Until next week everyone.

Cape May = Camp David

Short post today. Kristen and I just got back from Cape May. It was awesome, and the first time we actually used a Priceline reservation. We ended up staying at the Congress Hall hotel, which years ago used to be the equivalent of Camp David. We had a corner room at the top floor, overlooking the town on one side, and the beach on the other. Very romantic. It was a really nice relaxing weekend. Just what I needed to recharge the batteries and get ready for the last 5 weeks of college / grad school.

Choo Choo Train

Trains always remind me of Ralph Wiggum. If you don't get the reference, then me explaining it won't make it funny. I'm a dork.... choo choo choose you.... ahh it slays me. Anyway, I bought a 21 rail pass for europe. Essentially I can get on any 2nd class train for 21 days in 21 countries in Europe. $600 bucks, which seems steep, but again, I will be going on a crazy spur of the moment schedule. Off the top of my head I'm looking at starting in Spain or France somewhere, meandering North to Amsterdam and Denmark, then South through Germany and the alps, enjoying a little bit of Italy, then catching the ferry (also included in the pass) to Greece, where my 21 days end meeting Kristen in Athens! So considering distance traveled, I might actually come out on top here. We'll just have to see.

Visa Problems

Originally I was hoping for online forms for requesting a visa. Unfortunately, none of the countries I'm visiting allow this. I need tourist visas for China and Vietnam, and a transit visa for Russia. The Chinese and Russian visas aren't much of a problem, since NYC has consulates for both. However, the Vietnamese only have a UN mission in NYC. Their embassy in DC is too far away, and their consulate is apparently in San Francisco. Fortunately, the embassy does mail in visas, so it looks like I'll have to do that for Vietnam, and in person visa for China and Russia. Kind of a pain, but should all work out. Everyone else is recommending I hire a travel agent to do this. I could do that but there's the problem of me being broke. Meh.

International Dateline Confusion

I'm about to get my masters in computer science and I still get confused when I book a flight across the international dateline. I'm trying to book a flight from Tokyo to Maui and it is very confusing. I think I'll end up choosing a flight from Tokyo to Seoul to Honolulu to Maui. The part that confuses me is the timing. Somehow I fly out at 8pm on the 18th from Tokyo and land in Maui at 2pm on the 18th. I get that I'm flying over the international date line, it's still just confusing. Anyway, I'll learned that I am dumb today.

Ready for Maui

Kristen and I finalized plans for Maui last night. We are staying at a very nice hotel on the West shore, renting a car to get around, and staying for 4 days. Couldn't think of a more perfect way to end a long and exciting trip. And it's all thanks to my wonderful parents! Anyway, sorry I don't have more details, but I'm kind of on a role with Jonket right now, so I'm trying to ride the wave of productivity. More next week everyone.

FINALLY Back Home

I'm home thank god. 1 hour of traffic in Baltimore. 1 hour of traffic in NJ at 11pm at night. 3 hours at Panera in Maryland finishing my midterm. What was my midterm? To write a C++ mp3 player with GUI for linux. Given to me at 3pm on Thursday, due at midnight Friday. !trivial. (For non-programmers, that translates to NOT trivial). BUT It's all over, and it is good to be home.

Today I have hiking shoes, backpack, and possibly computer shopping today. Have a great break everyone!