Part of the reason for the extended stay, though, was catching the final stage of the Tour de Langkawi on February 1st.

While a far cry from the competition, grandeur and history of the Tour de France (link: my thoughts on why the Travel Channel should be showing the Tour de France), this race has been around for 15 years already and is the biggest cycling event in Asia.

While the course changes each year, it generally covers most of Malaysia’s prime destinations – Langkawi, Penang, Genting Highlands, Malacca and KL. I saw only the final stage in KL this year, although following it for the duration would certainly be a good (albeit quick) overview of Malaysia. Past challenges of getting the equipment across water has kept it restricted to the peninsular section of the nation, so you wouldn’t catch Sabah if you were to chase the riders.

The podium, being readied for the arrival of the day's winners.

Past winners include well-known US riders Tom Danielson and Chris Horner. Because it’s very early in the year, it’s a good testing ground for young riders as they gear up for the bigger races like the Giro d’Italia and Le Tour. This year, the race was won by Venezuela’s Jonathan Monsalve, while Italy’s Andrea Guardini won that day’s stage.

The ride was well organized, though lightly attended. Most of the hostels and hotel staff barely knew it was happening, though the riders sailed past their front door six times on the final loops toward the finish line. I drew course maps and let everyone know about the road closures they’d be facing, but couldn’t find a single person in the hostel who was interested in checking it out. *sigh* – professional cycling doesn’t have a lot of fans once you get off the European continent.

The music, dancing, sponsor booths and broadcast helicopters brought a lively energy to an area of KL that is typically quiet on a Tuesday afternoon. I didn’t make it to the other areas of the course, but it shut down several main roads for a couple of hours which certainly made traffic an interesting challenge that day.

Before leaving on my trip, a friend of mine joined me for one final tour of the city. We did all the cheesy tourist stuff, even things I never did the whole time I lived there.

However, when I think of Los Angeles I don’t picture Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive or even Venice Beach. I picture the mountains.

Southern California is home to incredible natural beauty that I’d rank pretty high in a “world’s best” list. Sadly, it’s beauty that most tourists, and even most locals, never take the opportunity to see.

When I wanted to get out in the middle nature, it didn’t mean driving to some far off location. I grabbed my bicycle and left from my front door. Within 12 miles, I was in the mountains. Millions of cars were just down the hill, but once you pass the residential areas, they are a rarity on the roads.

The scenery is at its best in a “green” year when we actually had some rainfall, but even when the desert climate creates more brush than lush, the serenity out there was astonishing. It’s all the more amazing when you consider that a bowling ball unleashed on these mountains would roll its way to the middle of the second largest city in the US (if you had bumpers around the corners).

The Santa Monica Mountains, the San Gabriels, Angeles Forest, Palm Desert, Lake Casitas are just a few of the wonderful locations for cycling in Southern California. To be fair, some of these are from rides a bit further away, including the northern coast. I considered it all my backyard, though. A playland for me, my friends and my bicycle.

(as always, click on any picture for a closer look)

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Lake Casitas on the way to Santa Barbara

On the way to Ojai.

Angeles Forest, with just a bit of snow in the distance.

Angeles Forest with the fog a couple thousand feet below.

Santa Monica Mountains on a cool, overcast morning.

The California Coast at dawn.

Heading up to Mount Baldy

A bit further north on the PCH, while riding from San Francisco to LA.

Finally, a picture of Big Tujunga Road in the Angeles Forest a few months before I left, just starting to recover from massive forest fires.

Part 1 detailed my favorite destinations so far, along with a couple I didn’t enjoy quite as much.

For Part 2, here are some updates on the logistics and financials of the trip.

With all of the nuts and bolts of the trip, the critical thing is to find a balance that makes you comfortable. Here’s how things are playing out for me, so far.

Accommodations

After a stay with friends in England, I experienced my first hostel stay in Lille, France. It was not a pleasant way to start off a long journey – the hostel I booked had no real community rooms, dark & dingy bathrooms and no lockers to store belongings.

Fortunately, the hostels I’ve stayed at since then have all been significant improvements over that first one – with kitchens, bars, lounges and even low cost laundry facilities.

Along the way, I’ve been in many small towns that don’t have hostels, but the cost of the B&Bs have been even lower than some of the hostels I’ve stayed at. Throughout Bretagne, there are wonderful cozy, country hideaways for less than the cost of a nice dinner. Some of them ARE in the middle of nowhere, so having a bike helped tremendously.

I’ve balanced the hostel stays with hotels once in a while. If you search well, you can often find hotel rooms for the same cost as a hostel and even if it’s a couple of dollars more, having a private room to stretch out is worth it once in a while.

My favorite is the homestay. Through AirBnB.com, I found a wonderful flat in Paris and was able to live like a local for a couple of weeks. Far less than a hotel, and a bit more than a hostel but having a full apartment including laundry, internet and kitchen saved me a lot of money on the living expenses so it evened out.

Money

Overall, my expenses are tracking close to what I had planned. It’s a bit higher than it will be over the bulk of the trip, but I had prepared for that. Europe isn’t cheap – especially London and Paris. A few months in Asia and staying with friends for a while will more than balance it out.

My accommodations have been a bit below my budget, fortunately, because I’m running very high on food and beverage.

One of the adjustments I’ve had to make is to make more of my own meals along the way, because every time you step into a restaurant in Europe, it’s nearly $20 to get out. Even fast food runs about $10 a pop. The only exception to this rule is breakfast. A coffee and pastry in the morning costs less than a cup of Starbucks in the U.S. (unless, of course, your coffee and pastry are AT Starbucks). The early morning café stops have been one of the great pleasures so far.

Health

Illness & Injury:

Overall, things have been great. I had a cold for a couple of days in Paris, but got over it quickly. I think the moldy cheese killed it.

I have had some trouble with numb toes after days of walking. To some extent, I needed to break in my shoes a bit more than I did but I also over-do it with walking. These towns have rail systems for a reason, but I was regularly walking up to 10 miles a day. I hate to miss the “in-betweens” along the way.

Fitness:

Between cycling and walking, I’ve lost a great deal of weight and my legs are dead sexy (especially once I learned to stop gashing them open with the sharp hybrid pedals on my bike). Unfortunately, I do need to start some sort of upper body work before my chest rivals the Grand Canyon in concavity.

Vitiligo:

Most of you probably don’t know about this, but I’m melanin-challenged. It’s not a big deal most of the time but some parts of my skin tan, some stay lily-white (or burn in about 3 minutes). Being in the sun hours and hours a day – either riding or walking – enhanced my blotchiness by tanning my “good” parts, even with 60 SPF on. It’s more cosmetic than a health issue, but still annoys the fuck out of me. I’ve had to vainly start applying self-tanner to even things out a bit and eliminate the “Guernsey effect.”

I promise I’m not orange.

Telecommunications

After months of waiting, I was finally able to jailbreak my iPhone and pop in a local SIM card to use  without paying AT&T roaming charges. It was a beautiful thing while it lasted. Sadly, it went missing while I was in Madrid – and I’m still not sure if I left it somewhere or if it was nicked while I wasn’t paying attention.

I now have an unlocked cell phone that I use for local calls (replacing the SIM in countries I’m staying around for a while) and I picked up an iPod Touch for all the other iPhone functions I would rather not live without. Skype, Accio Language dictionaries, Evernote, OffMaps, HootSuite and Kindle top the list of my most used apps.

Cycling

As I mentioned in part 1, riding has been one of the best parts of the trip. The bike comes with a couple downsides, though.

With a load on it, the bike limits you to around 80 miles a day, preferably not more than 60, fewer if there are hills along the way. That means it takes a while to get to a destination that’s 300 miles away. Physically, that kind of riding doesn’t phase me, but it does cause some other issues.

You’re constantly on the move. If you want to get from Paris to Bordeaux, you’re going to be on the road every day or it’s going to take you weeks to make the trek.

With daily packing & unpacking and 6 or 7 hours of ride time, it’s challenging to get to know people and places along the way. There are a lot of days when you do little more than eat breakfast, ride, shower, have dinner and sleep. For me, that’s actually a wonderful day – but at the same time, I felt like I wasn’t really getting to know the towns I sped past.

Spain, in particular, has not been a bike-friendly country when you get past the cities of Barcelona and Valencia. Bikes aren’t allowed on the high-speed rail (which is the case in several countries) and drivers in much of Spain aren’t using to seeing bikes on their roads.

So, what’s next on that front?

I’ve temporarily left the bike behind in Madrid, so I can hit up some destinations that would have been a serious logistical hassle. While I’m in England for the next few weeks, I’ll be looking at picking up a folding bike so that I can more easily transport it and still have wheels with me for rides around the area. I won’t be using it for point to point transportation, but since I’m planning extended stays in the cities I visit going forward, that becomes less of a focus anyway.

Cycling is an important facet for me, but I’m not one of those travelers who wants to be on the bike and riding to a new location every day.

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Whew. Long post. There’s more, but those are the big things. Next week – Part 3: Next destinations and goal updates.

A lot has happened over the past couple of months, so I’m splitting this up into 3 parts, to give each aspect its due. And milk this for a few more posts.

1) The destination highlights

2) Logistics & financials

3) The goals and what’s next

I’ve been to 5 countries in the past two months – England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Spain. Exploring each of them has been wonderful, but here are the parts that stand above the rest.

My favorite destinations

Seriously, if you're going to spend an afternoon reading in the park, isn't this a good one?

Paris. It’s still the peak of my travel love. This time I was able to spend time enjoying the culture and environment like a local, albeit for a couple of weeks. In addition to leisurely visiting parks and relaxing in many of the beautiful plazas of the city, I indulged in summer activities like watching films under the stars at the Parc du Villettes. Staying in a lovely flat away from the city center enriched the experience tremendously, and is something I hope to repeat at other destinations.

Belgium. I didn’t spend nearly enough time in Bruges and Antwerp – both of them were beautiful cities I knew little about before I rode in. Missing out on Brussels along the way gives me ample reason to return to the land of Tin Tin.

Bretagne and the Celtic Festival. There are a lot of established cycling routes in France, but a solo ride down the coast of Bretagne introduced me to an entirely new region of the country – coastal towns, ancient family farms and a huge Celtic festival in Lorient were the pinnacle of my attempt to see parts of the nation that were off the beaten path for most (foreign) travelers. I loved every minute of it.

Valencia, Spain. Aside from Paris, this was my favorite city along the way. A fascinating history, outstanding architecture (old and new) and a surprisingly strong flow of other travelers, even before La Tomatina kicked off.

The Parts I Haven’t Been Quite As Enamored With

Madrid, Spain. As cities go, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It had kind of a harsh, gloomy quality to it. There were certainly aspects I enjoyed, but the city center was filled with Cash for Gold hawkers (dozens of them), grabby hookers (I’m not kidding, several of them tried to grab my arm and pull me along with them – god knows where) and gambling halls. Madrid’s Museo del Prado boasts one of the largest collections of artwork in the world, but much of it was room after room of portraits that meant little to me. Seeing Hieronymous Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” was the only real highlight. That guy did some seriously messed up work, hundreds of years before Salvador Dali.

Amsterdam. I found the city and the people lovely throughout the Netherlands, but the tone of the place at night was just a bit much for me. I honestly love the openness about sex and weed, and it’s wonderful that there’s an understanding that people can responsibly partake in whatever activities they’d like. Those particular pursuits just weren’t my cup of tea, though, so after the first couple of nights of exploring and people watching, I generally ended up calling it a night early.

What I’m enjoying

Staying put for a while. That’s a bit of a travel oxymoron, but I’m really enjoying getting to know a town by spending a minimum of a week in the same place. The first couple of days are spent walking around, visiting the “required” sites and getting a feel for the place. Then I settle in, head to local cafes, sit in parks, read, write and just relax.

It’s a delicate balance because I also want to see a lot of towns and destinations that are off the beaten path. For example, I could have spent two weeks in Paris, followed by a train to Bordeaux and spent two weeks there, but I would have missed out on visits to Brest, Lorient, Quimper, Vannes and Nantes. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without them.

Not a view you get on a train.

Cycling through small towns. It gets my adrenaline going as well as sparking up the exploration nodes of my brain. Even on rainy mornings, the quiet pedaling through the empty hills and valleys of France, Belgium and the Netherlands have been an irreplaceable facet of the journey.

A wealth of cultural events I didn’t even know about. I certainly knew about the Tour de France and planned some of my trip around it, but watching the World Cup Finals with thousands of people in the town plaza of Lille, France had an indescribable energy to it (especially since Lille is pretty much equidistant between The Netherlands and Spain, the two competitors). Seeing the finale of the Tall Boat Races in Antwerp was an unexpected pleasure but little flea markets, regional celebrations and sporting events pop up everywhere if you look around a bit.

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Next up: How are the logistics and finances shaping up?

Sorry, I didn’t get any good photos of the guy who apparently died during his visit to the red light district (yes, DURING). But it was definitely interesting to watch the hullaballoo.

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Bikes were parked everywhere. The most in any one place was near the train station. This is about 1/3rd of a multi-level parking structure and bike parking area. Regardless of all the bikes, I was actually not comfortable riding around town. The way cars, bikes and trains cross paths, it’s like those old silent movies where the getaway car crosses the tracks milliseconds before the train rams it.

Bike parking by the train station.

Yes, yes. You’re comfortable with your sexuality. We get it. You don’t have to keep beating it to death. So to speak.

Nationaal Monument at Dam

I would estimate that 30% of bikes in Amsterdam are discarded and forgotten.

Bike or unique planter?

I thought it was cool that houseboats were apparently permanently moored by the canals.

Houseboats

Is there even room for a Dalmation in this car? I hope the hook n ladder truck is a bit larger.

Fire department vehicle

In case you were curious how furniture gets to the 5th floor with those tiny little staircases.

A "ladder-vator"

And finally… I’m more terrified by what this sign might mean than anything else I’ve seen in Europe.

DNA spray - WTF??

A few more alterations and updates to my plan based on how things have gone so far:

Communication:

Lesson #1: AT&T Sucks

My iPhone works when I have a wifi network in range, but I miss pulling up information and posting updates on the fly. Fuck AT&T. The fact that you can’t have an iPhone unlocked for use on other networks even after you’ve completed your contract is absurd.

With roaming data charges set at $20 for 1Mb, they’re dressing you like Jodie Foster and throwing you onto a pinball machine. Current hacker buzz is that there’s a software release to unlock my version of the iPhone in the next week or two, which will be a huge help.

Lesson #2: McDonald’s free wifi often makes them the cuisine of choice.

I’m sticking to my goals and eating local cuisine rather than a lot of fast food, but on a warm afternoon it’s great to grab a McFlurry and relax in an air conditioned environment while catching up on e-mail.

Lesson #3: Skype is a wonderful gift to the travel world.

I know, I didn’t just learn this but calling a friend in the US for 2 cents a minute? Amazing.

Transportation

Lesson #1: My navigation is excellent, my skills with my GPS? Not so much.

Two days in a row, I didn’t load my well planned route into my GPS. So, instead of settling in somewhere to find directions, I made it up as I went and followed my instincts. Let’s just say that I accidentally discovered that Belgium has some beautiful countryside & it’s impossible to tell when you have crossed the border from France. But eventually, I got to where I needed to be.

Lesson #2: Bicycles are not as easy to manage as I had hoped they might be

Coming from London, where they had secure underground parking, I had hoped I would meet similar facilities in France. Nope. Cycling is very common here, but primarily for short rides on cheap commuter bikes, which are then secured with locks the size and weight of a fire hydrant.

Most hotels and hostels will store the bike indoors for you, even if it’s in a storage room or utility closet. I don’t think my bike minds sharing a room with a mop bucket.

Lesson #3: Trains are not all bike friendly

Trains accept bicycles for some routes but not all, and I haven’t gotten the hang of which is which yet. While I’m planning on riding most of the trip, there are legs in which I’d like to take the train due to time considerations, or even on a day forecast for torrential downpours. On July 19th, for example, I don’t have time to ride from Amsterdam to Paris before I’m due there so I’ll be looking to hop a train, even if it means boxing up the bike as luggage (which seems the best alternative so far).

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Part 3 coming: Blogging and writing updates!

Open letter to Laureen Ong, President of Travel Channel

Dear Laureen,

Can I call you Laureen? Perhaps that’s a bit too familiar, but I have to tell you that I’m a fan of your work. Well, I’m a fan of Samantha Brown. So, I’d like to help you out a bit.

You need to pick up the broadcasting rights to the Tour de France. Oh, I know that Discovery Channel gave it a try and it didn’t work out, but that was all about poor execution. I know you can do it better.

I have to admit that I know next to nothing about bicycle racing. Sure, I ride a bike all the time but sorting through all the riders, the teams and the race tactics is as foreign to me as the languages the riders speak. Even sitting near the finish line of the Tour de France for Stage 3 in Arenberg, all I could do was cheer, clap and try to time my camera trigger finger to capture guys moving at 40 miles an hour.

And yet, I watch. Constantly. Which brings me to my point – there is an opportunity to pull in people who aren’t currently watching by taking advantage of all of the event’s other compelling qualities: travel, food, drama, human interest and competition.

For anyone interested in travel, especially to France, showing the Tour is an unbelievable chance to showcase the country. I watch it on television every year, but the viewing experience just doesn’t cut it right now unless you’re a hardcore racing fan (which is a pretty tight niche in the US).

Currently, the Tour is shown on Vs. – also known as the home of Ultimate Fighting, Bull Riding and 1000 Ways to Die. So, there’s a huge disconnect when you tune in to see overhead views of lush green valleys, stunning mountain passes and skinny guys in spandex. Sure, cycling is as full of testosterone as those other shows, but it’s artificially injected so it barely counts.

Because of how it’s covered, most people tune in to watch the race, but I gotta be honest, there are long stretches of time in which not much happens other than riders pedaling for an hour. It’s a made-for-Tivo event, which can’t make the advertisers happy.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

If the world worked the way I want, you’d be able to catch cycling’s biggest event on the Travel Channel. Here’s why:

It’s visually captivating

Each day, riders travel through new areas of French countryside (and sometimes Belgium, Spain and Italy as they careen down mountains and across borders). Most are places that tourists don’t often visit, but they host some of the most amazing natural beauty on the planet.

Plus, the camera work for Le Tour is spectacular. In addition to death-defying maneuvers by cameramen on motorbikes, you have regular shots from overhead helicopters capturing  the action, stunning scenery and local flavor.

Smaller locations deserve more air time:

France is a beautiful country. As much as I love all the places you cover on your programming, there’s much more to it than the “15 Disgusting Foods to Try in Paris with Anthony Bourdain.”

Lille, France was virtually unknown to me, but I visited to watch a stage of the Tour and when I got there, I was overwhelmed by the sights, the cafes, the architecture – all of them are top notch, without the overwhelming nature of Paris’s tourist scene.

Every region of France has similar discoveries.

Image: wikipedia creative commons

The coverage on Versus includes a brief overview of the route and the locale, but imagine how much better it could be with a correspondent who spends a day in each location learning about local cuisine, the history and stories about the people and culture?

Each town on the route turns the event into its own street festival, including parade. Even a blip on a map that passes by before a rider can shift gears plays to the cameras – creating oversized works of art by lining up campers, hay bales or whatever other tools they have at their disposal.

The Tour website already gives you a headstart, but I know you can do better with the experience and skill of your writers.

There’s over 100 years of race history to share

And not boring history, either.

There are whole libraries of books written about the Tour’s colorful past so I won’t even attempt to rehash that here, but think about it – for over a century, riders have been crazy enough to race thousands of miles over mountains. How could there NOT be great stories there? Cheating scandals (involving a train ride), crashes and the wildest spectators on the planet. In most sports, running onto the field will get you arrested. Here, runners dart into the middle of the road every day to encourage the participants.

Hard to believe that one of the most challenging events ever envisioned started in an attempt to sell newspapers!

Competition makes compelling viewing

Sure, most of your viewers don’t understand the sport. People who aren’t soccer fans see a bit of it and think “they just kick the ball around for an hour and sometimes it goes into a goal.” Cycle racing is no different. So, give viewers a primer of what the strategies are, how drafting works, how teams support a leader and the differences between sprinters, climbers and the domestiques. No need to beat it into people’s heads, but a bit of time explaining the basics will engage newer viewers.

The beauty of the Tour is that it’s not just about the overall winner – there are other competitions along the way: daily stage winners, King of the Mountains, Sprinters, Most aggressive and Best Young Rider.

It’s multi-cultural

This is on your website:

Through the engaging storytelling and unique perspectives of its on-air personalities, the Travel Channel creates travel content that inspires, entertains and taps into the human desire to experience new things, explore new places and engage with interesting people and cultures.

That statement describes every participant in the Tour, who come from dozens of nations and each have their own culture, background and perspective.

True human drama is better than so-called reality shows

Rider drama is rampant each year. Everyone knows Lance Armstrong’s story and how he overcame cancer to win 7 times. But there are almost 200 other riders each year who have dramatic and compelling stories to tell. Give viewers a horse to root for, even if it’s a fresh-faced rookie or a sprinter like Mark Cavendish, who won’t win the overall but broke down in tears after winning Stage 5.

Interpersonal conflict is inevitable. Racers have egos the size of the Tourmalet, so there are inevitably feuds and sniping along the way. Armstrong vs. Contador; Armstrong vs. Ullrich; Armstrong vs. LeMond; Armstrong vs. France. Okay, so Lance’s (second) retirement removes some of that, but someone will take his place.

Only a couple days ago a “bitch slap” fight broke out between Rui Costa and Carlos Barredo: see?

Add all of that together and you’ve now got a full month of live programming waiting for you each year – and unlike the way it’s currently shown, adding human stories and travelog to the broadcast makes it open to future re-broadcast and re-packaging (which doesn’t happen much at the moment).

In case you haven’t seen enough of the Tour to understand why it’s so amazing, here are some recommendations to get into it:

• Stage 17 – July 22^nd: The Tourmalet is one of the most famed climbs on the Tour, and is included most years, even though the route always changes. This year, it’s especially compelling as the finish line is at the top, which will mean a grueling final push to win the stage. In all likelihood, this stage will determine the final victor of the Tour.
• Stage 19 – July 24^th: The last “real” day of the tour (the final stage in Paris is normally ceremonial in nature and doesn’t allow much opportunity for riders to change their standings). As a time trial, this is very different from most of the race stages. It’s mano a mano as each racer rides the same course solo one at a time, a final test of individual effort rather than team tactics.

And Laureen? If you like this idea and can get the rights away from Versus, give me a ring. I’m available to consult (especially if Samantha Brown hosts).

Come on – who would have thought anyone would watch poker on TV? The Travel Channel made that work for several years – give this one a shot.

1. What made you decide to do this?
   • Eleanor Roosevelt said you should do one thing each day that scares you. I saved up to cash them all at once.
2. Is this a mid-life crisis?
   • The mid-life crisis was when ten years ago when I bought the Mercedes convertible and had the 23 year old girlfriend with ginormous fake breasts. This is better described as a “last ditch effort.”
3. What’s your budget? About $100,000 for a year?
   • $95,000 actually. Incredibly, there are some cities that still don’t have a Four Seasons.
4. Are you in good enough shape?
   • Hell no. But after riding 300 miles a week through the Alps for a month, I will be.
5. How are you getting over the ocean?
   • I wanted to use pontoons to pedal across, but I’m a shitty fisherman so food became an issue. You can only eat so many Clif Bars.
6. How do you get to Southeast Asia?
   • Practice.
7. What are you doing when you get back?
   • You assume I’ll survive the trip? Score one for me!
8. Where are you storing all your stuff?
   • In a van down by the river.
9. Are you doing it with a group?
   • Only if I’m very lucky or we get really drunk.
10. Do you wear a backpack with all your stuff in it?
    • Yes, and I packed a chiropractor in there to work out the kinks at the end of the day.
11. Do you have the route all planned out?
    • I did, but unfortunately I was holding the map upside down, so now I have to make it up as I go along.
12. Aren’t you afraid of being impotent from the bike riding? Or sterile?
    • If I believed impotence was a real risk of cycling, I’d have smashed my bike with a ball-peen hammer years ago. But sterility is A-OK in my book – more people should try it.
13. Are you only taking the one bike? Don’t you need a lighter bike to go up mountains?
    • The SAG vehicle will have my back-up ride in it. Unfortunately, towing a Saab wagon behind me will mean a shitload of pedaling.
14. What are you doing about medical insurance?
    • Isn’t universal health care available in the rest of the civilized world? And uncivilized? And pretty much everywhere?

My apologies to anyone who actually wanted to know answers to any of those questions, but I’m too excited to be serious right now!

12 days and counting!!

"My" castle... Image by jo.in.pink via Flickr

Tonight, the part of Joel Ward is going to be played by someone who’s not nearly as focused. With just over 3 weeks left, my brain is totally twisted into knots so I’m afraid this post is going to be a bit of a dumping ground and a quick offload of what’s been on my mind.

Winding Down:

As I head into my last full week of work, it brought to mind some of the wonderful experiences I had at DreamWorks. It really was a wonderful company to work for and while I may be leaving, it’s not out of frustration or dissatisfaction. I’m leaving for very positive reasons – to pursue a dream of my own.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve had the good fortune to work on some fantastic projects. So, if you’ll forgive the indulgence, I’m going to mention a few of them as a tribute and thank you to those who allowed me to participate in such magnificent project (and sure, it’s a bit of my own horn-blowing – sorry for that).

• Shrek The Musical: a truly wonderful show that I wish all the success in the world as it begins its national tour in Chicago next month. While I only managed a small piece on the business side, it was a tremendous experience to learn more about the Broadway world since my previous history with live shows was confined to within theme park gates.
• Universal Studios Singapore: this is the project that helped me finally decide to head out on my RTW trip. It was such a massive undertaking that I realized it put a nice period on the end of this phase of my career. With two entire lands (and a huge castle) devoted to DreamWorks films and characters, I had to draw on every bit of my past experience at one point or another – contracts, financial planning, ride development, marketing, merchandise and guest experience. The project filled a fair amount of the 3 years I spent at DreamWorks and was a nice bridge after working at Universal Hollywood for so many years.
• Royal Caribbean: the finale to my time with the company. With a press announcement last Friday about DreamWorks characters coming to the ships, it was a nice send-off for me as someone new takes the reins. I also learned to correctly spell “Caribbean.”

I also learned to correctly spell “Caribbean.”

Ramping Up

• Packing: Complete. I have been packing and repacking my gear so that I can get used to loading it on the bike regularly. I’m sure I’m still taking too much but c’est la vie. I’m not buying anything new, so if I toss it out along the way, there’s no harm.
• Purging: Not a lot left to do – but what’s left is big. Furniture and the car. I’ve been selling off small pieces along the way, but it’s about time to post the big stuff. I’m looking for a balance of getting the best price but not living without a bed & car for 3 weeks. That’s a tough line to straddle.
• Itinerary: I’ve lined up hostels for a couple of key points along the way (in areas I suspect will be near sell-out due to major events) and I connected with a friend whose family owns homes in Thailand so I’ll be set for my visit there later this year (assuming the terrible violence there subsides soon).
• Miscellaneous: ebooks are now available on my laptop and iphone for reading on long days on trains or in the rain; I’ve added translators and currency converters to my iphone and best of all, the Euro and British Pound are at their lowest rates (relative to the dollar) in years.

The Euro and British Pound are at their lowest rates in years.

Moving along

Cycling: With the busy work schedule, one unfortunate thing that’s been missing is cycling, so I won’t be in tip-top shape when I start traveling. The first month, however, doesn’t have any particularly long or hilly rides so I’ll be able to get up to speed before I get to the Alps or Pyrenees.

Last weekend, I did a fully loaded ride up to the top (more or less) of  Angeles Forest which was nearly 60 miles and 4300 ft. of elevation gain. It was slow, but it felt fine, so I’m not too concerned about what I’ve got coming.

Goodbye Los Angeles: After I get done with work, I have a week to play tourist in Los Angeles before I have to finish getting ready. It looks like a good friend of mine will be visiting, so I get to be tour guide and see some local sights one last time.

All in all, I’m in a wonderful place. Nervous but excited. Overwhelmed but full of optimism.

Bring it.

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With just seven weeks to go until I leave on my round the world trip, it’s about time I follow through on one of the commitments I made several months ago. I promised Jeremy at www.livingthedreamrtw.com that I would steal his sidebar tally idea for my own site. At long last, I’m keeping my word.

As I travel, here are some of the metrics I’ll be tracking. Regular updates will be available at “My World In Numbers” on my Route page and I’ll post a monthly update as a blog post.

Days of travel: 0
Days of rain: 0
Sick days: 0

Dollars spent (before departure): $1415.98
Dollars spent (on the road): $0
Dollars earned (on the road): $0

Countries visited: 0

Miles traveled:

by bike: 0
by train: Trips: 0; Kilometers: 0
by plane: Trips: 0; Kilometers: 0
by bus: Trips: 0; Kilometers: 0

Calories burned on the bike: 0

Pictures taken: 0
People interviewed: 0
Blog posts (before departure):
Blog posts (on the road):

Places stayed: 0
Nights without a bed: 0

New foods tried: 0
Times it made me gag: 0 puke: 0
Times eating ice cream: 0
Regional events attended: 0
Weddings crashed: 0

Times I’ve thrown my iphone against a wall: 0
Items I originally packed but threw out: 0

For those interested, my pre-departure spending includes a netbook, refurb of my bike (including new wheels built to withstand anti-aircraft missiles), spare parts and travel gear (the most costly being the panniers). I also included the pre-pay for my blog host & online services like Flickr and Carbonite.

Thanks to a stockpile of airline miles, my flight was free.

Anything else you’re interested in that you’d like me to add? Jeremy has a few fun metrics like “squat toilets used” but my brain really doesn’t want to go there quite yet.