Going Away Party

Quick note, if you are in the Austin area this Sunday at 6pm, join Ricky and I for a lovely sunset booze cruise to celebrate our departure on Lake Austin (email for specifics). I will be posting awesome pictures from the Kalalau Trail in Kauai, Hawaii which I just got back from as soon as I get them! Ricky leaves for Costa Rica on August 5th. I leave August 24th-28thish. I may be flying to San Francisco before Los Angeles to visit! Peace, TP

Greetings!

Hi. This is the my travel blog in which I will share my experiences over the next few months and beyond while I prepare, engage in and reflect upon 4 months around Oceania and Southeast Asia. I have been preparing for this journey for about 1 year and am ready, anxious and willing for an adventure at the opposite end of the earth where I hope to not "find myself" (I have a pretty good idea of who I am, and what I stand for) but to share with my friends and family how my experiences shape me and how beauty in far off places can inspire my passion for the world. As for my reasoning behind all this: why not? I am young, fresh out of formal university education, have very little obligations which hold people back from taking off to a far, far place (sold my car, have a simple/happy job, no intense relationship, am finished with school - for now). I am fresh, ready for a challenge on a Vietnamese highland or a relaxing day on a Samoan beach. Speaking of specific places, I will post the actual itinerary in a later post - for suspense. Some posts will be simple, some will be just pictures, but some may be lengthy diatribes into my mentality, filled with emotions an crass, near unintelligible thought! hahaha! With that said I will keep my posts real and mostly unedited as if I am telling of the experience firsthand to a best friend or remembering them myself. Therefore, expect some "interesting" or "funny" or "risque" posts. But hey, life happens and I am going to share some of it, but not all of it! Some people will check out the blog to see pretty pictures and say "damn, I wish I could be there" or "honey, we should do what he is doing". Some view the blog to analyze my crazy ways or just see how life is "over there". Some will just check it because they met me at Barton Springs in Austin one day and I wrote this on a slip of paper for them to help them pass time at their cubicle. Some will check it out just to see if I am still alive (Mom, Dad, I will be fine). I will allow comments and encourage them on most posts. As for other specifics, I leave August 28th and am slated to return December 21st of 2008. I will be travelling with my good ol amigo Richard "Rowdy" Restrepo and I will post a link to his blog as well. We were going to have a combined blog, but we already know we are going to get sick of each other so decided against it. For the first few weeks after my departure on the 28th, I will also be travelling with Haylen, who is already travelling in Costa Rica at the moment and you can check out his blog here; http://halen.sampasite.com/. I will respond to emails and comments and will try to be as frequent as a poster as possible, but as I have found out from life, expectations when travelling are never what you think they will be. That and I dont want to be hooked on the internet the whole time. I have a good hunch I will be writing a lot, blog or not, so maybe ill spit out a book of sorts when I am "done". Later this week I depart for a family trip to Kauai, Hawaii that many can see as a sort of Pacific pre-trip. I will take an intense trip to camp alone in the Na'pali Coast State Wilderness Area, which should be awesome! much love to all who will be mentally travelling with me, taylor