Visa Required

I'm still trying to determine which path I'm going to take across Asia. I wanted a big picture view of the world where I could easily see which countries required an American citizen to get a visa. So I built a map to display a visual representation of what I had to look forward to. It isn't finished quite yet. I plan to include links in each country to direct you to that specific embassy so you can grab the documents you need. Click away, it's pretty fun.

I haven't been able to get it to present correctly inside Wordpress yet. So click Here to see the map.

5K

I ran my first 5K (3.1miles) last Sunday. The event was to raise awareness about the endangered cheetah and raise awareness for the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Honestly I was just there for the run, to see if I could do it or if I would punk out. Honestly I did better that I expected. I usually finish 5K in about 42min with a bit of run-walk on the tradmill. So when i finished with a time of 37:45 despite the many hills or the significant amount of rain I was pretty pleased.

Suprisingly I ended up not terribly sore the next few days. Certain muscles are far more awake now then they have been in the past but I usually consider that a good sign. I'll be looking forward to the next run. Hopefully with less hills and more sun.

Thanks go to Crystal for motivating me to get out there even though I didn't feel I was up to it.

Cargo Travel

I spoke with Joycene (sp?) from Freighter World Cruises again yesterday regarding my passage across the Atlantic next year. You see, I spoke with her about 2 months ago and she sent me all the information needed to book my room on the ship. Then I promptly lost it.

On my second call to Freighter World Cruises I was informed that she would not be sending me the information a third time (I'm pretty sure she was kidding, maybe...).

The packet includes information on the ship I will be travelling on, which will be the NSB Ibn Sina (ignore the India part), from Savannah, Georgia to Valencia, Spain in Single Cabin #303. The packet also includes the requirements for travel, such as, Travel Insurance, Clean Bill of Health, all necessary vaccinations, Visas, Proof of Passage out of Spain, etc...

To book the cabin a downpayment of 25% is required. For my segment of the journey this will be about $329US.

The total, after conversion, deviation insurance, and fees is $1559US. Substantially more expensive than a flight across the pond but for 13 days of an experience I can get nowhere else I'll happily write the check.

 More to come, I'll be calling the Iranian Consulate today to find out how difficult it will be to get a visa to cross their country overland.

Heres the route for the NSB Ibn Sina: