Tucker Goes Global

How to Plan a Trip Around the World

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Michael Tucker

The planning and preparation for my around-the-world trip was part of the fun. In case you are thinking of taking your own trip and could use a game plan, here is how I did it. This post includes:

A pre-trip checklist to show you how to prepare
A detailed travel budget in Excel including my actual log of credit card expenses and ATM withdrawals over 11 months of international travel.
A what-to-pack list
A checklist for basic preparation for visiting any new country
Links to every key inspirational, informational, research, booking, and business resource I used for my trip

Why not take a first step today?

Pre-Trip Checklist

As I counted down the days until my trip began, I checked off the items on this list of activities to be accomplished beforehand.

Contribute money toward savings goal (Note: As you plan your savings goal, don’t forget to include funds to cover the time immediately after you return if you won’t have a job at that point.)
Sell house
Sell / give away furniture, extra clothes, appliances, etc.
Write and submit letter of resignation for work
Outline a rough month-by-month itinerary
Research around-the-world airfare prices and alternatives
Research and acquire credit and ATM cards to use abroad
Get visas for early countries that require them (others can be obtained while traveling)
Visit a travel clinic to get immunizations and prescriptions
Write a will and durable power of attorney (I never got around to this, but it would have been smart)
Set up mail scanning service
Set up mail forwarding with U.S. Post Office
Change address with banks and credit card companies
Notify banks and credit card companies I am traveling abroad
Buy travel insurance/health insurance
Cancel auto insurance/homeowner’s insurance/utilities
Buy power adapter and 4-outlet travel power strip (Note: I also bought a voltage converter, but it turned out my electronics could plug right into a $2 power adapter with no concerns.)
Move remaining belongings to Mom and Dad’s house

Budget and Financial Resources

I paid for my trip with money I saved in advance. To access money, I used a Capital One Venture credit card (no cost for first year, no foreign currency transaction fees, 2% rewards) and a Charles Schwab ATM card (no cost, refunds on worldwide ATM fees).

I did research on expenses before the trip and made a detailed budget in my Google Drive. During the trip I reviewed all the charges on my credit and ATM cards at least once per week, entered them into my expense tracking spreadsheet, and checked whether I was staying within budget. I used cash for most daily expenses and did not log each individual cash purchase; just each ATM withdrawal.

I budgeted $41,000 and actually spent $38,000 traveling abroad for 11 months. The same basic trip could be done for less; I frequently chose private accommodations, comfortable transportation options, and expensive destinations over budget-friendly alternatives. It would have been possible to save $5,000 by making these three changes:

Purchase a round-the-world airfare with the same core destinations instead of individual tickets ($2,000)
Exclude Japan and spend those two weeks someplace along my route instead ($2,000)
Spend four more weeks in India/Thailand and four fewer London/Paris ($1,000)

If you have Excel you are welcome to download my budget and expense tracking spreadsheet and adapt it for your own use.

I purchased an insurance policy from World Nomads that included health care and travel mishap coverage for $1,000 per year.

Packing List

I decided to start with stuff I already had and see how it went. At times I was under-dressed or slightly uncomfortable or wearing something that was not objectively “clean,” but mostly had what I needed. I made adjustments along the way, acquiring useful new stuff and giving away things I was not using. Here is what I carried:

Luggage: Briggs & Riley roll-aboard suitcase, Jansport Equinox 33 backpack.

Electronics: Apple MacBook, Amazon Kindle Fire, Sony Cyber-shot, travel-sized power strip, universal power adapter. I used the laptop for writing, saving and editing photos, and travel research. I used the Kindle for music and books (including travel guides) and accessing the Internet on the go at airports and coffee shops. The Cyber-shot was great because I could carry it in my pocket, it had enough battery life and storage space to last on trekking trips, and it took awesome pictures. I didn’t use a mobile phone while abroad.

Clothes: One pair of jeans, one sweater, two long-sleeve thermal shirts, one scarf, one rain jacket, one pair of sneakers, one pair of athletic shoes, one pair of flip-flops, six t-shirts, two button-down or polo shirts, one pair of shorts, one warm hat, one sun hat, one swim suit, ten pairs each of socks and underwear. When I needed special stuff like a rain poncho, down jacket, or hiking pants, I either rented it or bought it cheaply and gave it away afterward. When I bought something new I gave away something old. I usually dropped off laundry for wash/dry/fold service, paying five to ten dollars.

Medicines: malaria pills, Cipro, Ibuprofen, Imodium, antihistamines, cold and flu tablets.

Documents: passport (with visas within), photocopies of passport, extra passport photos, immunization record (yellow card), online access to my bank and credit card accounts and budget and expense tracking spreadsheet.

Finding Flights and Inspiration

I used booking.com and Air B’n’B to find most of my accommodations and Kayak and Sky Scanner to find most of my flights. I bought several Lonely Planet guidebooks and used Trip Advisor and Wikitravel for travel information. Sometimes if I was going someplace for just a few days I would download the free sample of a guidebook, copy the “Top Experiences”, and then research them on the Internet myself.

As I was getting excited about going on this trip and thinking about destinations, I was inspired by:

The Four-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss – Contemporary philosophy and methodology for lifestyle, business, and travel
Go Backpacking by David Lee and Explore for a Year by Lily Leung – around-the-world blogs by likeable 30-something travelers
Travel Independent – travel planning web site
Air Treks – exciting around-the-world airfare route ideas and pricing

New Destination Checklist

As I prepared to move from country to country here are the minimum steps I would take to be ready for arrival:

Read the U.S. Department of State country summary and other resources as needed to understand immigration requirements:
- Do you need a visa? If so, do you need it in advance?
- Do you have to pay for a visa or entry fee upon arrival? If so, in what currency?
- Do you need to bring any special documents, forms, or photographs of yourself?

Look up currency exchange rate
Determine transportation from airport/train station/bus station
Learn key phrases in native language (Hello, Goodbye, Please, Thank you, Do you speak English? How much does this cost?)
Learn the culture’s expectations for giving tips
Determine whether it is safe to drink tap water

Back Home

I opted to quit my job, sell my house, and sell/give away most of my stuff. I chose the “permanent” approach rather than temporary alternatives because I wasn’t sure where I would end up after a year of traveling. Incidentally, I am hoping to end up right back where I started (I had it good!). While on the trip I kept in touch with people through this blog and email. I purchased mail-opening service from Mailbox Forwarding and had all my mail sent to the address they set up for me. They scanned my mail and I read it online.

Web Site

I used WordPress to create this site and it is hosted on Blue Host. The theme is GoodSpace.

Posted in 1. Planning Your Trip / Reflections and Lessons | Comments Off

A Trip Around the World – Lessons Learned

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Michael Tucker

Seeing wonders such as Christo Redentor, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal. Trekking in Peru and Nepal. Camping in the Amazon. Hitting the beach in Tamarindo, Florianopolis, Cancún, and Marseille. Eating and drinking at Buenos Aires parrillas, Rio de Janeiro churascurias, Berlin beer gardens, London pubs, Paris Michelin-starred restaurants, Tokyo sushi counters, and Bangkok street food stalls. Hanging out in castles and palaces, slums and favelas. Staying in homes, hostels, ryokans, hammocks, boats, monasteries, and 4-star hotels. Studying and practicing meditation and Spanish. Visiting holy sites in Istanbul, Kyoto, Kathmandu, and Pushkar. Meeting old and new friends along the way. Writing one hundred pages of memories and taking a few thousand photographs. Traveling 55,000 miles and visiting 22 countries. That’s how I spent my year.

Then I packed my suitcase one last time, got on a plane, and came home.

Worth it? Yes. Best year of my life? Yes. Learn anything? Many things, but most importantly these:

Life Lessons

I am very rich. Several people told me so along the way, and looking around at the rest of the world it was easy to see they were right.

Being happy, helping others, and purifying our thoughts, words, and actions–these are fundamental to living a meaningful and successful life. Each is a skill that can be practiced, developed, and cultivated. Understood properly, they are also the same thing.

It is important to have a set of principles that you strive to live up to and measure yourself against, and it is good to have teachers, role models, and friends to support you in that pursuit.

Achieving lasting world peace, ending the negative effects of poverty, and devising means for sustainable resource use should be the top political priorities of the world until they are all accomplished. Citizens should hold their leaders accountable, and leaders should hold each other accountable for making constant progress toward these critical objectives.

Every day we should do the essential, then the important, then whatever we want.

Travel Lessons

Don’t be put off by others dismissing a place as “too touristy”. After all, why does a place become “touristy”?–because a lot of people want to go there. And why do a lot of people want to go there?–frequently, because it is awesome.

If you did the same thing as someone else (flight, tour, hotel, or purchase), don’t ask or tell them how much you paid. One of you will feel bad.

Current mishaps can become future great memories. You might get sick, lost, scammed, robbed, delayed, re-routed, rained on, threatened by animals, homesick, lonely, stuck in uncomfortable places, harrassed, or exhausted. I did, and it was worth it.

It is worth the time to take pictures and to help other people take their pictures.

The key to having a good time is to maintain a relentless positive attitude.

In the Third World…

It is easy to get annoyed by hawkers constantly offering you taxis, tours, trinkets, and drugs. Resist the urge to be rude or offer some cunning reply. They are just trying to make a living–likely a very modest one–and they too would probably prefer not to bother you if they had a better option.
Try not to get scammed, but don’t feel bad if you do–especially if it is just for a few dollars. Some tricksters are very good at their schemes and you can’t recognize them every time.
Negotiate on purchase prices, but remember that the last couple of dollars probably mean a lot more to the seller than to you.
It is best to tip when expected, even if a situation is obviously (and awkwardly) manufactured for the express purpose of “earning” a tip.
It is counterproductive to import your First World standards. Transportation will be delayed, plans will be deviated from, communication will be poor, bathrooms will be terrifying, thieves will be lurking, business processes will be inefficient, people will stare or smile at you creepily. Make peace with all of this in advance and many great times will be had.

Posted in 1. Planning Your Trip / Reflections and Lessons | 12 Comments

Vietnam – Hanoi

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Michael Tucker

Although its overall feel is casual, Hanoi has an measure of upscale in its mix. It is a fun place for shopping, and while you could browse designer stores such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Salvatore Ferragamo, the real action is at the local boutiques selling knock-offs with tacky labels that might as well say “not Dolce & Gabana”. There are also bakeries and hundreds of cafes throughout the city, selling mainly hot espresso drinks (as opposed to the sweet iced coffee popular in the south). All in all, French colonization has its benefits.

The Vietnamese have a unique take on the “sidewalk cafe”–scores of micro-kitchens set up on busy pedestrian streets (presumably rent-free), usually with no more equipment than could be carried away on the back of its proprietor (or, more likely, balanced precariously on the back of a motorbike). The meats at these places require curiously little refrigeration. For a communist nation the restaurant permitting process seems distinctly non-bureaucratic.

Feeling I could afford to gamble my digestive health, I sat down for lunch at a tiny soup stand in an Old Town back alley. The menu, written with red marker on the adjacent white building said “bun mqo”. I knew “bun” was noodles and that “mqo” was not chicken, beef, or pork. The old lady brought me a bowl of soup and after a few bites I determined that “mqo” was in fact an acronym: meat of questionable origin. What did I have here–pig ear? tripe? catfish head? Setting the question aside while I ate, it tasted good–so I finished up, paid, and walked away without asking any questions.

Bun Bo

Bun “MQO”

Delicacy-slash-public-enemy, the foul-smelling durian is banned from airplanes, hotels, and public transportation, making it the most heavily restricted fruit of the post-Eden era. I found it for sale at a fruit stand, pointed to the spiky green whole fruits, and said doubtfully, “I want to eat that…” The lady pointed back at a stack of plastic packages containing some shapeless, yellow, moldy pulp. “That’s what’s inside?” I exclaimed, horrified, but pressed ahead. As I sat down to “enjoy” my purchase, the lady handed me–not a fork or a spoon–but a plastic glove. Delightful. The smell was non-frightening but the texture was considerably worse; it quickly began to squish and smear over the glove. I cradled it in my palm and took a bite–it had the consistency of boiled banana and tasted alternately like a mild mango and pot roast gravy. After a few more bites I asked myself “why are you still eating this?” and gave up.

Does this look or taste like food? No.

At Halong Bay I went kayaking among the karsts, shopping at the floating markets, and exploring through the enormous extra-terrestrial caves. Sun sets early in the winter, and it is peaceful on the bay at night (except for karaoke machines blasting from our boat and others).

Kayaking at Halong Bay

Halong Bay

Halong Bay’s limestone cave

Live Seafood Market, Halong Bay

Snack Barge

On the way to the Perfume Pagoda near Hanoi we took one of the row boats powered by local women. Having been exhausted from paddling just myself in a kayak for 45 minutes, I was impressed when she pulled six of us across the water for an hour. After docking, it was a mere two thousand stair steps to the pagoda, which is in fact a temple within another mysterious limestone cave. The site is considered the holiest for Vietnamese Buddhists, and hundreds of thousands of pilgrims make a visit shortly after each lunar new year.

Huong Tich Cave, Perfume Pagoda

Sectional Sofa, Hanoi Style

Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, Hanoi

Responsible for tax code loopholes, insider trading, and bribes: National Financial Supervisory Omission

Responsible for tax loopholes, insider trading, and bribes: National Financial Supervisory Omission

Mobile Fruit Vendor, Hanoi

Tree at Ho Chi Minh’s House

Boat Ride to Perfume Pagoda

Posted in Vietnam - Hanoi | 2 Comments

Vietnam – Hoi An

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Michael Tucker

While the fish I have eaten in Vietnam have been delicious, they have not been the only source of fish flavor in the cuisine. After having eaten “fish sauce” with virtually every meal, I looked up the recipe: liquid extract of anchovies coated in sea salt and left to age in a wood barrel for over a year…yummy! Still unsatisfied with their fish-tasting options, Vietnamese chefs discovered the “fish herb”. Frequently camouflaging itself as basil or mint where it might stow away in an unsuspecting lettuce wrap or bowl of pho, it has often left me wondering “What is this strange and unwelcome…oh, fish herb, you got me again!”

Grilled Snapper, Ben Thanh Market, Saigon

Fish with caramelized onion sauce at Morning Glory, Hoi An

Pork Cau Lau (bites of which may taste like fish--surprise!)

Pork Cau Lau (bites of which taste like fish–surprise!)

Hoi An is a great place to borrow a bicycle and cruise around on the well-paved but quiet roads, with or without a particular destination in mind. Head north or east, and you’ll end up at the beach. Head south and you’ll end up in the ancient town, where 16th century Taoist temples and Chinese Assembly halls still remain.

Fishermen's boats (often mistaken for UFO's by fish)

Fish warn each other of strange abductions by these UFO’s

Dragons protecting ancestor icons

The Three Gates

Coiled incense with hand-written prayer inside

The fierce guardian

Staring contest: Dragon vs. Goat

Along the way you might cross rice paddies or small rivers and see people living the small town life. On the outskirts, coffee shops are full of men playing games, each shop dedicated to either cards or checkers. A customers jump off his motorbike, spots another patron unoccupied, and invites him to a game.

Boats on the river

Souvenir vendors greet you with “You buy something?!?!” Is it intended as question or a command? Or left purposely ambiguous?

In the nearby Marble Mountains, flights of stairs carved into the stone lead to pagodas and caves housing large Buddha statues. From the peaks you can see the ocean, agricultural fields, and the skyline of Da Nang.

Marble Mountains

It’s a quiet place, especially in this week’s rainy weather.

As November ends, I can’t help but realize that almost a year has passed. Has the time flown? No, not at all. Almost every day has been unique, every destination has been an era unto itself, so many sensory and thought experiences have presented themselves new and different–if anything, time has seemed to pass more slowly. But now I’m already reminiscing about the places I have been, looking through photographs, and feeling nostalgic. I guess it should be no surprise, but it was difficult to start and now it is difficult to end.

But conclusions can wait, there is still one more two-week vacation to be enjoyed.

Hoi An sea shore

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Vietnam – Saigon

Posted on November 24, 2013 by Michael Tucker

Saigon is a city in motion, and one of its signature features is the preponderance of motorbikes. They swarm the streets, park on the sidewalks, and even double as unlikely day beds with folks sprawling out over the tops of them. As a pedestrian, crossing the street is a fun little game. Without the advantage of stoplights to create intervals free of oncoming traffic, the maxim “look twice” is replaced with “don’t look, just go”, keeping faith that the bikes will all swerve around you as you cross. And somehow, they do.

Picture stepping into the fray

In another fortuitous international crossing of paths, Daniel and Leah were in town this week and the three of us took a tour of Saigon’s most acclaimed street food stalls, getting around (naturally) on the backs of our guides’ motorbikes. The dishes were all delicious, and the overall menu of this epic progressive meal was thoughtfully planned. Here is what we ate:

Papaya salad with prawn wafers, beef jerkey, peanuts, basil, fish sauce, and chili sauce
Thin rice noodles stuffed with ground pork and green onions, topped with fried onions
Vermicelli with pork sausage, grilled pork steak, fried spring roll with ground peanuts and fish sauce
Fried cakes of rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric topped with shrimp or ground pork (eaten wrapped in lettuce leaves and fresh herbs and dipped in fish sauce)
Mango, sticky rice, and coconut ice cream / Dark sticky rice, ice cream, blackberry preserves

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While we are here, Daniel and I are taking a page from Son’s playbook and ordering some custom clothing from Tailor Chanh. It is fast and affordable here to get suits made to order, either by bringing an example to be copied or just letting them take your measurements and picking out a fabric. Further, it’s fun and I was most pleased by the quality of the items I received.

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One of the Vietnamese experiences we sought was drinking bia hoi, a beer that is served the same day it is brewed (for $0.25 per liter). We found it in a genre-defining dive bar: an old machinist shop, rows of community tables with plastic chairs, a surprising number of customers for noon on a weekday, almost all men with almost all their teeth, and the occasional rat scurrying across the floor. The beer was light and refreshing, served from re-purposed plastic bottles and poured over ice (if you dare).

Bia Hoi

We visited the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a Taoist temple with fierce deities surrounding its alter and the War Remnants Museum which was distinctly North Vietnamese in perspective (e.g., totally unforgiving to the United States). We shopped the unfamiliar offerings in the markets and grocery stores, tasted culinary staples like Pho and Ca Phe Sua Da, and hung out in the city’s rooftop bars. Compared to Thai Coffee which is made with brewed coffee or even Nescafe, the Vietnamese version (Ca Phe Sua Da) kicks it up a notch by using espresso. Mixed with condensed milk and served over ice, it is an intense blast of sweetness and bold coffee flavor that always jolts my eyes wide open with the first straw full.

Emperor Jade Pagoda

Pho

Ca Phe Sua Da

Rooftop view of Saigon River

Viet-nap

Posted in Vietnam - Saigon | 2 Comments

Thailand – Bangkok

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Michael Tucker

Remembering all those episodes of “No Reservations”, I felt particularly smug sitting on a tiny plastic stool and sweating over a steaming bowl of noodles in a dim Bangkok alley. Like Tony Bourdain, this city has a way of making even mundane activities seem adventuresome and cool. “I went out for a walk. Then I got kind of lost and there were no other white people around. But then I found a place that sold food. And I ate there. And it was good. And it was cheap.”

Pork and Wonton Soup

Spicy Tom-Yum Soup

After a six week separation through Nepal and India (except at the trustworthy 5-star Taj Rambagh Palace), my arrival in Bangkok has me and meat reunited (…and it feels so good). The street food scene here is glorious, with pad thai, fried chicken, meat kebabs, grilled fish, and noodle soups of roast pork, duck, or fish balls all available for about $1 USD. Between meals, skewers of watermelon, pineapple, and mango and Thai coffees, Thai teas, bubble teas, and tropical fruit smoothies have kept my blood sugar levels and my spirits up.

Grilled skewers being served up at Jatujak Market

Thai Tea Time

Thin discs of fortune cookie dough with marshmallow cream and sugared-and-spiced fruit pulp. When I asked the lady what it is called, she looked at me like I was an idiot and stated the obvious: “Pancake.”

Thailand’s frequent political drama has flared up again since I arrived. The history leading up to it goes something like this: in 2006, then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra got crosswise with some influential folk and was ousted in a coup d’etat. In 2008 he was convicted of political corruption during his term and fled Thailand to avoid his jail sentence, but somehow remained popular and influential. Between 2006 and now, many of Thailand’s Prime Ministers have appeared to be puppets that Thaksin controls from abroad, including the current PM (his younger sister). When his sister’s political party recently introduced an amnesty bill that would pardon violators of political offenses (including Thaksin), 9 senators resigned in order to organize protests against the government as civilians.

In an embarrassingly deficient display of survival skills, it took me three encounters to muster the curiosity to figure out what the heck is going on. First, on the ride from the airport my taxi driver informed me that we would have to re-route as we passed streets blockaded by razor wire and armored police. Second (the following day), after growing impatient from sitting motionless in traffic I abandoned my taxi to walk home, promptly took a wrong turn, and had an awkward stroll as the sole pedestrian on a half-mile street lined with around 300 police officers. Third, while weaving through crowds cheering at a passionate speech taking place at the Democracy Monument I wondered obliviously ‘what is this guy yelling about and why are all these people blowing whistles and standing between me and my tom-yum soup?’ The speaker was one of the resigned senators, Suthep Thaugsuban.

Luckily all the protest activity has been peaceful allowing me to wander freely. Thailand is a Buddhist nation and Bangkok holds some of its most famous temples. Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho are incredibly glitzy, decked out with shimmering tile roofs, gold trim everywhere, and giant multicolored spires soaring into the sky. Not to mention the treasures within: an enormous gold-covered Buddha at Wat Pho and a little one carved from green jasper at Wat Phra Kaew. No wonder the young monks at Kopan Monastery who make pilgrimages to Thailand come back calling the city “Bling-kok”. Wat Arun is similarly impressive for the hundreds of statues carved into its single spire; it’s gold is all concentrated in one chubby statue that greets you at the entrance.

Stupas at Wat Pho

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Arun

“Welcome to the city of good old Wats”

Like the variety of the street food and the gold in the temples, the shopping scene here is seemingly limitless. I had my camera lens cleaned in Pantip Plaza, a 5-story shopping mall of only electronics stores, and then crossed over to Platinum Fashion Mall where half the shoppers were toting suitcases behind them. I never go shopping with such high hopes, but why shouldn’t I? Feeling relatively confident that they are meant to be worn by men-dressed-as-men, I bought a couple of sports shirts by the Thai brand “Lady’s Boys”. In a sign of the times, I had to tango my way through crowds filling the labyrinths of retro and hipster clothing booths around Siam Center and in Jatujak Market, but found myself virtually alone in the aisles of vendors selling religious statues.

If you someday find yourself exhausted in Bangkok after a day of temples, shopping, street food, and swimming at your hotel pool, I recommend stopping into your neighborhood spa for a rejuvenating Thai Massage. In addition to the usual muscle kneading, it involves stretching and a few back-cracking twists and turns. For one hour, $7 USD.

Posted in Thailand - Bangkok | 2 Comments

India – Agra & Ranthambore

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Michael Tucker

While Phil Specter is the acknowledged creator of the “Wall of Sound”, the Indian inventor of the “Wall of Smell” remains anonymous. His ingenuity, however, can be found in a variety of unexpected locations–olfactory force fields that leave one staggering backward with an expression of confusion and shame as if they had walked nose-first into a well-Windexed sliding glass door.

With public school on vacation, I transitioned to another of Sankalp’s volunteer programs: Street Kids School. In Jaipur there are many children who, for various reasons, spend their days roaming the streets–begging, foraging for themselves, or just wandering around. This school offers them an alternative–a structured environment to receive supervision and basic education even if they never enroll in a “real school”. Their school day begins at 10:00 am with English class until 11:30, then a break for lunch/recess to play with the volunteers, then math class from 12:00 to 1:00.

There is one full-time teacher and she divides the students up among the volunteers. We each gather our group in a corner of the school room and lead them through simple lessons that we plan ourselves. As students, the kids are like the Bad News Bears–loveable and hilarious to watch but constantly inventing ways to frustrate their coach. Rohit methodically dancing his way across the classroom, oblivious to the unsolved equation “2 x 1 =” on the blackboard. Sanju sniffing her snot yo-yo back up an inch before it reached the floor. Sneha sharpening her pencil into oblivion. Dhanoo sustaining her peaceful protest against writing in her notebook. Arun chasing 3 times 8 down the rabbit hole. “25!” “No.” “26!” “No.” “27!” “No.” “28!” “No.” “29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35!!!”

Future speaker of fluent English

Future conqueror of algebra

Future Bollywood dance idol

Recess: a crafty batsman defending his wicket before throngs of adoring fans

Over the weekend I had the good luck to catch up with my friends Aroon and Smita who were in Jaipur for the wedding of a friend. We did a little sight-seeing at the Amber Fort and the Birla Temple, a little shopping, and then finished the day at a very fancy Diwali party at the Taj Rambagh Palace hotel. The hotel has an enormous garden which was decorated with lights and flowers, there were Rajasthani musicians and dancers performing, fireworks, and an incredible buffet of Indian dishes and desserts. As always, it was most welcome to have old friends in new places.

Birla Temple

The next night, the volunteers had our own Diwali party at our house. Our program directors had acquired a ridiculous stockpile of fireworks, and after a special dinner and dressed in our most Indian outfits we headed to the roof to light them. Many of the surrounding homes and businesses were decorated with “Christmas lights” and seemingly every household was lighting fireworks. Between the hours of 9:00 and midnight, the skyline was ablaze and the sound of explosions was constant. It took us over two hours to detonate our arsenal, and on account of our small roof space, sparks and ash from our own and neighbors’ rockets were landing all about us. With respect to thrill-seeking, safety standards, and regard for the environment, it was a quintessential third-world experience–and a good party.

Diwali lights from our rooftop

The next day we rode to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Agra maintains a low-traffic zone around the building specifically to protect it from pollution damage, but on the day after Diwali we could barely see it standing out from the white clouds as we sipped chai on a hotel rooftop. (Side note: when in India, if you are offered a masala chai do not pass it up. The ubiquitous hospitality beverage of milk heated and brewed with black tea, sugar, and spices is perfect for any time of the day. Of the local non-alcoholic comfort drinks I have tasted on this trip, my top 5 would be: 5) Argentinian mate, 4) Turkish apple tea, 3) Brazilian açai smoothie, 2) Indian masala chai, and 1) Costa Rican “licuados”).

The next morning the viewing was better and we visited the building up close. It lives up to the hype; it is easily the most beautiful building I have ever seen. Just after sunrise we walked around all four of its symmetrical sides and then into the mausoleum. Awesome place to see in person.

Taj Mahal orange at sunrise

Taj Mahal – the splendid approach

The next weekend we traveled to Ranthambore. We made the requisite visit to the local fort (the 7th Indian fort I have seen) and in the morning went for a jeep safari in Ranthambore National Park. While we didn’t see the grand prize of tigers in the wild, we did find several antelope, gazelles, deer, and exotic birds.

Ganesh Temple at Ranthambore Fort

Kingfisher

Heron

Antelopes

Gazelle

The prevalence of cows in India is not just a rumor, it is a reality. They are allowed to wander free in the cities and are the only participants in the traffic game that have an acknowledged right-of-way. Goats and monkeys also mingle with people in urban areas, but the cows seem to outnumber and outrank them. Here are a few of my favorites.

Jodhpur bazaar shopper

Highway patrolman

Jaisalmer early riser

Pushkar faithful

Rare purple-horn

Posted in India - Agra & Ranthambore, India - Jaipur | 2 Comments

India – Rajasthan Road Trip

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Michael Tucker

This week in Jaipur I visited the two sites that are now my favorites in the city: Galtaji (The Monkey Temple) and Amber Fort. Galtaji is a complex of Hindu temples set on a hill with craggy, reddish rock formations rising up around it. The temples are attractive and after a medium walk up to the top of the hill there are good views of the city below. Best of all, there are hundreds of monkeys living on the grounds and you can buy bags of peanuts to feed them. They come up and take them right out of your hand!

Galta Temple (Monkey Temple)

“Peanuts, you say? Don’t mind if I do.”

The palace inside Amber Fort has attractive architecture and intricate pattern designs on its walls. It features a pretty garden set on an island in the surrounding moat.

Amber Fort

Island Garden, Amber Fort

At school we progressed through colors, body parts, shapes, weather, and even phonetic sounds (although “P” and “Z” remain elusive). Despite the intrigue of our lessons, competition for students’ attention was fierce and often lost to the allure of blowing up and popping plastic bags, making paper airplanes, or drawing on their own hands. Oh well. One time as I pulled the chalkboard eraser from a high window, a lizard jumped from it onto my head and then ran across the classroom floor. Thus ended any chance of learning that day.

5th Grade

3rd Grade

The end of the school week marked the end of a term for the students, and they will be on vacation for two weeks. Over the next five days, 10 of us volunteers took a road trip across Rajasthan.

We started in Jodhpur where we visited Mehrangarh Fort and shopped around the bazaar at night (forts and bazaars are to Indian tourism as churches and museums are to European tourism). The fort was luxurious and had an interesting history. Due to its location high on a hill and its winding entry gate, no army (even armed with elephants) had ever successfully captured it. When the last Maharajah died in the 19th century, his 31 wives all committed ritual suicide by throwing themselves on his cremation fire–a mold of their hand prints cast as they left the fort for the last time is hung just inside the gate.

Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur

View of Jodhpur (The Blue City) from Mehrangarh Fort

The next day we traveled to Jaisalmer, arriving in time to visit its fort. The Jaisalmer Fort is huge, rising out of a random hill in the desert but blending in due to its yellow sandstone construction. It is more like a shopping village than a historical monument, with hundreds of small stores and apartments occupying the ancient structures within its walls. We got a turban tying lesson from one textile vendor and formed a band named Camelflage.

Jaisalmer Fort

Starting to look like a local, right?

The next morning we woke up early to see the sunrise over Gadsisar Lake, visited Patwa Haveli (a mansion within the Jaisalmer Fort), and then drove into the desert. At a small desert resort we jumped on camels and took a ride into the sand dunes to see the sun set. After dinner at the resort, we packed camel-drawn carts and rode back into the desert to camp out overnight. We set up our beds and then sat around a campfire talking and singing songs under the pitch-black sky and thousands of stars. The next morning, the sun rose orange and purple over the sand slopes. This was one of the best days of my whole trip.

Sunrise at Gadsisar Lake, Jaisalmer

Gadsisar Lake, Jaisalmer

Camel safari, Jaisalmer desert

All hat, no camel

Desert sunrise

At our final destination, Pushkar, we once again rose before the sun and climbed a steep hill to visit Savitri Temple. From there we had great views of the city and its square holy lake. As I walked out of the temple and attempted to collect my water bottle, a monkey slapped it over and gave me the ‘what’s up now?’ head nod, flashing its teeth. Taking the high road, I told him “It’s cool, man–let’s both just stay cool,” as I backed away slowly.

We took the “Spiritual Walk” around the lake, stopping into several temples and participating in a blessing-ritual-slash-high-pressure-donation-solicitation at the Pushkar Ghats.

Savitri Temple, Pushkar

Pushkar Ghats

Rangji Temple, Pushkar

Colors of Pushkar

My visit to India is continuously fascinating: inscrutable head and hand gestures, inefficient business processes, good-natured bargaining rituals, ubiquitous cattle, colorful outfits, unspeakable bathrooms, and awkward requests to have my picture taken. Relying on logic and expecting rational behavior of others has proven futile; best to just roll over and continue the vivid, surreal dream.

Jaisalmer desert sunrise

Posted in India - Jaipur, India - Jodhpur & Jaisalmer & Pushkar | Tagged Favorite | 2 Comments

India – Jaipur

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Michael Tucker

The streets of Jaipur have lived up to my hopes of India madness. Divided highways with cars driving both ways on both sides, motorcycles claiming right of way via horn, colorful textiles, fruits, and flowers for sale in roadside stalls, men peeing in random places, air thick with desert dust and exhaust fumes, piles of trash, cows roaming freely, camels and elephants being used as vehicles, harrowing rickshaw rides, and horrifying smells. While I don’t understand how millions of people, generation after generation, implicitly make a social contract to co-exist this way, it is very fun to observe (on a temporary basis).

Jaipur “C-Class”

Jaipur “E-Class”

I am enrolled in a 4-week “Work & Travel” program based in Jaipur with Sankalp Volunteer Society that entails volunteer work and trips to highlights throughout the state of Rajasthan. I am staying at the program’s volunteer house which I share with 15 others from Europe, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. The house is comfortable and has a college dorm feel to it. There is a cook who makes our lunch and dinner so we all eat together and have plenty of time to sit and chat. Little entertainments get planned and enacted, like trivia night, team charades, MP3 exchanges, and guided yoga and meditations.

My volunteer work assignment is teaching English at a public school in Jaipur. I am partnered with another volunteer and together we teach 3 classes per day; 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. The school is short of resources, so we’re not just assistant teachers participating in a minimal way–we are the only teachers in the room and get to plan the lessons and run the classes as best we can. The students are, unsurprisingly, way behind the government-outlined curriculum so their text books are not particularly useful. Further, the traditional Western expectations of order and discipline have not been firmly instilled, so it gets unruly from time to time. So our task is to entertain, encourage, focus, threaten, and sneak in some teaching in the precious few moments of opportunity.

The school house

3rd grade hard at work

On the bright side, while the kids are mischievous they are also bright and charming. I would often prefer to watch them do something fun than make them watch me do something boring. Each time they complete an assignment in their notebook, they besiege us with cries of “Sir, good!” hoping we will certify it by writing “Good!” on the page. Even the ones who torment you all class run up to give you high fives and secret handshakes afterward. I can’t really get mad at any of them, I understand why school doesn’t seem that important. But I yell and glare at them just the same in the hope of just getting them into the routine of paying attention to their teacher.

Masters of the alphabet

Jaipur has some interesting sites and I have been out with my roommates to see a few of them. This month India is hosting Australia for a series of cricket matches in cities across the country. We caught the match in Jaipur in which India came back to win from a deficit of 360 runs.

Cricket: India vs. Australia

We also visited some former royal estates. Located within the Old City, the City Palace has the famous Jaipur “pink” color and some outstanding doorway decorations. Nearby Hawa Mahal is a narrow 5-story building in which the maharaja’s maidens would watch the city safe from view. It is very beautiful with ornate white screens and window trim offsetting its bold salmon exterior.

Jaipur City Palace

Hawa Mahal

Nahargarh Fort’s walls in pink and burnt yellow add to the hot and desolate feeling of the desert around it. There isn’t much to see inside other than the walls and pathways and a step well filled with bright green water, but there are long views over dry hills back to the city.

Jaigarh Fort is big and mostly empty. However, the raised walkway around the courtyard is nice and offers panoramic views of the surrounding fort walls and a look at the front of the Amber Fort.

Jal Mahal is a small palace constructed in the center of a lake, with water reaching right up to its walls. You can’t actually get to it, but there is a boardwalk across the water with good views.

Nahargarh Fort

Jaigarh Fort

Hawa Majal, a palace in the center of a lake

Jal Mahal, a palace constructed in the center of a lake

It’s an exciting feeling to be in India, where so much of the present moment of human history is taking place. I can’t say anything novel about it, but in my opinion it lives up to its reputation for cultural uniqueness and endless potential for craziness. A billion people can’t be wrong, can they?

Posted in India - Jaipur | 6 Comments

Nepal – Discovering Buddhism at Kopan Monastery

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Michael Tucker

Technically still within Kathmandu but practically a world away, Kopan Monastery sits high on a hill and above the noise and chaos of the city. Upon checking in for the 10-day “Discovering Buddhism” course I was immediately relieved and impressed by the serenity of its gardens and grounds.

Stupa in the Kopan Garden

I started reading about Buddhism a couple of years ago as I was digging through philosophy and self-help books and fruitlessly challenging Google with queries such as “meaning of life” and “how to define success in life”. Being in Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha over 2,500 years ago, I figured it would be a good time and place to go deeper.

Our course had three primary instructors: a Swedish nun who had taken her vows over 30 years ago soon after taking this course at Kopan herself, a man from Belgium who had been making retreats and volunteering at the monastery for around 10 years, and a Tibetan monk who lives at the monastery and had achieved the title of “Geshe” for completing studies comparable to a PhD degree. Our schedule was fairly rigorous: meditation at 6:30 am, 2 hours of morning teachings, one hour of small group discussions, another hour and a half of afternoon teachings, and evening Q&A and meditation. Over the duration of the course, we received an overview of Buddhist philosophy and religion, the path to enlightenment, and instruction on meditation.

Kathmandu Valley view from the monastery

We learned that there are two types of meditation: single-pointed concentration (in which you develop your mental focus) and analytical meditation (in which you apply that focus to question the teachings, see if they make sense in your own experience, and realize them on a deeper level than just intellectual comprehension). Some of those analytical meditations were particularly jarring. For instance, contemplating the emptiness of my “self” and imagining my body reduced to its elements: 4 buckets of water and a few small piles of carbon, salts, and proteins. And rehearsing the experience of death, all physical sensations fading, mirage-like visions, and eventually nothing but consciousness of clear light.

Peaceful places to sit

The course was designed for Westerners, and was attended by people from all over Europe, Australia, and the U.S. There were close to 150 attendees in total. We were housed in the monastery’s visitor dorms and provided three vegetarian meals per day. We stayed within the monastery gates for the entire 10 days. I checked email once, but otherwise didn’t use the Internet. I didn’t read any books other than Buddhist teachings, and I didn’t listen to any music. They say that cutting off from these external entertainments allows you to go deeper within yourself, and I think they are right.

I previously thought meditation was a very relaxing exercise meant to clear your mind of thoughts and leave you feeling peaceful. I learned it’s not necessarily like that. During certain meditations I realized how stupid I have been and how badly I have acted many times in my life. In other meditations I found myself thinking ‘this is how I want to be’ and wanted to fire-brand the feeling of motivation and awe into my mind. A few times I even cried. So I think I got what I was supposed to get–I looked deep inside and saw the black and the gold.

Resident "monk-ey"...massive eye rolls duly noted

“Monk-ey” in meditation…massive eye rolls duly noted

The last two days of our course were run as a retreat. All participants maintained complete silence for the entire time and had six daily meditation sessions of 45 minutes each, covering the full scope of topics we had studied. On one of the evenings, we had a light ceremony in which we placed candles all around the stupa and the fountain in the monastery garden.

At the end of 10 days, I was very pleased with the experience. I learned a lot and left with many new topics to meditate upon. Perhaps most encouraging, I learned that the path to enlightenment is a graduated path. So while it is long–and difficult–each step not only brings you closer, but also elevates you.

Posted in Nepal - Kopan Monastery | 4 Comments