Eight Months in a Nutshell

Here is a video I made to sum up my 8 months of travel. It was a great experience and I can't wait to do something like it again. Until then here is a memento of my trip and inspiration for my next trip. 

Here is a map of the countries I traveled to:

Air Miles Traveled:

Seattle-Chicago: 1,718

Chicago-Amman: 6,215

Amman-Munich: 1,696

Rome-Thessoliniki: 547

Thessoliniki-moscow: 1,249

moscow-new delhi: 2,680

new delhi-jakarta: 3,105

bali-perth:1,605

perth-adelaide:1,316

adelaide-mel:1,680

mel-chc:1,501

auckland-bali: 4,193

bali-lombok: 65

lombok-sing: 1,080

sing-tokyo: 3,333

tokyo-lax: 5,446

---> 37,429 air miles total, 17 flights, 8 months, 17 Countries

Mountains Hiked:

Madness of Mrsa

Along with the amazing adventures that traveling to new and foreign places provides it also comes with some medical concerns especially when in third world and developing countries. Before I embarked on my journey I went to a travel doctor and with a list of countries that I thought I might visit and I was given pills for malaria, high altitude sickness and chronic diarrhea. I was fortunate to only need the high altitude sickness pills and it was for a short period of time; if I remember correctly it was only 2 or 3 days. Unfortunately, that was not the only thing that I had to deal with while traveling.

My first big issue was a second degree sun burn that I got on the back of my legs and my lower back. The pictures shown here are when I was on the up side of my recovery. However, under the white gaze patch was a huge blister that formed and was raw and extremely sensitive. As if the burn weren't bad enough I was hit by a surfboard on my lower back which broke open the skin and can be seen unclose in the picture on the upper right. Overall, I had trouble sitting, sleeping and walking. The worst part was that I had to take a couple days off of surfing. After I recovered I surfed with leggings on and immense amounts of sunscreen. I only hope that there are no longterm effects down the road.

When I was in Indonesia the second time I encountered my second medical concern. I wasn't sure what the issue was but a very painful welt appeared under my armpit. I figured it would take care of itself and eventually go away but it just kept getting larger and more painful. I finally asked some of the other people at the camp and the feedback I got really made me nervous. Everyone had a different opinion and there were a multitude of potential diseases, infections or bugs that I could have had. What made me the most concerned was when someone told me it looked like something her friend got when they were traveling in South America; her friend was able to get rid of it by cutting it open. I was less than thrilled to hear this, however, I really lost it when she then preceded to say a large worm crawled of the open cut! All I could then think about that I was now the host to some unknown jungle bug. Ahhhh. Other people thought it could be a centipede bite, bissle from an ingrown hair, or some other scary unidentifiable infection.

I was able to take care of the one that had appeared in my armpit with the help of an immaculate first aid kit provided by a German friend and some fearless surf coaches. Since there was a small white head that had appeared after a couple of days we were able to cut it open relatively painlessly with a needle sized scalpel instrument. I then tried to drain the fluid myself by squeezing it out, however, was unable to get all the contents out myself because of its location and the amount of pain I was in.Think about the most painful pimple you have ever tried to pop. Now, multiply the size by 10, the pressure build up by 100, and the pain by 1000!! Simon, one of the coaches, and his girlfriend Lucy helped me drain the rest as I was lying down in the medical room sipping a cold Bintang. 

Although there was still a wound under my armpit now that it was drained it felt a lot better! A couple days later another one appeared in the same place as well as three on my upper leg/thy and two on my left shin. Whattt was happening to me?!? I continued to try and drain them myself but was getting a bit more concerned. I was told to talk to Jess, one of the Westerners that lived at the camp who had endured several medical issues of her own since she had lived there and was the most likely to know what it was and be able to help. When I talked to her she seemed very confident that it was staphylococcus from bacteria in the coral in the water. Okay...great now I knew what it was called and how I probably got it but she said I needed antibiotics which the local doctor could not provide. I was heading back to the USA within about a week so I decided that I would wait until I returned to the states. 

The series of plane rides back to the US was extremely difficult because as I sat in the cramped airline seats I put more pressure on the welts on my upper thy which made it even harder to sit in the same position for hours on end. When I arrived back in California I went to an urgent care clinic where they cut one open and tired to drain it but nothing would come. They decided to take a sample and told me I needed to see a dermatologist. I immediately called the dermatologist to make an appointment. When I went they got the results from the clinic and told me that I had Mrsa which was a stran of Staf. Not only did I have a terrible infection on various parts of my body but I came to find out that it is basically the worst type to get because it is resistant to antibiotics. They put me on a medication and gave me a cream to put on the sores. By some miracle the swelling went down and I was left with several scars but was able to avoid lost limbs or death! 

Singapore

Singapore

2 nights

Singapore was a very different experience form most other places that I had traveled in the sense that most of my travel was not focused on large city destinations. 

On my full day in Singapore I walked around, took a tram to various parts of the city and explored whatever I wandered upon.


Although I was amazed by the huge buildings and architecture, walking around in Singapore was not the most pleasant experience because of the extreme heat and intense sun. Luckily, I was almost always near a giant mall or building that I could walk through and would immediately cool down with refreshing AC.


I also made my way to a huge garden where which provided an amazing panoramic view of the gardens and the city.

On my second night in Singapore I decided I would go to the airport early to sleep there since my flight was very early the following morning and I didn't want to pay for another night at a hostel. I had put my surfboard in storage and as I was retrieving it and getting my bags organized when a guy came over and offered to help. I thought I was doing fine on my own but I think he was just being nice because my board was big and I had also unpacked half of my backpack to put in the board bag for extra padding to protect my surfboard. He worked there and ended up getting me a trolly for my bags and checking with Malaysia Airlines (the airline I was flying) to see when I could check in. Unfortunately, he said that if I had arrived an hour earlier I could have checked in with but now had to wait until the morning. Darn, I was so excited to see the airport and find a nice place to sleep that night but instead I was stuck in the checkin area sleeping on tile floor with florescent lighting. Needless to say, it was not the best night sleep I have ever had. The picture to the left shows where I slept that night and the trolly that made my life 100 times easier to get around.

When I finally checked in and explored the airport for a bit the next morning I discovered free internet, sleeping areas, entertainment rooms, gardens, koi ponds, movie theaters, a pool, and much more. Next time I fly through Singapore I will be sure to know the earliest time I can check in before arriving at the airport.

Indonesia-Returning to Paradise

Bali
1 night

I arrived in Bali where I spent one night in a hostel. I needed to get to Lombok the next day, however, lack of planning proved to be more difficult than expected. At first I had planned to take a boat but I was several hours away from the harbor that I needed to leave from and it was then a long boat trip and another long car ride to the camp. I looked up flights and there was a really inexpensive one for 30USD. I was unable to book it online because it was less than 24hrs and they did not accept credit cards so close to the flight departure time. I even called the airline to see if there was any other way to do it last minute but nothing was working. I talked to the guys running the hostel and they tried to help me as much as they could, one of them even took me to two different travel agencies on his motor bike to see if I could figure something out. Both travel agencies ended up being closed. However, there was something comforting about being on a motor bike in crazy traffic in Indonesia that made me feel comforted and like I was back where I needed to be. In the end I found a flight online that accepted credit cards and booked if for 50USD the next morning.

Gerupuk- Surf Camp Lombok 

2 weeks

My second time camp did not disappoint. Again I was surrounded by great people focused on experiencing new things, learning and having fun! For these two weeks I was pushed more in my surfing and was happy with my progression.

The big boat trips, nights out, days into town, yoga, sunsets, and surf all continued to be exciting and fun. 

Gilli T

3 nights

I had three nights off in-between the two camps that I was doing and decided to go back to Gilli T with my three Swedish roommates from the camp Annie, Frida, and Sara. On the island we basically relaxed and explored the island all weekend. 

Gerupuk- Surf Camp Lombok 

2 weeks

After my second two weeks it still was not enough and I was able to extend for two more after the 3 day break.

I decided to invest in a hand shaped surfboard from the local shaping bay in Gerupuk. The dimensions for my board are: 6.6' x 20 3/4 x 2 1/2 with squash tail and pointed nose.


The pictures below were taken the boat in my final two weeks at the camp in the sessions group.

It was nice being in the sessions group because the theory was more intense which allowed for better personal progression. We also went out for dawnies at 5am and sunset surfs in the evenings. It was the best way to start and end any day.

Every camp I attended was absolutely amazing with great people, great waves and great adventure.

Mt. Rinjani 

2 nights

After my final camp was over 6 of us went on a 3 day 2 night hike to Mt Rinjani. We did the hike through a company so we had a couple of guides, porters, and were joined by a few other hikers. After the first day of hiking we got to our camp and it started down pouring rain! We were all freezing and just standing outside in the rain. None of the guides or porters were helping our group and we all wanted to be inside a tent so I finally had no more patience and went to our guide to ask for a tent so I could put it up myself. I wasn't rude about it I just was tired of standing around getting cold and wet so wanted to do something change the situation since we were all literally standing in the pouring rain shaking because of the cold. However, when I asked they didn't give me the tent but said they would put it up in a minute. Our tents were finally put up and we all tried to get dry and warm before going to sleep. I didn't even eat dinner because I was so uncomfortable I just wanted to get some sleep. On our second day of hiking we stopped and had lunch by some waterfalls before continuing on to find our camp site for the evening. The second day and evening were a lot more pleasant because although it was still cold it did not rain! We all took pictures of monkeys, had dinner, and watched the sunset. On the final day of hiking we got up at 4:30am and were at the top of Rinjani for sunrise. It was a difficult morning of hiking in the dark but overall an amazing journey. After summiting we returned to camp where we had breakfast and packed up camp. As we were nearing the end of our hike it began to rain again; this time the rain was refreshing and made a good conclusion to the trip. Overall it was a fun, challenging and beautiful hike over the three days.

Kuta Lombok 

2 nights

After the trek I returned to Kuta with Robbie and Ben. When we arrived we had a well deserved dinner of wood fired pizza. They were returning to Surf Camp in Gerupuk and as much as I wanted to to back and continue surfing I already had purchased my plane ticket back to the states and need to go to Singapore for my flight home.

After 2 more nights in Kuta at Surfers Paradise I boarded an afternoon flight to Singapore. 

New Zealand--North Island--Te Ika A Maui

New Zealand--North Island--Te Ika A Maui 

Wellington

2 nights

I arrived in Wellington after a long ferry ride from Pickton. All I really wanted to do was make dinner, take a shower and go to bed. I made my dinner and was eating in the common room and overheard a couple of people next to me speaking Spanish so I asked them where they were from since I had not met many people who spoke Spanish while traveling. The girl was from Argentina and the guy was from Brazil another from Uruguay. I ended up going out with them to a couple of bars where we enjoyed live music.
On my full day there I went to the Te Papa Tongarewa museum. It was a huge museum with very well put together exhibits. As I was wandering around the local Maori exhibit a strange thing happened that I don't entirely understand. A Maori guy who was dressed in a suit and tie came up to me, stopped directly in front of me, said a long phrase in Maori, bowed and walked away. I will never know what he said, however, I felt a mutual sense of respect and somehow honored that he said whatever it was to me. 

National Park Village

3 nights

I could tell just how small National Park Village was when I arrived and the bus driver told me that the table next to the road was the bus stop. It had all the basics with a cafe, a bar with an ATM and a small grocery store in the town. I stayed at Plateau Lodge which had a great vibe to it. Everyone that was staying there had the intention of doing the crossing which immediately created a common interest. This was nice because you immediately had something to talk about with everyone without having to search for conversation topics. However, coming up with conversation topics never seemed to be an issue with the group of people that were there. Everyone was extremely friendly and easy to talk to. Of all the hostels I have stayed at it is one of a handful that has really felt like a home for the three nights I was there because of the simplest things. For example, every morning people would get up to make breakfast and prepare lunches for the afternoon and even if you didn't know the person you would say good morning. This happens in a lot of hostels but there was something more sincere about this one. Anyway, while I was there I did two hikes for the two full days I was there. On the first full day I was there I did the Tongararo crossing and summited Mt Tongariro (6,490 feet) also known as Mt. Doom. In total I hiked 25k that day with Scott from the US who I met through my hostel and a Canadian guy Spencer and a British guy Harry. It was a vary fun group to hike with.

The following I quickly realized that not many people hike Ruapehu on their own. The lady at my hostel who was arraigning transportation and other details for me strongly suggested I do it with a tour group because there is no trail to follow and the weather can drastically change and become dangerous quickly. After a long conversation she had convinced me to do the tour, however, later that evening I was told there were not enough people signed up so I would not be able to do the tour. Darn, now I had a full day to figure out what to with. I decided that I would take the shuttle to the ski lift and see what I thought about the hike from there. The next day, when I got dropped off at the bottom of the mountain and tried to take a shuttle to the ski lift the man in the visitors center said there would not be another shuttle for several hours. I was surprised because the information I was given said there should have been a shuttle every 30min. Now I had another problem, figuring out how to get to the ski lift because if I waited for the shuttle I would not have enough time to do any hiking. I decided I would just walk to the ski lift thinking it would take me the same amount of time if I were to wait for the shuttle and it would allow me to walk some and not be bored sitting around waiting for a shuttle. As I was walking I realized I had taken the wrong turn off the main road because I reached a dead end. Luckily it wasn't too far back to the correct road. I was walking for about 20 to 30 minutes when I could hear a car coming up behind me and I decided to stick my thumb out and get a ride the rest of the way up. An older retired couple gave me a ride to the ski field at the top. It was really nice talking to them on the way up, they had told me that they were here 20 years prior and had skied down the mountain in the winter and could see steam come off the mountain from the volcanic activity. There was still noticeable activity, however, they said that it was a lot more prominent when they had been there 20 years ago. When I got to the ski field I went to the visitors center where you buy lift tickets. While I was in the visitors center I asked about the hike to the top of Ruapehu. They suggested strongly against it so I asked about other hikes that they would recommend. Either way I had to take the ski lift up part of the mountain, so I did and at the top I wandered around a bit deciding what to do and I noticed another girl and a couple that were also wandering around looking for what appeared to be a way to the top. I walked over and talked to them and we decided to all hike to the top together. We hiked, scrambled, and climbed our way to the summit. We took a few photos and then noticed that we were surrounded by clouds that were causing a white out. This was concerning because somehow we had to make our way safely down. Luckily, after waiting a little the clouds passed over and we were able to make our way back down to the bottom. It was another successful hike with some great people.  

Taupo

3 nights

When we arrived in Taupo I realized that the hostel I booked was a 40 minute drive out of the city center. Luckily I was able to cancel my reservation and book another hostel in the city center. On February 28th and March 1st I I volunteered for Ironman New Zealand.

I really enjoyed doing this for multiple reasons. First of all I was able to give back to a community that I was traveling through. Secondly, I was able to contribute to the running/Ironman community which I identify with. In all the races I have done from 5k fun runs to marathons and Ironman 70.3 I have appreciated the volunteers but this allowed me to experience it from the other side. I enjoyed it because I was being productive in a way that contributed to a community I was traveling through in a positive way. I also now appreciate more than ever all the volunteers and work that people put into setting up, tearing down and getting together support crews for any type of race. 

       

           
                                         Swim 2.4mi                                                 Bike 112mi                                                     Run 26.2mi
Rotarura 

2 nights

In Rotarura I went to a Maori living village which allowed me to see some of the Maori culture as well as geothermal geysers, hot pools, and mud pits. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience that allowed me to see nature and culture in the same place.

Gisbourne

2 nights

Gisbourne was a planning city for me because at this point I had a plane ticket out of Auckland to Indonesia but still had few days and stops left to use on my Naked Bus Pass. I spent my full day there at the I-site using their wifi and resources to plan where I wanted my final stops to be. When I was not planning I relaxed by walking along the river and sitting by the beach.

Mount Maunganui (Tauranga) 

2 nights

Another beautiful town on the North Island. Here I spent both nights walking up Mt Maunganui to watch the sunset and the full day I was there on the beach.

Throughout my travels I have not only been rejuvenated and exhilarated by water and the ocean which I wrote about in the South Island post but also amazing sunsets everywhere I went.  

Whitianga
2 nights

Here I spent the afternoon walking by the beach and the next day hiking by some beautiful cliffs next to the ocean. In the evenings I enjoyed chatting with others in the hostel. 

Paihia
2 nights

While in Paihia I did a day trip to Cape Reinga which is the northern most point of New Zealand where the the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean collide. It was a beautiful place that I wish I could have spent more time in.

I also went sand boarding just next to the 90 mile beach and Te Paki stream bed which was more fun than I initially expected. I hiked up the biggest sand hill I could find and actually picked up quite a bit of speed going downhill.

On my final day in Paihia I went kayaking with a guy I met in my hostel. We went by a couple of islands and to a waterfall.
The next day we traveled together to Auckland.  

Auckland

2 nights

Upon arriving in Auckland I had dinner in the hostel bar. I was told about a pub crawl that was happening that night but decided against it. As I was eating I met some locals that were there for the pub crawl and they tried to convince me to go and were eventually successful. 
It was a good night until I returned to the hostel where I dropped my phone down the elevator shaft. I went to the front desk and told them what had happened. The guy working opened a basement door that was under the elevator but when we looked there was a cement wall that appeared to be blocking where my phone had probably landed. I then had to accept the fact that my thousands of travel photos were gone. I was devastated but somehow came to accept it and move on. The next morning I was supposed to wake up and check out at 10am. However, I no longer had a phone to use as an alarm so the guy that was helping me at the front desk said that he could wake me up in the morning before I had to check out. The next morning I woke up to a lady in my dorm room asking for Laura King. She then told me I was supposed to check out 2 hours ago whoops. I quickly got out if bed, packed my things, and made my way downstairs to check out. I was told that I would need to pay 20 euro for late check out. I explained what had happened the night before and that the guy working the night before said he would wake me up in time to check out. I was then told that the maintenance man in charge of the building had managed to get my phone!! I was ecstatic! I would have all my travel pictures back. Woo! Oh, but I still needed to pay a 20 euro late fee. I had planned out using my money pretty well and knew 

that day didn't need to buy anything so had no more cash. I told the lady I would need to go to an ATM and put my bags in the common room. Instead of going to an ATM though I wandered around the city and hung out with Jellis and Cosima who I met and worked with on Kangaroo Island in Australia. Once it was time for me to make my way to the airport I went back to the hostel, gathered my things and left without paying the extra fee. I made it to the airport where I found a carpeted dark room where I spent the night. I had a few hours of sleep before waking up for my early flight back to Indonesia.