Phase IV and V: GREAT SUCCESS!!
(This is just an email I sent out to everyone on my big list, but I know that I'm neglecting some of you, so just in case here it is)
Greetings all!
Shalom, Salam, and Namaste from the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent!
As has been the trend of all my travels to date, email updates have become progressively slack as my trip has gained steam, and boy, there’s enough steam in here to fill a sauna; I’ve now been on the road for exactly 285 days.
When we last left off, my budget was on life support from the financial beating that Europe had pummeled me with. Well, I’m glad to report that my wallet has made a speedy recovery thanks to the care of Uncle Jordanian Dinar, Aunt Egyptian Pound, and the Nepali & Indian Rupee twins (despite a thwarted coup attempt from their dubious cousin, the Israeli Shekel). Though the sights have been expensive (the enterence fee to the Taj Mahal cost more than a week’s accomidation), the rooms, food, and sheesha have been decidedly cheap.
The most recent additions to my travel portfolio have been Phase IV (to be named in clever fashion at a later date), which saw me trugging across the hot sands of the Middle East, and Phase V (to be named in equally clever fashion), which brought me up to the Nepali Himalayas and down to the cows and chaos of India. My merit badges are as follows:
Jesus on Water Badge: for floating effortlessly at sunset on the hypersaline Dead Sea
Million Star Hotel Badge: for camping out under the planetarium-like desert skies of Wadi Rum (Jordan) and the Egyptian Sahara
Supermodel Diet Badge: for fasting for a week during Ramadan
Stubborn Pursuit Badge: for (fruitlessly) chasing a camel across the desert
Jacques Cousteau Badge: for diving the H.M.S. Thistlegorm wreck (Read Sea)
Hebrew Culinary Badge: for ingesting copious amounts of humus, schwarma, and falafel.
Indiana Jones Badge: for visiting Petra, the Hollywood home of the Holy Grail
Civil Disobedience Badge: for attending a protest in Palestine
2.5 Mile High Club Badge: for 2 weeks hiking around and into the Annapurna Sanctuary (Even at 4.2km at base camp, Annapurna I still towers over at over 8km)
Planet of the Camels Badge: for rubbing elbows with thousands of spitting, humped animals at the Pushkar Camel Fair
Line of Fire Badge: for dodging countless rogue M-80s during Diwali, India’s “Festival of [Explosive] Lights”
I’ve Been to Hell and Back (Twice) Badge: for surviving Delhi not once, but two times
Humbling Structures Badge: for visiting both the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza
Digestive Prowess Badge: for not succumbing to India’s infamous explosive diarrhea
It’s crazy to think that a (very) lucky few of you will get to see my handsome face in less than 2 months, when I pass through NYC on my way to South America (the not-yet-confirmed final leg of my trip). Anyone who will be in the metropolitan area between Jan. 21-29, make your appointments now.
But there’s still one more great adventure lined up before then; next stop: AFRICA.
Shalom, Salam, and Namaste from the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent!
As has been the trend of all my travels to date, email updates have become progressively slack as my trip has gained steam, and boy, there’s enough steam in here to fill a sauna; I’ve now been on the road for exactly 285 days.
When we last left off, my budget was on life support from the financial beating that Europe had pummeled me with. Well, I’m glad to report that my wallet has made a speedy recovery thanks to the care of Uncle Jordanian Dinar, Aunt Egyptian Pound, and the Nepali & Indian Rupee twins (despite a thwarted coup attempt from their dubious cousin, the Israeli Shekel). Though the sights have been expensive (the enterence fee to the Taj Mahal cost more than a week’s accomidation), the rooms, food, and sheesha have been decidedly cheap.
The most recent additions to my travel portfolio have been Phase IV (to be named in clever fashion at a later date), which saw me trugging across the hot sands of the Middle East, and Phase V (to be named in equally clever fashion), which brought me up to the Nepali Himalayas and down to the cows and chaos of India. My merit badges are as follows:
Jesus on Water Badge: for floating effortlessly at sunset on the hypersaline Dead Sea
Million Star Hotel Badge: for camping out under the planetarium-like desert skies of Wadi Rum (Jordan) and the Egyptian Sahara
Supermodel Diet Badge: for fasting for a week during Ramadan
Stubborn Pursuit Badge: for (fruitlessly) chasing a camel across the desert
Jacques Cousteau Badge: for diving the H.M.S. Thistlegorm wreck (Read Sea)
Hebrew Culinary Badge: for ingesting copious amounts of humus, schwarma, and falafel.
Indiana Jones Badge: for visiting Petra, the Hollywood home of the Holy Grail
Civil Disobedience Badge: for attending a protest in Palestine
2.5 Mile High Club Badge: for 2 weeks hiking around and into the Annapurna Sanctuary (Even at 4.2km at base camp, Annapurna I still towers over at over 8km)
Planet of the Camels Badge: for rubbing elbows with thousands of spitting, humped animals at the Pushkar Camel Fair
Line of Fire Badge: for dodging countless rogue M-80s during Diwali, India’s “Festival of [Explosive] Lights”
I’ve Been to Hell and Back (Twice) Badge: for surviving Delhi not once, but two times
Humbling Structures Badge: for visiting both the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza
Digestive Prowess Badge: for not succumbing to India’s infamous explosive diarrhea
It’s crazy to think that a (very) lucky few of you will get to see my handsome face in less than 2 months, when I pass through NYC on my way to South America (the not-yet-confirmed final leg of my trip). Anyone who will be in the metropolitan area between Jan. 21-29, make your appointments now.
But there’s still one more great adventure lined up before then; next stop: AFRICA.
posted by Sean | 6:56 AM
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