Diseases and Carnival??

Time is accelerating. So much is crammed into a single day that a single day is like several days. And this is just the beginning. In previous travel, I've experienced something similar to a time when I was very young. This sensation that time stretches and stretches because there's so much newness, experience, wonder, mystery, challenge, and excitement to each day.

On Friday, I went in to the Kaiser Injection Clinic. It seems to me that they could do some PR work with that name. "Injection Clinic" sounds anywhere on the scale from terrifying to quite unpleasant, depending on your relationship to the needle. How about the "Kaiser International Wellbeing Clinic?" Or how about the "Kaiser Clinic of Cute Care Practitioners?"

Almost anything is better than "Kaiser Injection Clinic" really.

Being taught my whole life to "be tough" and never whine, plus my various trips to other, shall we say less-than-sanitary-nations and the accompanying prophylactics required for such, my relationship to the needle is pretty good. All was going well. I was handed stacks of papers on dengue fever, yellow fever, malaria, hepatitis of various sorts, and so on. And then the needles came out. Pop. Pop. Pop. Just like that. Three in and three out in mere seconds. And just before the fourth went in, the sweet and matronly nurse chimed in her squeaky voice, "This one may hurt a bit." POP! I swear I could see the hepatitis A serum filling my arm, making a hard lump. And I could feel that serum searing into my muscle like a glob of melted silly putty.

OK, ouch.

Out I went into the world with various tiny holes in my arm. But it gets better. That lovely hep A serum then proceeded to make my arm pretty much unusable for the next three days. Sore, sore, sore. I take solace in the fact that it's better than getting hepatitis in a foreign country. Call me Pollyanna.

I've also picked up my various drugs to prevent other bugs from setting up condos, small cottages, and apartments in my body. Sorry, no vacancy. Let's see, malaria meds, one per day for the entirely of my stay (plus for a bit after I hit home turf). I've been warned that the side effects of these are highly realistic and active dreams. As a person who already has very realistic and active dreams, I wonder how this will manifest. Random sleepwalking? Talking in my sleep? Fair warning to any hostel-mates I may share a room with.

And meds for typhoid fever. Some interesting effects of typhoid fever:
* Considerable weight loss (ok, that wouldn't be so terrible)
* Extremely distended abdomen (wait, that completely negates my weight loss!)
* Become delirious (deliriously what, exactly?)
* Lie motionless with your eyes half-closed in what's known as a typhoid state (not so bad if I was on a beach in Rio, I suppose)

OK, after further review, I'll take a pass on typhoid fever.

I also realized on Friday, late in the day, that I will, in fact, be in Rio for the party of all parties, Carnival.

My reaction to this realization was mixed, to be sure. Once upon a time, I could stay up all night dancing, and do that a couple times a week while easily holding down a 60 hour work week. Now, not as much.

On top of that, it struck me that I'm way late in booking accommodations in Rio during this time. I mean, people prepare a year in advance for this party and I'm getting in on it just a few weeks prior? I wondered, "Will I be sleeping on the street? Or simply decide to not sleep at all and store my backpack in some locker at the bus station?" I mean, I don't need to shower, right?

So as of today, I spent pretty much the entire day figuring out who still had rooms and swallowing my discomfort at the exorbitant prices for the most seedy of dormitories (bed bugs, anyone?). After much back breaking, eye straining research, I did finally find a hostel in a more residential neighborhood set between the neighborhood where the parade action is and the neighborhood where the party nightlife action is.

I also bought my ticket to the Sunday night parade, which features the most famous Samba school, the Manguiera. And not only are there massive parades each day for days on end, there are also a huge number of balls around the city where everyone can dance and party to samba music all night long. Saying Carnival is a spectacle is the understatement of the year. And I'll be right in the middle of it.

Yipes! And Woohoo!!

Buying Stuff

Serious cash outlays in the past few days.

Is the travel industry like the wedding and baby industries? It's a major opening to convince people that they need to buy particular things in order to make their travels comfortable and enjoyable. The thing is, I've fallen for it. (sighs)

I booked my airfare today and am happy/ashamed to admit that, yes, I paid a little more to get more direct flights. What can I say? Being in my 20's and dirt poor allowed me to take weird flights at weird times going through weird connections -- which was its own adventure. But now, I figure I've paid some dues (literally and figuratively) so I can take more sane routes that get me there in the middle of the day as opposed to dropping into some strange airport at 1:35am.

My route feels really solid and really exciting: San Francisco, CA - Rio de Janeiro - Overland On My Own - Sao Paulo - Manaus - Iguazu Falls (Brazil side) - Overland On My Own - Iguazu Falls (Argentina side) - Jujuy Cadillal - Overland On My Own - San Miguel deTucuman - Buenos Aires - Cusco - Overland On My Own - Lima - San Francisco, CA.

I depart on February 27 and return to the Bay Area on May 18 and even though this seems like a good chunk of time, it will barely enable me to scratch the surface of these and surrounding destinations. South America is B-I-G.

And now I'm buying travel junk left and right. Let's see, what is the very best and most comfortable flip flop I can buy? $$. How about a good dressy sandal for those sultry nights in Rio? Another $$. And of course, I need to get a couple of pairs of convertible, quick dry, bug repellent travel pants. $$$. And a wrinkle-free travel dress. $$$. Brazilian visa? $$$. I see the montage in my head of a woman on a shopping spree. You just see her manicured hands doling out stacks of bills which are collected by hungry retail clerks. Cut to a cash register racking up a larger and larger number on the digital readout.

I'm happy to say that I'm helping our economy recover in my own special way.

But at the end of the day, I'm really ok with it all. In fact, I'm feeling pretty satisfied with my travel purchases. And of course, I just keep thinking to myself, "I'm sure I'm almost done buying stuff. It won't be long now, right?"

So much to get done, so little time

I found out at 3pm on Monday, January 31 that I was leaving for South America -- as soon as possible.

I quit my job at an email marketing software company just a few weeks ago and the plan was this...

If a dream job comes lands in my lap, I'll take it. If it doesn't, I'm traveling. I had a lead on what might have been a dream job, but as it turns out, it wasn't. That was Monday and since then it's been a whirlwind of activity... applying for my Brazilian visa, researching where I want to travel and my itinerary, getting my air booked, taking care of insurance, creating my packing list, and all the remaining buckets of details that are demanding my attention.

Last night, while trying to fall asleep, I had a moment when I thought, "What am I, crazy? It's been years since I traveled alone and when I did, I knew a lot more about where I was traveling!" But within a minute of having that thought, I realized that it's all going to be fine, better than fine. In fact, this is going to be my amazing South American adventure!