Hong Kong Hustle

At first, I was worried that our trip to Hong Kong was going to be marred by horrendous weather. The internets had told me to expect thunderstorms all nine days we were there. Luckily, the internets was wrong.

Jing and I flew from LAX to Hong Kong via Taipei, and boy was that a long-ass flight. We arrived at LAX around 10pm on July 2nd, and thanks to the wonders of the International Dateline, we didn't step out of the Hong Kong International airport until 11am, July 4th. That's right; two "days" on a plane. And, of course, upon arrival, the sky cracked open and poured torrents onto the steamy streets of Hong Kong. It was magical.

Anyway, Jing and I got to the hotel first and managed to settle in, wolf down a ramen-y lunch, and sneak in a quick nap before Mike and Karolina made their entrance. As soon as Mike arrived, I had an instant bout of deja-vu. During The Trip, there was a very definite sense of excitement whenever the OC would first set down in a new country. There was a pattern to it all: arrive at the hotel, set up the OC mini-base, have cleansing rest, and then the new adventure began. And here we were again: the same play with an updated cast. But the feeling was exactly the same, and I had really missed it.

The next few days were awesome. It was a typical OC outing, through and through. We went for long walks through damp alleyways and across thundering motorways. We took boats, taxis, buses, trams, elevators and escalators to various parts of the metropolis to see a museum, or a design expo, or the view from Victoria Peak, or just to have lunch. We had boozy evenings and confusing mornings. The weather even cleared up halfway through, surprising us with beautiful clear blue skies. It was a sweaty, delicious, tiring, intriguing, frustrating, and invigorating adventure.

Our last day was spent away from Hong Kong proper, hiking around the quiet island of Lamma, just a short ferry ride away. We sprawled on the beach, strolled through the forests, and had a luxurious seafood dinner on the water. There was even a sunset. The ferry ride back gave us a sparkling nighttime view of the Hong Kong skyline from Victoria Harbor.

As a city, Hong Kong is the bomb. I love these huge, multi-layered cities. You'll never run out of things to do and explore. Hong Kong has all of the international flavor of New York City, but it's in the center of the fastest developing area in the world. There is so much energy and potential in that city... I could easily see myself living there. The future should be very interesting for Hong Kong.

Macau, on the other hand, not so cool. After Jing and Karo left, Mike and I took another ferry ride an hour across the way to visit the ex-portuguese colony for a few days. I was drawn in by the promise of nice beaches, interesting food, old colonial portuguese architecture, and a thrumming nightlife. What I found was an oppressively humid, grubby, bombed-out version of Vegas. There is a lot of money pouring into that city, and they are tearing up all of the old colonial buildings to make room for the glitz and glamour of a Las Vegas East. But, they certainly aren't there yet. It's currently a jarring mix of dying colonial buildings, dirty-grey chinese office buildings, and over-the-top Vegas mega-casinos. Very little actual culture to be found. It's also filled to the brim with seedy people chasing after the scraps of a burgeoning gambling industry. In short, me no likie.

But, despite the disappointing finale, the trip itself was a huge success. I feel like I finally got to finish what I started almost four years ago. And it gave me the urge again. I have a feeling that things are going to be changing quite a bit in the next few years. Mike and I are getting all old and responsible. I think the OC needs to have a proper epilogue before it's too late.

Night Harbor

Our last day in Hong Kong was actually spent across the water, on Lamma Island. Our last night was spent taking the ferry back through the harbor, and enjoying the view of the Hong Kong skyline.

Warning: Another biggun.

Tram Attack

There is a lot of public transport in Hong Kong, but none quite as powerful as The Tram.

Warning: This is an untouched video file. It's a biggun.

Hong Kong

The OC had a bit of a reunion with a quick return to Hong Kong. It was nice to be able to enjoy the city without the SARS-enhanced bird flu of death. I didn't even have the swine one this time.

A full blog post to come.

Looking Back Makes You Fall Down

There is a scene in the Au Revoir, LA clip on the website in which an emotional Amy S. gives some moving advice about our then-upcoming trip. It was poorly filmed, horribly cliche, and backed by an unexpected, yet appropriately sappy soundtrack. Despite all these faults, it was a near-perfect prognostication of things to come.

"... Don't forget that this is a life-changing experience..."

In the build up to the trip, things tended to move quickly. There was three years' worth of momentum behind us that kept us moving in the same direction, and there was a lot to do to get everything ready. Early in the design phase of the trip, I had some idea of what it was we were planning. I mean, I always knew what it was, but I only had an inkling of what it actually meant. Then, as the date got closer, the excitement grew, along with the list of things to do. I always kept myself focused on the goal, without really realizing why I was reaching for it. In essence, I had forgotten about the why, or, at least, I was ignoring it. I was so focused on the how, I just didn't have the time for anything else.

Even if I had truly sat down to think about what this trip was going to mean to me, I doubt the words life-changing would have crossed my mind. Somehow, Amy knew better...

"... you guys are so excited that you're doing it, yet you have no idea what's going to happen..."

We tried not to over-plan things. We made very few reservations in advance, and had almost no hard dates. The "plan" was just to be in certain areas of the world around general dates. Just get there, throw ourselves in, and let the fates determine our course. Even the few places we did have plans for remained a mystery. Just because we knew that we were going to be Antarctica for New Years' Eve doesn't mean that we knew what was going to happen, or even what we were supposed to do once we got there.

This was a bit tricky in the beginning. When we first landed in Estonia, I remember feeling so lost. We stepped off of the plane, and there we were, in our first truly foreign country. After three years of waiting, and saving, and organizing... we were finally at our destination. No dates, no responsibilities; just exploration. Life was wide open in front of me, and all I could think was, "What the fuck are we going to do for the next 12 months?".

"... it really changed your lives. It made you who you are..."

When people ask me to sum up my experience during the trip, my most common response is, "I've never learned so much in one year." Short, and entirely accurate.

Before the trip, the world really was a mystery to me. I mean, I knew a reasonable amount about my friends and family, and the few locations and cultures in which they chose to reside, but the vast majority of the world was just a grey fog to me. I knew all of the required pieces of trivia, but they didn't fit together to make a whole story. During the trip, that changed.

And it wasn't just that I learned a whole new set of trivia. Although I did read quite a few history books, and I've now walked tens of miles through museums of all sorts, that isn't really the kind of knowledge I'm talking about. I'm talking about the kind of knowledge that you glean from being in a country, sitting down in a cafe, or taking the bus, and just seeing how shit works. Sometimes it was familiar, sometimes it was strange; sometimes it was ugly... but, every step of the way, it really opened my eyes. It's hard to describe, but I just feel much more aware of breadth of human experience. And, more importantly, I learned exactly how little I knew before, and how much more there is to figure out.

"... and you'll remember how much people loved you before you went..."

I didn't realize how much I had missed my friends and family until I get back to the States. During the actual trip, there was always so much to do and see. With so many new destinations on the horizon, it was easy to keep home out of the mind. But, once I landed back on US soil, and I started seeing those familiar faces again, it all hit me. I couldn't wait to see everybody.

I spent a few months traveling around the US and reconnecting with many of the people I hadn't seen in over a year. The entire time I was doing this, I knew that I wanted to try living in Buenos Aires, but I kept putting it off, and putting it off. It was just so comfortable to be back in the States, seeing all of those people that I had lost for over a year. Eventually, I basically had to force myself to move to Argentina.

And it didn't stick.

I'm back in California now, a bit further south, in sunny San Diego. Another lesson that I learned on the trip was to appreciate the ones that I love.

"... It will be just the best thing ever you could do for yourselves..."

I used to think that going to Caltech was the best choice I had made in life. But, I think the OC has forced a tie, if not a complete coup. It was simple in concept, and slightly more complicated in execution, but it far exceeded any of the expectations I had. I went into it somewhat blindly, just hoping to have "a good time", as ephemeral as that goal can be. And I did have some good times, along with some embarrassing times, some frustrating times, some exhausting times, and even a few frightening ones. But, ultimately, what I'm taking from this trip isn't just the memory of a few good times. It's the fact that because of the OC, I'm a little bit closer to knowing exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing here.

Also, take the fucking photograph, niggah.


ps... Just because it's my blog, and I can, I want to give a shout-out to Mike. I was initially a bit surprised that he wanted to do this trip with me, and, historically, we've never really been BFF, but I can't imagine anyone better to have experienced this thing with. Despite his penchant for belligerence, embarrassing behavior, and heart-wrenching hangovers (or, perhaps, because of these things), he was the perfect traveling companion. Endlessly courageous and persistent, he kept the OC moving at times when I would have been perfectly happy sitting on my hands, or just catching the bus with the other tourists.

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

While in the world's largest inland swamp, we were fortunate to meet a family from Sweden. They impressed not just because of their easy going demeanor, cosmopolitan background, excellent sense of humor, and adventurous choice in family vacations. They were also superb conversationalists, mostly because they asked good questions. This is one skill that I have definitely not developed. I tend to think of a nice chat as more an opportunity to speak than to listen, probably because I have so many intelligent, well thought out things to say.

One question in particular caught me off guard. Momma Swede asked what it was that I had learned about myself during the first 8 months of The OC. I have spent a lot of time writing in this blog about things that I have learned about the world, but rarely do I consider what I may have learned about me. It seems that my level of introspection is roughly equal to my level of modesty. The following is an effort to record whatever insights I have gained into self during the year of the OC.

Lesson 1 - I do not need much luxury to be happy. The OC only roughed it for periods of days at a time, but I see no reason why I could not live in a hut and bathe in a stream for periods of years. Seeing the way the world really lives has left me feeling a bit awed and embarrassed by the largesse of the West. We spend a lot of time cleaning things that are clean enough and expanding homes that do not need new features. All this luxury seems symptomatic of skewed goals. I call for less DIY and more time with family and friends. Furthermore, possessions are a giant pain in the ass. Unless you can pay somebody else to maintain something, it probably isn't worth owning.

Lesson 2 - I am at my best in situations that require immediate action. That is not to say that I can not make and execute a plan, but it is to say that I really shine when I am thinking exclusively on my feet. A large part of this is the willingness to make immediate decisions with the expectation that some of them will be wrong. I only feel paralyzed by choice when I have a long time to think. I reckon I might be a good low-level military officer, as they are put into situations where making a decision immediately is almost more important than making the right one. Thankfully, cocktail party banter is probably as close to an actual firefight as I will ever get.

Lesson 3 - Learning is a great joy, but it easily frustrates. I get turned off of things quickly if I do not feel like I am making steady progress. During the trip, I managed to learn a bit of Spanish because I could see immediate progress and results. I did not mange to become a video editing expert, because the tools require patience and careful practice. When I need to learn something to achieve a goal, I have learned to continually remind myself that short term frustration will be totally erased by long term accomplishment.

Lesson 4 - I have strong preferences, and I stick to them to the point of what some might consider irrationality. For example, I do not like to wear short trousers. They make grown men look like little boys. Even in situations where I might be more comfortable in shorts, I prefer to wear trousers and keep my dignity intact. Similarly, I do not care for semi-colons in my prose. They are just the right combination of showy and pointless to really raise my ire.

Lesson 5 - All of my biggest regrets in life - the ones that haunt me late at night when I can not get to sleep - involve backing down from fights. Despite all the civilized logic to the contrary, sometimes I think that receiving or handing out a beating would be much better than a lifetime of nagging shame. Even if you get a good kicking, at least you stood up for yourself. It may sound a bit silly, but I do not feel like a fully grown man because I have never been in a decent brawl. Also because I can not fix a car to save my life.

Coming Down

The OC officially ended one year ago today when Jason and I parted company on a German train platform. He was on his way to Buenos Aires by way of Budapest, Virginia, and San Diego and I was making a dash for London by way of Munich, Vienna, Melbourne, Nice, and Milan. I've still got my celebratory miniature bottle of sparkling wine. Maybe I'll build a little ship inside of it. When I made it back to London, there were two questions at the top of everyone's list: 1) Which country did you like the most (that is, which country had the hottest ladies), and 2) How are you ever going to get back to normal? I always had an enthusiastic answer for the first, but really only a shrug for the second. It's a lot easier to answer now that I've found a steady job, a place to live, and started investing heavily again in human relationships. Our one year anniversary seems like as good a time as any to record my thoughts on the matter.

Was it difficult to make the transition from free-spirited wanderer to desk-bound code jockey? Nope. A year off comes with a high opportunity cost. While we were out seeing the world, exciting offers of work passed me by, old friendships faded, and new friendships with any prospect of longevity were few in coming. Taking a break from normal life is also taking a break from all the things that make life richer as you get older - accomplishments to be proud of and friendships based on memorable shared experiences. By the time we got back to Europe, the accumulated cost of everything missed was beginning to overwhelm the value of new adventures. I was feeling useless, lonely, and self-indulgent.

Do I miss the free-spirited wandering? Yep. Normalcy is not all roses and Lifetime Movie moments. The thing that bothers me most is not a lack of freedom or excitement. Daily life doesn't seem dull. It's the stresses that come from commitment and responsibility that get me down. Now I've got no excuse to let friendships wither. If I don't contact somebody, it's not because I'm out of touch in the Himalayas, it's because I prioritized them behind something else. This is particularly difficult when it comes to family. At work, I am part of a very dedicated team, and worry about letting them down is a big stress, especially when you're surrounded by the kind of pipe-swinging uber-nerds we've got in the Lokku shop. Keeping up with these kids keeps a man busy.

Surprisingly, nobody ever asked me if the OC was "worth it", I guess because the downsides are much less apparent than the up. I will forgive you if you don't have much sympathy for a man who finds negatives of a year-long, globe-spanning vacation. Nonetheless, the question is important to me. A year used badly is a lot of life to waste. Thankfully, I can say now with confidence that the journey was excellent value for time (and probably money). I have secured major bragging rights among the traveling crowd, learned a number of important things about myself, made some (occasionally saucy) new friends, and exposed myself (ahem) to a wide variety of cultures. All of this came at the cost of a few friendships lost, a slight decay in immediacy of career-related skills, and all the money I had in the world. Good deal, I reckon.

Perhaps the best endorsement of the experience is that I would happily do it again. I've already started daydream-level planning of OC II. The general plan is to hit all the places "in the middle" that got missed the first time around. Tenative agenda is: Africa north of South Africa and South of the Sahara, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Central America. I would like to start in Namibia, zigzag through the Dark Continent, cross Jordan, Israel, and Syria on my way to the area between the Black and Caspian Seas. From there it's eastward through The Stans to Tibet and maybe eastern India, then over to Caracas for a smooth glide up through Latin America and back to SC for some home cooking. Anybody interested?

OC: The BA Years

I have made the move to Buenos Aires, and I have decided to start up another little blog so that I may continue to bore you with all of the useless details of my existence. This new blog is mostly intended for friends and family, so I can keep them up to date on all of the zany goings-on in my life in Latin America. But, if you are a loyal enough OC reader to still be checking for new posts, you have probably earned the right to visit the site.

Go ahead. Click on it. You know you want to.

Antarctica: A Recap

Quark Expeditions just sent us our antarctic expedition log a blistering 10 months late. For those of you still interested in this kind of stuff, check out this collection of photos, videos, and travel logs.

Like Snigglets... But Better

During the course of traveling around the world and being spoiled little boys, we came up with quite a few new words and turns of phrase that were originally for use solely by OC personnel. Now that the trip is over, we have decided to open this tremendous library to the world at large, and change the english lexicon forever.

Behold... The OC Dictionary.

Video Gallery: Auckland Sailing

Another one from the archives. This time, it's dusk, and we're sailing past the Auckland skyline.

Video Gallery: Apsara Dancing

I'm not sure why I didn't post this at the time, but in going through all the old trip media, I ran into a video clip of some Cambodian apsara dancing.

Photo Album: World Cup

We ended Operation Cromulent in sunny northern europe amongst a happy reunion of family and friends. Oh, and we watched Italy beat France.

We Ain't Dead Yet

The trip may officially be over, but there are still more OC goodies yet to come. After I'm done getting myself setup here in the VA, I'll be going through all the photos, videos, blog entries and souvenirs that we collected over the year, just to gain a bit of perspective on what we experienced. I've been trying to avoid looking all that stuff until I had the freedom to actually sit down and give it time it deserves. Well, that time is quickly approaching. Sometime this week, I'll start the sifting, and the memories, they will be triggered. I'm sure that quite a few blog entries, photo albums and video clips will be the happy result of the search. Mike may even be doing the same thing across the pond, there.

So, fear not, loyal OC reader. There is more to come.

Tales From The Other Side

I got back to the US yesterday and was met by my dad and brother at the airport. I'll be staying with bro for a bit while I get my act back together. Right now, I'm in my comfy room with a stable wireless network and a powerful stereo blasting the White Stripes while I go through all the shit that I packed up over a year ago.

Being back home is weird.

This Is The End

Berlin, Germany

The 2006 World Cup is over, and so is Operation Cromulent. Tomorrow morning, Jason and I are planning to part company and bring an end to this year of tomfoolery. Dedicated readers can still look forward to back-dated articles, photos, and videos as well as retrospectives on the entire experience. Also keep an eye out for Operation Cromulent: The Movie - coming soon (ish) to a blog near you.

Soccer Is A Perfectly Cromulent Word

Germany and Nearby Countries

A World Cup volunteer told me that there were only 300 TST-7 tickets available for each of the 32 participant countries. I reckon the OC was pretty fortunate to get our grubby little hands on two of 'em. When we first go the confirmation email a year ago, I had to read it three times before I could believe that we were actually going to the final. From a global perspective, the World Cup final makes the Superbowl look like the Northeast Iowa Thumb Wrestling Regional Finals. I reckon it must be the world's single most widely watched television broadcast and the subject of more newsprint than all topics excepting perhaps phone sex.

The 2006 tournament was advertised as "a time to make friends". For us, it was really more of a time to catch up with old pals. Early on, we ran into fellow Caltech alumni Kevin B., Jason W., and Cynthia G. The latter two ducked out after the first round of 16 match and were replaced by the newly arrived Leo Rg. Both he and Kevin were fellow TST-7 holders, so we were with them off and on until the bitterly Italian end. Karoline and Sonja showed us a good time in and around Vienna and Beth S. was gracious enough to arrange free accommodation in her aunt's place near Kaiserslautern and travel with us a bit as well. We caught up with Leo Rs. and his Tokyo crew in Hamburg, were joined for the weekend by the lovely Katya, and also enjoyed the drunken company of the notorious Carl U. and an assorted cabal of Yankee extras in Dusseldorf. Falk U. came back with us from Amsterdam and went so far as to arrange for us and Troy to stay with his very gracious parents in Berlin. We also had the unexpected pleasure of seeing Andreas M., Max C., Martin C., and the one and only Nick H. for a few minutes before the final. After so many months on the road, it was a bit of relief to see so many familiar faces.

The European transit system was similarly welcome. A first class Eurail pass is about as far as you can get from a local Laotian bus service or a Brazilian river boat. And we made good use of those passes. The first major side trip was to Vienna and back for a wedding (discussed elsewhere). After the second Kaiserslautern match, we converted a couchette cabin into an American consulate. With five out of six beds filled with the OC, Kevin B., Leo Rg, and Beth S., we had just enough room left to watch Pulp Fiction on one a laptop before turning in for the night. The next morning found us in Copenhagen where we spent two days and an evening bopping around a lovely, if bleak, nordic city. Notable events included a street concert in a hippie "republic" and a show by Boss Hoss - perhaps the world's only country-style German pop cover band. Their version of "Hey Ya" alone was worth the price of admission. The final international road trip was the obligatory visit to Amsterdam where we reconnected with The Dykes, smoked some splif, and enjoyed one of the finest "beaches" in northern Europe before an excitedly blurry cycle road home.

I had been thinking that the OC would kind of wind down into a beer-soaked whimper, but it more spiraled up into a beer-soaked frenzy. It was an appropriately hectic conclusion to what has been a very busy year - the significance of which has been weighing a bit heavily upon me. So heavily, in fact, that the WC final was something of an anticlimax. Andreas M. commented over beers that we (the OC, that is - and Jason in particular) were notably serene in the face of so much energy and excitement. It is not that I did not have a good time, but I might very well have traded my ticket for another month in Africa or a chance to tour Central Asia. It is hard to get worked up about one thing in particular when there is so much left to see.

Video Gallery: Boss Hoss

When we were in Denmark, we saw a live show of a German band doing American country covers of popular hip-hop songs. Them northern europeans are some bored-ass people.

Video Gallery: A True Patriot

There are a rare few who are willing to sacrifice their own dignity for their country. Mike is one of those few.

Photo Albums: Romania

We were attacked by viral vampires and nearly slain. But, Romania was aaaaaa'ight.