Booked A Ticket , Dropped Off The Passport

Busyness is a demon that devours time like a lion. Unfortunately it's a necessary evil that everyone must battle at some point or another. Balance can be an elusive concept when so much to do becomes the focus. Work, taxes, things to be done, gotta go and see you laters add up to a rapid passing of time. Where has the last two weeks gone?

I booked a ticket, dropped my passport in the hands of foreign consulate, and fell asleep with my nose stuck in a Lonely Planet Guidebook. My plans are ambitious, resources barely suffice, but in a little less than a month I'll be on my way to places with names like Yangshuo, Lahsa, and Ulaanbaatar.

I'll start my Journey in Hong Kong then make my way across southern China and if possible Tibet. From there I'll travel north and east to Beijing. In Beijing I'll take a train to Mongolia then Russia. Once in Russia I'll make my way across Eastern Europe into Western Europe and back to France where I intend to do some more walking.

All of this will have to be done on a tight shoestring budget with my biggest expense likely being the train from Beijing to Moscow. The intention is to travel for 5 months but finances will dictate whether it will be possible or not. I've booked my flights with airline miles which gives me a lot of flexibility, without added expense, if I need to cut things short.

In the meantime I'll continue along with a hectic pace but hope to more or less wrap things up a few days before I leave so I can catch my breath before the long flight over. For now its back to work...