Ticket Purchased, and Some Future Thoughts...

I watched ticket prices for a couple months and at the very end both tickets from Seoul to Hanoi and to Bangkok dropped a hundred dollars so I figured it was time to make one mine. Through the planning process there was a slight change in plan, meeting my boyfriend in Laos in October instead of November made me rethink flying into Hanoi.

In the end I decided it was better to fly into Bangkok and spend a 4-5 weeks traveling from southern Thailand to the north then crossing the boarder into Laos where I will meet up with my boyfriend for two weeks then continue on in Laos for another two weeks or so onto Cambodia for about 10 days then into southern Vietnam where I will spend a month working my way north to Hanoi and home for the holidays.

As for my return ticket I still have not purchased that as of yet but already having looking into Thailand's rules on entry I know that I do not have a problem if I do not buy my ticket before I arrive. I also discovered, after looking more closely at return tickets noticed flights from Hanoi to Boston and Providence were cheaper than from Bangkok but they are also longer with far more layovers. I definitely want to be home for Christmas so I am now thinking of cutting my trip 5 days short as the flight takes give or take 35 hours!!!! I definitely don't want anything to go wrong and I want to feel good for my first Christmas in 2 years, not jet lagged.

Prices on return tickets remain stagnant but the travel duration time differs. I want to make sure I get a ticket that has the shortest travel time possible. Right now they are all priced the same but the shorter travel times will go faster. I am waiting because I am receiving money in place of a return ticket home from Korea which I have written into my contract, and since my contract doesn't end till the end of August I do not have a ton of disposable income to go ahead and make that purchase. Also I want to be sure that nothing goes wrong.

Next step is looking into guide books. I like to read up a bit before I go just to have a general idea of things to do and places I want to see, of course this always changes and develops as I arrive at places and meet new people. I usually go for Lonely planet books but I am currently torn between the Southeast Asia book, which has way more countries than I need and getting the Thailand book to start then picking up once I am down there, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and the Greater Mekong. On the road there are always travelers willing to swap books, or there are book exchanges or you can buy them on the street in Thailand. I know Lonely Planet does not like to hear that but there are many cheap good condition bootlegged LP's for sale. I think I will order the Thailand book from Amazon to start my research because it is smaller and more descriptive and I don't need a ton of information on countries I do not need.

Also, I am starting to think about travel insurance. This is something that is super important and will talk more about later. Just starting my research for the time being.

Finally the last thing I am thinking about at the moment is finding a travel clinic here in S. Korea because I would like to get a polio vaccine and a prescription for Cipro which they give a lot of travelers for diarrhea, UTI's and respiratory infections, which is always handy. Just the things on my mind at the moment.....