Welcome to the life of the chosen few. – Author Unknown
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 (DAYS 1,017 – 1,038)
The lifestyle of a continuous long-term traveler is an evolving art form–everything from adjusting your budget based upon the countries I’m in to the frustrations of reducing the weight of my pack to become more mobile as I navigate through what many would consider ‘Third World’ countries without concrete paths, but dirt roads. When I pause and think back almost three years before I left the United States and what I thought I needed for this journey without and end date, I could easily fill a separate backpack of items that I could have done without. It’s amazing to me to think that when I used to travel in the States for weekend trips to Vegas or weeklong jaunts to New York, California, or even a seven day cruise, the sheer size of what I thought I needed for these trips is now an embarrassing thought. I would have never guessed back then that I could take a single rucksack for a three-week trip. The idea and determination to become an ultralight backpacker has been a goal of mine since my trip to Bali, Indonesia in January of 2014. I wanted to share with other future and current travelers how it is possible to live with minimal material items, and yet, still have all the things that you need. Below are photos with brief descriptions of what I took to Cambodia and I hope it will be helpful to others. *I have shot and edited a short video that is less than 5-minutes and shows how to become an #ultralight #backpacker CLICK HERE TO VIEW.
The lifestyle of a continuous long-term traveler is an evolving art form–everything from adjusting your budget based upon the countries I’m in to the frustrations of reducing the weight of my pack to become more mobile as I navigate through what many would consider ‘Third World’ countries without concrete paths, but dirt roads. When I pause and think back almost three years before I left the United States and what I thought I needed for this journey without and end date, I could easily fill a separate backpack of items that I could have done without. It’s amazing to me to think that when I used to travel in the States for weekend trips to Vegas or weeklong jaunts to New York, California, or even a seven day cruise, the sheer size of what I thought I needed for these trips is now an embarrassing thought. I would have never guessed back then that I could take a single rucksack for a three-week trip. The idea and determination to become an ultralight backpacker has been a goal of mine since my trip to Bali, Indonesia in January of 2014. I wanted to share with other future and current travelers how it is possible to live with minimal material items, and yet, still have all the things that you need. Below are photos with brief descriptions of what I took to Cambodia and I hope it will be helpful to others. *I have shot and edited a short video that is less than 5-minutes and shows how to become an #ultralight #backpacker CLICK HERE TO VIEW.
MY PERSONAL RTW EXPERIENCE:
Waking up to another cold winter morning in Seoul I have a feeling of excitement knowing that in less than 24-hours I’ll be 2,256 miles (3,632km) and in the warmth of Cambodia. There have been a handful of countries that I’ve returned to throughout my 1,000 plus days on the road, and Cambodia certainly is a special place. After a quick shower and double-checking my rucksack, I grab a cup of coffee and contemplate my course to the subway station since I’ve chosen not to carry a coat to South East Asia or spend the additional money to rent a locker at the airport for three-weeks.
Waking up to another cold winter morning in Seoul I have a feeling of excitement knowing that in less than 24-hours I’ll be 2,256 miles (3,632km) and in the warmth of Cambodia. There have been a handful of countries that I’ve returned to throughout my 1,000 plus days on the road, and Cambodia certainly is a special place. After a quick shower and double-checking my rucksack, I grab a cup of coffee and contemplate my course to the subway station since I’ve chosen not to carry a coat to South East Asia or spend the additional money to rent a locker at the airport for three-weeks.
Ironically my Korean friend Ara booked her flight to Cambodia about a week after I did the beginning of November and we just happened to be on the exact same flight. Planning to meet at Incheon Internation Airport (#ICN) I was thankful Ara was there to explain more thoroughly in Korea because as I was checking-in for my flight via China Eastern Airlines, the attendant told me that according to their system I was required to have my Cambodian visa prior to being allowed to board the plane. Frustrated, but quite calm I explained that for U.S. citizens Cambodia offers a visa on arrival. After about an hour of discussions that also included two managers and a call to the Cambodian Embassy in Korea they granted this request with the exception that I sign a document that relinquishes their responsibility if I were to arrive in Cambodia and were not granted to enter the country. Once again since I had been there before and double-checked this information with the U.S. State Department I knew that this would not be an issue.
Stepping outside to the warm night air, Ara and I were approached by a taxi driver as we contemplated sleeping a few hours at the airport until the first bus to Sihanoukville began operating at 7am. After a short discussion adding up the cost of a tuk tuk to the bus terminal $5 plus the local bus for $8 (6-7 hour journey) and knowing that a tuk tuk from the bus terminal in Sihanoukville would be another $2, I negotiated the taxi to $50 to take the two of us directly south to the coast. Can you imagine (in your home country) taking a taxi 137 miles (221km) for only $50 for a 3.5-hour ride?
Our flight had one layover in Shanghai, which is not one of my favorite airports, especially since you’re required to check-in with the International Transfer desk and then also pass through another security check-point even for those in transit. However, we finally arrived in Phnom Penh just before midnight and as we entered the customs and immigration area it was an absolute madhouse! I think quite a few flights arrived at the same time and I felt as though I was in a mosh pit! Once I bulldozed my way through the crowd and to the Visa on Arrival desk, I was surprised to see that the visa fee had changed from $20 less than a year ago to $30. This was a pretty minor issue though because Cambodia is amazingly inexpensive, especially compared to Korea. Unfortunately no photos are available as with most countries they are prohibited in this area. Once I received my passport back, which now has surpassed more than 26 of my visa pages in my passport I couldn’t help but smile knowing I will most likely need a new passport long before it expires in 2021.
Arriving in Sihanoukville about 4am, I knew the area relatively well and we decided to grab a seat at an outdoor 24-hour café and discuss whether or not it’s worth it to pay for a dorm room for just a few hours or stay up all night and look for accommodations after sunrise. We chose the latter. Since we had some time to kill we decided that a couple of cold beers would be a nice way to relax from such a long travel day, especially when beer is .50 cents and bottled water and every other drink on the menu was more expensive.
The next few days I had the pleasure of reuniting with friends I’d met in my travels two years ago. The first was my Aussie mate Robo that I met in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua and second was my English friend Mel that I met on Puppy Island, Panama aka Bocas del Toro. About a week later my buddies from Korea, Jacob and Devin, met up with me after they explored Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and we immediately made our way to the paradise island of Koh Rong to ring in the New Year.
The first full day in Koh Rong we decided to take part in a boat trip that included; snorkeling near one of the other islands, then did some fishing, which while motoring there I ended up making my way to the back of the boat to let out the tuna sandwich I ate just an hour early. This is the first time I’ve ever thrown up on a boat, but it wasn’t due to seasickness as I’ve been on some extremely rough waters before, but the tuna was no bueno! We ended our trip with an afternoon on Long Beach with a BBQ on the boat from the fish we caught and then headed back after sunset where we paused to see the bioluminescence.
Upon returning to Koh Tuich Village (Tui Beach), which is the area where most of the guesthouses and bungalows are situated, we headed to a $6 BBQ ribs dinner near Bunna’s place and happened to share a table with two Brits, Chirag and Hannah, plus an American, April. Without fail, this now became our traveling family and this was the group we ended up spending New Year’s eve and the rest of our time on the island and returning to Sihanoukville with.
Upon returning to Koh Tuich Village (Tui Beach), which is the area where most of the guesthouses and bungalows are situated, we headed to a $6 BBQ ribs dinner near Bunna’s place and happened to share a table with two Brits, Chirag and Hannah, plus an American, April. Without fail, this now became our traveling family and this was the group we ended up spending New Year’s eve and the rest of our time on the island and returning to Sihanoukville with.
New Year’s Eve was probably one of the most wild I have experienced. We began with a family dinner and then headed to the sky bar to take in the view and enjoy some champagne, which I can’t really stand but was able to stomach a glass. Suddenly, April shouted out, “hey guys, it’s 30-minutes to midnight let’s get down to the beach!” After walking down exactly 100 stone steps to the beach we were waiting for the countdown amid fireworks already lighting up the night sky. Several groups of people were lighting boxes of about 15-20 fireworks that they would bury in the sand, but unfortunately for us a group of local guys didn’t appear to know what they were doing and after poorly burying their box of fireworks and lighting it seconds before midnight, the first firework shot up into the air and as it did the box in the sand tilted and the remaining fireworks began shooting into the building behind us and also into the crowd. All I could picture was one flying in my direction and blowing up in my face. I dove over a bench, where I happen to cut my ankle, and the girl next to me that also dove actually had her skirt singed that left a quarter-size black mark. I also had a small burn mark on my favorite Denver Broncos t-shirt. Thankfully no one was hurt, no fires broke out amid the closely built wood buildings, but as everyone was relishing in what had just happened, immediately a full on beach brawl of about 30 local Cambodians broke out. Everyone was in shock and had no idea what was going on as the fight started on the beach and was taken out to the shoreline and calf deep water. But, strangely as quickly as it began it just stopped. Seriously, one of the weirdest and most wild beginnings to a new year I have ever experienced!
In closing, I wanted to give a wonderful shout out to my friend’s Sean and Julie Flaherty and the entire Flaherty Clan. Julie has one of the most infectious laughs you have ever heard and I’m sure she is making it now as she reads this. I first met Julie in high school in Colorado, and I’ll never forget all of our crazy adventures! Just too many to name, unfortunately, but I know that anyone that knew her can imagine all of the hilarious times that have been shared. Anyways, she shared with me that since her kids love reading my blog and following where I go, I wanted to do something special for them and asked her what it could be. She told me that, “being divorced, the kids always are clarifying when they say "...it's at home" or "...are we going home?" due to having more than one place they know as "home." I don't exactly know how it got started, but our house became known as the Mudhut.” When I heard this I couldn’t help but relate to the fact that I’m also unsure to what or where I call home as a vagabond, and I know that many others from divorce families may have the same feelings and so I wanted to share this on my blog. I am ALWAYS extremely grateful for ALL of the support from those that know me and those that have just randomly stumbled across my blog, but I do hope to do a better job of keeping up with it and writing about more pertinent travel topics to help others that are looking to not escape from life, but not to let life escape you. I hope you enjoy the photo gallery of my time in Cambodia and Happy New Years to all and here’s to a great 2015 everyone!
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