Wednesday 28 May 2014

Keeping your plans fluid. Setting up for a year short travel

Initially when I decided to take a belated gap year some six months back, my plan for the trip was to reach Europe by land starting out from Singapore. From Singapore, I would follow the train route through South East Asia and into China. I would then follow the ancient Silk Road into Central Asia and eventually Europe. However, these plans quickly fell apart in recent months due to:
  1. Political situation currently in Thailand with the recent military coup and bombing near the southern borders in Hat Yai.
  2. Violence outbreak in China with the recent slashing in Guangzhou and Kunming and recent bombings occurring in the Xinjiang region.
These events have made me reconsidered traveling through this region and tweak my plans. My plans have now changed in the last few weeks and instead I will depart Singapore on the overnight train to Kuala Lumpur. From there, I will fly to Laos where I will stay for about a month before departing back to Kuala Lumpur and then fly to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan where my journey of Silk road will begin.

My point here is we should constantly reassess the situation and keep our plans flexible to adapt to such fast evolving situations. Even with my accommodation, I plan to leave this to once I reach where I am travelling to arrange and not booking more than my first few days stay in each country.