dusting off

It's been quite some time since I've updated this blog, but it's also been quite some time since I've been doing any serious traveling. I just finished my second year of law school this morning, and in less than 10 hours I will be wheels-up on a fight bound for Shanghai.

...which means I should probably start packing. In the two years since I returned from South America, I've replaced many of the travel essentials that were stolen from me in Venezuela. Now, armed with a trusty pair of boots, my Tilley Hat, and an implacable zest for adventure, I'm look forward to exploring new cities, eating stranger foods, and falling off bigger waterfalls. 

This is my third major adventure, and like the third Indiana Jones movie: this time, dad's coming along. After booking my ticket at around 1:30 am one morning, I called him up and asked if he wanted to go to China. He said yes, and asked when we'd be going. "In a couple weeks" I replied, and without missing a beat, my father said "okay, let's do it." So now we're off; our travels will take us from the vibrant metropolises of Shanghai and Beijing, through the limestone peaks and steamy tropical south, and up to the wind-swept precipice of the Himalaya.  As always, I'll be updating with journal entries and photos as I go. 

For now, I really need to get packed and sneak in a few hours of sleep. Next post: Shanghai.

By the way, if anyone is interested in visiting China, here are three things that I wish I'd known ahead of time:

1. A Chinese Visa (which must be obtained ahead of your departure) now costs $160.

2. You have to either show up to the Chinese Consulate in person to apply - or pay an agency to do so (no mailing your visa application and passport to the consulate)

3. The last three pages of your passport "don't count", insofar as the Chinese Consulate will not affix a visa to these pages.

Had I known these things ahead of time, the last few weeks - already heavily-booked with law school finals - would have been somewhat less manic.