Of Wanderlust and Travel Angst

There have been a few things going down here that are a bit unbloggable, hence me being a wee bit down in the dumps.

For one thing (in terms of bloggable stuff), I am procrastinating like no tomorrow on my grad apps - but tomorrow I will whip their butts and get my personal statement done this week.

And for another thing that has lead me to being down in the dumps and hence, AFB (Away from Blog), is the realization that I will quite possibly be alone for Christmas, unless something hopefully comes through. Deena mentioned to me that she was planning to go to Thailand (half Thai = family outside Bangkok) and we had once discussed about me tagging along should this ever come to fruition, and her maybe setting up house on the floor of my apartment in Kyoto for a week or two after (she has been to Japan but wants to come back, and hey, it's a free place to stay). Thing was, a certain someone highly objected to me going, even with Deena.

Now another certain someone just came to the understanding that I will not be going to Thailand by myself - I will be with Deena, (certain someone B thought I wanted to go by myself) she has family there and we would not be spending all our time in "The Beach"/"Brokedown Palace" backpacker world (All I ask is to see a stupa, eat some Thai food in Bangkok and go to this purported amazing flea market).

Now that certain someone B has come to that understanding, the idea of me being alone at Christmas definitely trumps the objections of certain someone A. That, and I am pissed. I do not want to spend Christmas by myself. And if I were to resign myself to that reality, I do not want to sit on my bum at my desk, during my holiday break. I need to get OUT. (That, and Thailand is the most affordable option of the countries that I can choose from during the holidays).

I am not stupid - frankly, I consider myself a quite cautious traveler. I am very aware of me being a tall, Caucasian, blue-eyed and somewhat blonde female in a sea of black (and orange)-haired heads; living in Japan sure as hell makes you more aware of your surroundings, given my physical appearance. In Tokyo, I always felt I was being watched.

I feel antsy. I need to get out of Japan. I feel like I have seen the whole country - and it quite looks the same. I mean there are places that I still haven't gone to yet (Okinawa, Hokkaido, Hiroshima, Nikko, Shikoku with the temple pilgrimage top the list) but I need to get OUT of Japan. I need to see Asia. I will ALWAYS get to go around Japan - but will I get the opportunities that I have now to say, go to Thailand under these pretty decent circumstances? I will be with a friend, and with family. Which is why I am pissed.

I don't want to buy tickets to Hong Kong quite yet in hopes that I go to Australia come January/February (plan being to go Australia via Hong Kong) and if I don't get to go to Australia, I'll just get tix for Hong Kong during February regardless. I am that antsy. Hong Kong is a short and cheap trip - I wouldn't spend no more than 4 days there. I barely have these chances to go to these countries, so I especially want to go while I can. I know I am coming back to Japan in the future, so I will save China for then.