PHASE II: No Itinerary Desired

Where Phase I had to be planned out and scheduled (the train across western Canada ran only three times a week), Phase II was intentionally left blank. The goal was to get to somewhere in SE Asia / Oceania and chill out for a few months. I ended up going to Bangkok (where I am currently typing this with the aid of some Hong Thong blended whiskey). The goal-behind-the-goal is to get some writing done, which hasn't quite sparked yet (especially since I owe blog updates).

Lounging to Alaska: a Nautical Tale

Dan & I (see: Dan & Simon's Wacky Rally posts) met at the ferry terminal a little before four in the afternoon. It turned out the boat wasn't going to depart until seven, so our first interaction was a debate about what to do until then. We ended up just getting on the boat and figuring it out. [It turns out the boat, which we thought left at 6 PST leaves at 6 Alaska Standard Time, giving us another hour before departure.]

If you didnt guess, Dan will be conntributing in brackets.

As I sit here thinking about how to shape this into a narrative, I keep coming up with "ways I could have done this better." To be clear, I had a delightful time on the boat, but it's hard to make a post out of "I ate and read and looked out the window and played card games" without thinking about how I could have streamlined the process. I'll do my best to give a full account before giving a future traveler advice.

We spent the first night with a light dinner (chowder, probably) [It was indeed clam chowder] and hitting our two drink limit in the dining area. After that, we just wandered around the ship, getting an idea of its public spaces. To wiz wit:

ITINERARY: Canada & Alaska

For my own reference and due to popular demand, this is my planned itinerary for Phase One of my trip around the world (45-60 days). I suspect I'll be editing this post frequently, so feel free to check back.

AUGUST 2018

Aug 4: Fly to Halifax (done! See blog entry)

Aug 5: 13:00 train from Halifax to Montreal

Aug 9: train to Quebec City

Aug 11: train to Ottawa

Aug 12: train to Toronto

Aug 16: 22:00 The Canadian from Toronto to Winnipeg

Aug 20: 10:00 train from Winnipeg to Edmonton

Aug 24: 09:37 train from Edmonton to Vancouver

Aug 27: bus from Vancouver to Seattle
Underground tour? link & link

Aug 31: 18:00 MV Columbia to Juneau, AK (arr. Sept 3)

SEPTEMBER 2018

Bum around Alaska? Juneau? Homer? Sitka? Anchorage?

Sept 14/15: flight to Los Angeles

Buy a ticket to somewhere else (Phase Two)