Where in the world is Kelly?

And so the blog begins! I actually had a lengthy post typed out (really pecked out on an iPad) last night but it appears to have disappeared into Internet oblivion so I will begin anew. In all honesty it was a ramble about the packing process written at one in the morning and was actually a tool to promote packing procrastination. In any case, here is a picture from last night’s festivities:

At this point there is just laundry to do and general puttering aroud. In the past few months, vaccines were sought, insurance companies fought with (thanks for the help, mom), books procured (actually I got Lonely Planet’s Pocket Singapore and Bali yesterday and began researching this morning – talk about last minute!), clothes sorted, a new passport was issued, and other such activities that accompany the happy madness of extended travel. And now, with less than twenty-four hours left until departure, the excitement is really starting to grow!

The plan (if you could even call it that since it is so open-ended) is to fly out of Tampa, Florida tomorrow (Thursday June sixth) at noon en route to Singapore. There are layovers in Detroit and Tokyo (Narita airport) with arrival in Singapore projected to be at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June eighth. Accomodations are only booked for the first two nights, so the third and fourth nights will be a bit of an adventure to find a place. For now I know we will be staying in Little India, which is precisely the place I would like to visit. That and the Botanical Gardens.

Above image courtesy of http://jimintheworld.blogspot.com/2010/06/singapore-little-india.html.

We will be there until Wednesday June twelth, at which point we will fly to Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. This flight is only two and a half hours, roughly equivalent to the flight from Tampa to Detroit. From there we will make our way to Ubud, a cultural center in the mountains, where we have a place to stay for the first five nights near the village center.

Above image courtesy of http://www.millermemoires.com/2013/05/travel-plans-ubud-bali.html.

And… that’s the plan so far! It would be great to spend more time exploring Bali. A visit to a happening hostel or two is likely to shed light on more opportunities and places to go, so who can say what will happen next? The summer is open, and when August rolls around I will head over to Europe to hop around a bit on my own before starting at Oxford in late September. More on that later.

Let it begin! Will post from Singapore.