Circuituity

Is that even a word? I don't know. If it is, I probably didn't spell it right.

I'm quite enjoying my travels, but lately a thought has been starting to nag me: what happened to my plan?

I intended to skip southeast Asia and head straight across China, and here I am a week away from going to Vietnam, and then Cambodia and Laos. I meant to travel a generally direct route but it's not going that way.

Not that I'm complaining. I get to drink seventy-five cent beers in sub-tropical weather and eat food you can't even find in America (flattened rat on a stick anyone?) while on my way to even warmer countries with even cheaper beer where you can float down a lazy river in an inner-tube sipping cocktails and eating funny brownies.

Hell, you can even shoot a cow with a grenade launcher in Cambodia.

But the fact remains that I envisioned this trip as equal parts transit and pleasure, and so far it's been quite disproportionate in terms of pleasure. Just look at my actual route - at Qingdao, I had made a near loop back to Korea.

Here's what I'm telling myself: after a six week loop down through Vietnam and Cambodia, then back up through Laos, I'm going to reenter China and make a decent pace towards Tibet, Nepal and India.

Then I'm going to get my ass back into China - having to retrace my steps thanks to the shitty relationship between India and China that leaves travelers such as myself without a border crossing between the two countries - and get on to Kazakhstan and what I intended to do in the first place.

Will it happen? At this rate, no. But who knows?