Good Planning Makes for a Good Trip

We've still got two and a half weeks before this year's second big trip. I fear that we have been focusing mostly on preparing for the segment in China up to now. That portion of the trip requires visas. Also, as we've decided to do it alone, we've heard that it's a good idea to plan things such as hotels before leaving. I see that many folks still take tours in groups when going to Mainland China as little English is spoken there. In addition, we've had three main cities to reasearch: Shanghai, Beijing, and Xi'an. We will be there for around two weeks in total.

The other segment of our trip is also new to us. We've never been to the country Malaysia. That's what is finally occupying the majority of our research now. We will focus on just Kuala Lumpur and Penang. It is an easier place to travel as backpackers, or so we've been led to believe. We're only there for 10 nights. Now though, I'm looking forward to that stretch of the journey just as much as the first. We've not been in that little corner of the world for quite a long time, except for a few weeks in Thailand and Cambodia in 2009. In fact this photo below is 19 years old. This might be evidenced by the size of the lenses in my glasses as well as the bulk of the camcorder!


Borobudur is an 8th-century Mahayana Buddhist monument near Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia.