Go2Asia.blogspot.com is now SeizeTheWorld.com!!

During the past couple of weeks, I have been working on a website for my tour of Asia. Europe and the United States have been added to the itinerary, and Go2Asia !! has been transformed into SeizeTheWorld(!). The site is nearly complete, and I have purchased the domain name. All that remains before this link to www.seizetheworld.com will function is for my .mac membership to be activated, a registration code for my sandvox software to arrive in my hotmail inbox, and for me to link my domain name with the website. Hopefully by the time you read this there will be an amazing website already there! To summarize/update my plan, I hope to begin a bicycle tour in Boulder, Colorado (USA) approx. one year from now. I want to pass through these cities: New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Seattle. In the process I hope to raise a substantial amount of funding for epilepsy research. First, I hope to raise a sufficient amount of funding to support my travel expenses. That is the essense of my trip. Check back often to click on the link above, soon it will send you to a nice website!
-Stephen

Ever get worried about planning?

I've been wandering around through the intertubes this evening, and I came across an inspiring piece of advice from a bicycle tourist (Ken Kifer - www.kenkifer.com). I think it will save me a lot of time during my planning for the trip to Asia! Here's the advice from Ken - it relates to a question about maps: "Your question about maps has several answers. I just use road maps and plan my trip as I go, avoiding main roads connecting large cities and using secondary roads that connect small towns. You have to be aware of features that don't show up on these maps, such as mountains." Like, basically, I don't have to really plan my trip! SuuuwEET! Now all that remains is to find funding. Stay tuned faithful reader(s), this trip is starting to get legs...
-Stephen

The Rough Travel Plan

While I was chillin' at my apartment a couple of nights ago, I came up with a very rough travel plan. The idea is to ride my bike from Boulder to New York City. From there, I will take a plane to London. From London, I take the Chunnel to Paris, and then ride from Paris to Tokyo. There will, of course, be a flight or a boat ride involved to get to Tokyo. From Tokyo I will take a plane to Seattle, Washington, and then finish the trip with a ride back to Boulder. I have not yet looked at detailed maps to plan any of the individual legs of the journey. However, I would like to visit as much of Europe as possible, I would like to see Turkey, I would like to see the Pyramids, then cross over to the Arabian peninsula, make my way through Yemen, Oman, through the UAE and over to Iran if I believe that it can be safely at the time I arrive. I have not researched the politics of these areas enough to make these decisions yet. An alternative to this route could be to make my way out of Europe through Ukraine instead of Turkey, thus avoiding the Middle East. Eventually I will make my way to Pakistan, and then spend a good deal of time riding through India. I have not decided which places I would like to see in India, but I'll play it by ear there. This seems appropriate. After leaving India, I will make my way along the southern coast of China, visiting Hong Kong and Shanghai. Perhaps if it is possible I will also take a trip to Taiwan inbetween. Finally I will visit Beijing and then see the Great Wall of China to the North. Then I will roll into Russia, and catch a flight or a boat to Japan. It would make me very happy to learn some Japanese and to see a good deal of Japan. By this point in the journey I will most likely be ready for some kind of break. Perhaps I'll take it here. Once I find my way to Tokyo, I will catch a flight to Seattle, then ride my bike back to Boulder via the most scenic route possible. The trip will likely require a new bicycle. Perhaps a Trek 520 with really light components? Hmm.
-Stephen

Midnight in the Garden of Rayback! (soon to be out of business...)

Here are a few pictures of my neighborhood in Boulder taken a couple of hours ago. Kind of an interesting, cold experience walking around taking pictures at midnight. Fortunately I didn't get mugged. One girl noticed me standing on the other side of my apt. complex parking lot. I decided it would be too weird to take a flash picture, so I just stood there while we noticed each other noticing each other, and she made her way quickly inside before flash photography resumed. Otherwise, uneventful. Rayback is a used appliance supply store near where I live. (deep breath) Although I find many of these buildings very interesting, and I enjoy looking at them, I cannot help feeling a powerful desire to leave when I see many of the buildings on north 28th Street in Boulder. In that sense, I suppose, they are very inspiring. Revisiting the places which were new and exciting when I was in college is now making me feel only a new and exciting desire to be somewhere else. Asia! Git 'R Done...

The Mission

Welcome to Go 2 Asia !! My name is Stephen. This is the website that I've created to document my efforts to organize, fund, and execute a large-scale trip to Asia. The trip will be ambitious in scope. It is in the dream phase right now. My goal is to see Asia. This is the progression I hope to follow:

1) Create a plan for the journey which will have wide appeal. It must be interesting to me, to the friend who accompanies me (possibly my friend Ben?) And, critically, to potential sponsors.

2) Generate support for the trip as a means of funding it. Ideally, funding will come from drug companies, fundraising organizations, clothing and gear companies, etc. I have epilepsy, and I would love to use my experience travelling in Asia as a means to promote the idea among other people with similar conditions that it is possible to both to have a chronic condition and to have adventures.

3) Finalize the specifics of the plan, go through an intense period of logistical preparation in order to prepare for take off. Make sure that everything is in order before beginning the journey.

4) Travel in Asia!

I've created the website at such an early stage both because I am so excited personally about the trip and because I am hopeful that creating interest, no matter how limited in scope, at this early stage will be helpful when I get to stage two in the process. It is now 11:21p.m. and I am going to go shoot some photos of my neighborhood. I felt inspired to do this earlier today because my current surroundings are a large part of my motivation for planning such a journey, but I didn't have my camera. Check back soon for pictures!
-Stephen