We arrived in Lima on time after what, compared to US airlines, would be considered a posh flight- spacious with free DVD-music-game consoles for every seat, blankets and pillows...

By the time we got through cutoms, our bags were readyon the baggage claim carousel. Stepping out of the terminal we found Santos from the Hostel de las Artes, who took us to a cab and off we went through Lima. It was about 1 AM and the streets seemed desolate and empty. The buildings were dark and block shaped. As we reached the center there were more European looking buildings but still not that many people on the streets. The weather was humid but not hot --more like autumn weather in the US. We checked into the hostal. It is a Spanish colonial building with high ceilings and tall wood doors. The humidity permeates everything. It has been a while since I've been in cold humidity. Today we moved to an upstairs room which is a bit more airy.

We started the morning with a walk to a main street. The streets were bustling which was a relief after our late night arrival. Taxis and busses raced, honking as they were forced to stop at stoplights. We got papas rellenas (fried mashed potatoes stuffed with a little bit of meat- served with lettuce and very hot Peruvian sauce).

We ate them in the Parque de la Cultura. Many of the benches held young couples making out. It was around 10 AM. We discovered making out is a popular pastime among young Peruvians who kiss on street corners, in the middle of the sidewalks, next to any fence or wall and numerous other places.

After breakfast we figured out where exactly we were and went to the art musuem. It has a varied collection of Pre-columbian ceramics, colonial through modern paintings (Does anyone else find images of religious figures with little piles of winged baby heads under their feet disturbing?)

After the musueum, we headed up the street toward the Plaza de Armas. Lima streets are crowded and there are lots of peple but it doesn´t feel oppressive walking here, just a bit lively. There are few touts but they seem to direct their energies more toward Peruvians.

On our way to the Plaza we walked down Jiron de la Union, a pedestrian street reminiscent of Istiklal in Istanbul--packed with boutiques, restaurants and people.

Plaza de Armas is a grand plaza surrounded by big colonial buildings and churches. There is a large fountain in the center and lots of pigeons. I like the heavy looking carved wood balconies/windows which seemed to defy gravity as the stood out from the pastel colored plaster of the buildings. Another interesting feature of Lima is the vultures which circle in the sky and perch on the buildings and statues, looking down with their curved necks.

The next stop was the monastary of San Francisco. It is a museum though I guess monks still live in one part. It is a dark and sombre building inside with serious colored paintings... quite a contrast to the light airy nature of the frescoes and buildings in Asisi, where I felt the town and monks melded with nature. Here I got the feeling that nature was seen more as an enemy to be eliminated... but perhaps that is just me being influenced by what I know of the conquistadores.

Perhaps the most famous part of the museum is the catacombs beneath the church. The tour guide assured us as we looked dubiously at the bricks cemented together with bird guano, that the catacombs were completly safe and had survived for over 400 years. The bones were still there and had been neatly sorted by type and then placed in the graves and wells.

Later we headed to Miraflores, which is a bit swankier than the center. There are lots of expensive boutiques, cafes and trendy restaurants. We stopped at a cafe and I had an amazing cup of hot cholocate--almost like drinking hot rich chocolate pudding (but not as thick). We ended up on some cliffs overlooking the ocean. Walking along the cliffs we admired the view of waves slowly moving to the shore.

We are still in the US but at least we´ve made it to the plane to Lima. It´s been a hectic week as we rushed to finish everything. I´m just begining to feel relaxed now as the plane starts to move. In the past few weeks I´ve been amazed by how wonderful our friends are. We´ve had so many offers of help and been granted so many favors I don´t know how we could ever repay everyone. Everyone has been so kind that we may just have to come back to San Diego to live so we can all hang out more. We will miss you all and I hope to meet up with some of you in interesting, exotic countries. One thing I love about travel is it makes the world smaller so even though we may be in a far off country we will continue to be close through beautiful threads of relationships. I hope through our travels, the wonderful people we know in the US will be connected to the wonderful people we meet while traveling.

Note: Thanks to Ava for taking our picture at the airport

-TLD

The following is sort of an outline of what we did in the 11 weeks from when we decided to do this round the world trip until we left. Warning: This will probably be incredibly boring unless you are thinking about traveling around the world.

Week 1: JUMP IN! June 17-23
This week was devoted to starting to make a dream into reality.

LEAVING THE JOB:
R got laid off setting the plan in motion. Probably if one isn't laid off but rather quits, this step could be pushed to the 5th or 6th week.

CLOSING THE BUSINESS:

• informed clients and collaborators of impending business closure
  
• worked out time schedules for work completion and arranged for others to take over jobs.
  
• consulted with an accountant on what I needed to do about taxes; arranged for parents to receive w2s; If you don’t have complex taxes, arrange for someone you trust to do them for you;

PLANING THE TRIP:

• started making list of places we want to visit
  
• started researching visas

TOO MUCH STUFF:

• Made list and began selling stuff to friends and on Craig’s List

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER

• checked credit reports

SOCIAL

• told friends about trip

Week 2: ROUGHING OUT A PLAN June 24-30
We were struck by the overwhelming amount of things we needed to do

PLANNING THE TRIP:

• started researching airfares for other legs of the trip (note: we already had a ticket to Peru, if we didn’t we would probably have tried to purchase a ticket ASAP)
  
• checked out travel guides from library to research countries

TOO MUCH STUFF:

• bought storage boxes; (or if you have time or know people working in places that have boxes, go and beg boxes )
  
• considered options of what to do with stuff: should we try to get rid of everything?; should we ship it to my parents in HI?; should we pay for storage?

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• made (a first) list of what needed to be done
  
• called auto insurance but can only suspend it for 6 months (Interestingly enough 8 weeks later when I called I was told we’d still get all our good driving credits a year later so who knows?)

WEEK 3: BUDGET July 1-7
Unfortunately it is wise to take $$ into consideration when thinking about long term travel

PLANNING THE TRIP1:

• started estimating costs
  Great tools for estimating:
  • Kayak.com - searches bunches of airlines
  • www.xe.com - currency conversion
  • www.solotravel.org/travel-budget-calculator.htm - estimates budget for various countries
  
• signed up for membership in South American Explorers Club

WEEK 4: LITTLE IMPORTANT THINGS July 8-14

RESEARCH

• researched basics about Central Asia, Australia and SE Asia

THE BLOG

• got blog up and running

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• started changing addresses: 401K, magazines

TRIP PREP:

• bought necessary equipment (sleeping bags, new raincoats, travel gear)
  
• researched and ordered international cell phone

HEALTH

• started trying to get all needed dental work done
  
• began researching health insurance options

CLOSING THE BUSINESS

• arranged to receive final paychecks from clients

STUFF

• began gathering stuff to be sold in yard sale

WEEK 5: HEALTH July 15-21
RESEARCH

• Researched malaria
  
• Made list of places we’d go (and malaria risk)
  
• began researching and discussing banking issues with banks. The internet and prevalence of ATMs all over the place means there are a lot of options to consider. I was impressed with how easy it now is to move money between different bank accounts at different banks online.

HEALTH

• went to travel clinic for immunizations

TOO MUCH STUFF:

• yard sale preparation: pricing + free ads online
  
• had yard sale

WEEK 6: FAMILY VISIT July 22-28

STUFF

• had local charity pick up stuff that didn't sell at yard sale
  
• brought what we could carry on a plane to parents' house and went over where things were and how to get things I might need

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• put my dad in charge of finances and got him a power of attorney

HEALTH

• relaxed
  
• read the final Harry Potter book

WEEK 7: TYING UP LOOSE ENDS July 29- August 4
RESEARCH:

• went on travel DVD watching spree

CLOSING BUSINESS:

• gathered information for accountant for taxes; gave family accountant info

TOO MUCH STUFF:

• listed car online and in Autotrader and Union Tribune

CLOSING THE BUSINESS

• Gave other designers copies of my archives; worked on final projects

WEEK 8: GETTING 5-11
RESEARCH:

• turned research focus back to Peru, first stop

CLOSING THE BUSINESS

• met with accountant for tax estimate

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• reserved hostel for arrival in Lima (as well as airport pickup)

THE BLOG

• informed everyone about blog

WEEK 9 SEEING A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL Aug. 12-18

CLOSING THE BUSINESS

• completed work for clients and sent final invoices

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• bought traveler’s checks
  
• called banks and had them note account (about traveling)
  
• changed address with IRS

STUFF

• sold car
  
• reserved rental car for taking stuff to friends for storage

TRIP PREP

• bought final travel needs
  
• got hair cut
  
• made photocopies of important documents

SOCIAL

• had going away party

HEALTH

• took oral typhoid vaccine (should be taken at least a week before traveling

WEEK 10 SOME QUICK TRIPS Aug 19-25
CLOSING THE BUSINESS

• burned back up DVDs of important computer files as well as back up on external

HEALTH

• bought prescriptions (after unsuccessful trip to Tijuana)
  
• finished up final medical stuff

TRIP PREP

• checked expiration dates on debit cards and realized needed to get new one
  
• crammed Spanish with my new favorite Spanish learning resource Spanish Sense

STUFF and SOCIAL

• drove to friends house (out of state) to store stuff and visit

WEEK 11 LAST CHANCE! Aug. 26-31

PUTTING AFFAIRS IN ORDER:

• opted-out Rowshan from pre-approved credit card mailing lists (had done this for myself ages ago)
  
• canceled unused credit cards
  
• filled out mail forwarding form for post office
  
• canceled utilities and arranged for final bill payment (most online)
  
• returned all library stuff
  
• canceled auto insurance
  
• changed addresses with banks
  
• changed address with DMV
  
• cleaned house

HEALTH

• bought travel insurance
  
• made list of emergency contact numbers

TRIP PREP

• packed everything and evaluated what I was bringing; then repacked...

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THINGS I WISH I HAD DONE EARLIER

• checked expiration dates on debit/credit cards
  
• gotten prescriptions (more time to investigate options like purchasing over the internet)