[Grubb's] Random Thoughts of the Day

[Merk]

I never really have an opportunity to actively post since I work nights and I feel like no one posts unless I do.

I drive the conversation.

I am IndyDDR.

[LikeableRodent]

No arguments there.

[Merk]

Adam, what's your schedule like in the Fall? Chad and I are thinking about going to Japan around that time and it would be cool if you'd be around to be our Japan-friend-tour-guide.

Neither of us know a word of Japanese, how fucked are we? Everyone on the internet says that we'll be fine but I have strong feeling that Chad and I are going to go to a bar and not know how to order any of the fine alcoholic delicacies that Nippon has to offer!

[LikeableRodent]

I'm finishing up and leaving Japan in July. If you come before then I'd love to see you, but after then I'll be long gone.

Very few people here are fluent at English, but enough people tend to know enough simple English to help you out with simple things. This will be more likely in high-tourist areas.

If you're looking for booze, with the exception of Japanese varieties of alcohol, most names of drinks will be in katakana-English. Say it slowly and clearly in English, and the bartender will likely eventually understand what you're saying.

[Merk]

Ruuu-eye-tuuu... Rushhhhh-in... prease.

When in July? That's going to speed our butts up a bit, but I know I can save enough to go and enjoy Nippon. Honestly a big reason why I want to go is to chill with you and pretend that we're more than internet friends.

[LikeableRodent]

Took me quite some time to figure out what you were saying. It would actually be "howaito rushian" (hoe-why-toe rue-shi-an).

My contract finishes on July 27 (a Friday), though I haven't yet decided exactly on what day I'll leave.

If you're able to come before then I'd likely be able to head down to Tokyo for a weekend at a minimum, though due to work I'm not sure if I'd be able to do more than that.

And don't forget that we met in real life before falling back to the Internet... don't forget me!

[Merk]

We plan on staying a week at least - I'll see what Chad and I come up with. We are going to Vegas at the beginning of July so if we were to pull this off we would have to do it around June I suppose.

Are you going to go back to Arizona when you come back here? I have a feeling we've already discussed this but I'll be damned if I remember what thread it was in.

[LikeableRodent]

Well, let me know once you get plans hammered out. I've been going down to Tokyo once every few months to take Cisco exams, so I can try and time an exam for the weekend you'll be down there.

Sometime in late July my lady-friend and I are planning to fly to Beijing then spend a year cycling to the Atlantic. I don't think I've mentioned those plans on IndyDDR in the past, so you're not forgetting things.

Also, my parents have already moved from Phoenix to Pittsburgh, so there's nothing in Arizona for me.

[Merk]

Are you really going to ride your bike from fucking east coast China all the way to fucking west coast Portugal?

Really?!

I feel like if the trip doesn't kill you then some random highwayman in Turkey will snuff you out before you get robbed.

Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?

[LikeableRodent]

Well, we're likely not going to go to Portugal, but other than that, yeah. Our plan is to eventually make our way to the UK then take a victory lap around Ireland.

I have never had a Turkish prison experience in any sense of the phrase, and I wish to keep it that way.

[Merk]

Be safe! I feel like that's an extremely dangerous trip considering you're going to either have to go through the world's tallest mountains, a desert where there's a war going on involving nations that aren't particularly fond of Americans and non-Muslims, or a fucking snow covered tundra that is infamous as being the place where prisoners were sent to labor camps before they died of exposure. Hell, the Balkans are still covered in land mines from the Yugoslavian war so even Eastern Europe is going to be one fuck of a trip.

Central Asia is pretty shitty, the Middle East is pretty shitty, and I wouldn't want to drive through them much less ride a bike. If you actually pull this off you have to document this shit because this is like hiking the Appalaichian trail on steroids and you will probably become internet famous at the absolute minimum.

I mean, people pulled this off back hundreds of years ago with the Silk Road and all that jazz but they sure as hell didn't do it on a bike and they didn't do it in groups of two where they could get camel-jacked at sword-point effortlessly. Plus they had the benefit of at the very worst ambivalence from the countries they passed through. There is nothing more suspicious to China/Russia/India/Every country in the Middle East than a couple of white people on a hike. I'm not sure if you can follow non-major American news stories in Japan, but we had a couple cases of hikers / students getting thrown in jail for months because they were suspected of being spies in the last year.


I'm sure you've thought this through and I don't want to deter you from following your dreams - but I do want you to be safe. The scared white person inside of me is concerned, that's all.

[LikeableRodent]

Yikes! Let's break this down.

Be safe! I feel like that's an extremely dangerous trip considering you're going to either have to go through the world's tallest mountains,

Our planned route takes us nowhere near the Himalayas, if that's what you were getting at.

a desert where there's a war going on involving nations that aren't particularly fond of Americans and non-Muslims,

We're planning to go through Kazakhstan, crossing the Caspian Sea, then starting up again in Azerbaijan, thus bypassing the Middle East.

or a fucking snow covered tundra that is infamous as being the place where prisoners were sent to labor camps before they died of exposure.

Siberia? Going nowhere near it.

Hell, the Balkans are still covered in land mines from the Yugoslavian war so even Eastern Europe is going to be one fuck of a trip.

We'll probably be entering Europe through Bulgaria, but once we hit Europe we're not sure where we'll go. From reading journals of other people who went through the Balkans, the area is fine to bike through. We'll be careful, but I doubt it will be a problem.

Central Asia is pretty shitty, the Middle East is pretty shitty, and I wouldn't want to drive through them much less ride a bike. If you actually pull this off you have to document this shit because this is like hiking the Appalaichian trail on steroids and you will probably become internet famous at the absolute minimum.

I've been spending the past few years perusing other people who have biked the same areas we wish to go, so I'd like to think I have a good idea of what to expect. I'll make a journal on the aforementioned site, but enough other people do it that I doubt I'll particularly stand out too much among the many other people who do similar rides.

I mean, people pulled this off back hundreds of years ago with the Silk Road and all that jazz but they sure as hell didn't do it on a bike and they didn't do it in groups of two where they could get camel-jacked at sword-point effortlessly. Plus they had the benefit of at the very worst ambivalence from the countries they passed through. There is nothing more suspicious to China/Russia/India/Every country in the Middle East than a couple of white people on a hike. I'm not sure if you can follow non-major American news stories in Japan, but we had a couple cases of hikers / students getting thrown in jail for months because they were suspected of being spies in the last year.

I've heard of some of those cases, but we're going to, in general, be going through pretty innocuous areas.

I'm sure you've thought this through and I don't want to deter you from following your dreams - but I do want you to be safe. The scared white person inside of me is concerned, that's all.

Thanks for your concern! I've been planning this trip in my head for a few years now and have read quite a lot about similar trips, so I'm pretty confident that we'll likely be OK.

[Fluffyumpkins]

You're living your dream. I envy you.

[LikeableRodent]

You're living your dream. I envy you.

They're a work-in-progress.

And if it makes you feel any better, I'm quite worried about getting a job once I finish prancing around the world.

[Merk]