It’s only mid-February, but I already have 5 vacations planned, plus two Company-related events. This week is a Company event in Monterey. We’ll go there on Thursday morning, have some meetings, have a private evening tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, have dinner in Carmel, spend the night at a hotel on Cannery Row and attend more meetings on Friday morning, but will be done around 12:30 p.m. Because there’s always a long line to get into the Monterey Bay Aquarium, I’ve not been able to see it on my previous two visits there. Actually, this turns out to be the perfect extracurricular event for me! I might also drag my DSLR along to take pictures of Monterey in the evening or early morning, if I make it out of bed by then!
There’s also a Company conference in Newark, New Jersey in April. I fly in the night before because it begins promptly at 8:30 a.m. I generally spend the night because, when there’s a 3-hour time difference, flying in and spending one night, then flying right back has a tendency to mess with my sense of timing! Plus, 5 1/2 to 6 hours scrunched in my seat, usually with screaming/crying children in the vicinity is not my favorite mode of transportation with limited sleep!
In a month I’ll be back in New Orleans (yes, AGAIN!). My very specific purpose in this trip is to attempt to photograph the Mardi Gras Indians. The Mardi Gras Indians are African-Americans in New Orleans who have formed tribes to honor the Native Americans who took them in and helped them during the days of slavery. There are supposedly something like 30 to 40 tribes, possibly more, in New Orleans. Some of these tribes release music as well, the most famous being The Wild Magnolias. The main members of these tribes wear spectacular costumes of brilliantly colored feathers and come out on three main occasions during the year – Mardi Gras itself, Super Sunday (the Sunday closest to St Joseph’s Day) and St. Joseph’s Day. The weekend of my trip to New Orleans encompasses Super Sunday. Although I’m very excited about possibly photographing the Mardi Gras Indians, they won’t come out if it rains because it will damage their costumes, which costs them thousands of dollars and countless hours to make by hand. Thus, I’m praying for good weather! In addition to it being Super Sunday, it will also be the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day, meaning there will be several parades and block parties going on as well. There’s a large Irish community in New Orleans, so I can only imagine the celebrations that will take place.
Mid-May will be my major vacation of the year – back to Thailand (but only to Bangkok) and Bali, but flying to Cambodia for the first time and spending four nights as well. Since many of my traveling friends have listed Angkor Wat as the most impressive site they’ve ever seen, it’s time for me to make that trek. Although neither Malaysia or Vietnam were favorite travel destinations of mine, I have a feeling that Cambodia will be quite different. Angkor Wat is the main temple, but there are also Bayon, Ta Prohm, Banteay Sri (?) and several others. Friends have said that they’re all in close proximity, making it easy to see several within a day. Cambodia seems to be the origin of that bamboo tattoo that I was seriously considering getting in Thailand. In Cambodia they call it the “yantra” tattoo. I have no idea if the same mystical traditions are associated with it, but I’ll do my research. My ex-boyfriend in Thailand will not be happy if I return to Bangkok with a yantra tattoo proudly displayed on my person, as he mentioned that he wasn’t a fan of my tattoos, but the tattoos are for ME and not for anyone else. Besides, he and I are not together, so his opinion doesn’t exactly matter. Remember how I didn’t get to see Muay Thai in either Koh Samui or Bangkok last October? Cambodia has kick boxing, too! Since I’ll be in Siem Reap, I was thrilled to find out that there’s a small stadium there which has kick boxing matches every Wednesday (and possibly other evenings, too; the info is conflicting). For something like $15 or $20, it will be much cheaper than seeing it in Thailand. For something fun, I can have my photo taken Apsara-style (i.e. in traditional Cambodian clothing). Hopefully, they can rush the photos if I pay them extra or maybe they could take the photos with MY camera if I pay them more. On my second trip to Bali, I’d had my photo taken in Candidasa dressed up in traditional Balinese clothing; it was a fun photo session with the ladies suggesting poses and instructing me on the proper way to hold my hands.
Surprisingly, I’d accumulated enough air miles on Delta Airlines for a free ticket in the continental U.S. (The ticket to New Orleans is a free ticket on United Airlines.) I’d considered going back to New Orleans in October for Halloween and the Voodoo Festival. Key West was another consideration, but the flights to get there using air miles are RIDICULOUS! Not only do most of them take more than a day, they require 2 or 3 layovers. Charleston, South Carolina is another destination I’ve always yearned to see, but I wanted to be near the ocean. Miami was the logical choice. It’s warm year-round, is right on the Atlantic Ocean, plus has a thriving art scene and night life. Although I’m not an authority on Latin culture, I AM a fan of Cubano sandwiches! I can’t wait to taste an authentic one, at least more authentic than what’s on offer in San Francisco! I hope to stay in the South Beach area or Art Deco District; am still checking out accommodations, but have plenty of time.
My other two trips that are already planned are to go home to L.A. One trip is at the beginning of May because I’m incredibly homesick. The man who hosted me at his home on my last trip (via AirBnB) is happy to have me back. He confirmed with me privately, via text, so that he doesn’t have to pay the “service” fees to AirBnB, which saves me money, too. I can always contact him directly from now on. This time around, I booked the pool house! The second L.A. trip is in mid-June for the Playboy Jazz Festival again. They haven’t even released the line-up for the Festival, but it doesn’t really matter to me, as it’s more about the experience. I’m in the process of convincing 3 of my college friends (1 from Fort Hays and 2 from Chico) to go as well. When the tickets go on sale on March 3rd, I’ll be harassing them via text
I can be happy knowing that I’m “branching out” to two new places this year – Siem Reap, Cambodia and Miami, Florida. In the meantime, there will undoubtedly be another trip or two to L.A. and Las Vegas before the end of the year, as it depresses me to be in San Francisco during any major holiday. Alas, Hawaii doesn’t look possible thus far. Not only are air fares high, but I won’t accumulate enough air miles this year. Hopefully, there will be an airfare war or some special fares during low season!