gone living

i just finished a second day consisting of several hours of skype phone calls to hostels and travel agents, web research, listmaking, emailing, lonely planet thorn tree searching/reading/posting, and suddenly the next 3 months of the trip (which were basically unplanned besides some vague ideas about which countries i'd visit) snapped into sharp focus.

i have to spend a few days doing this every several months. the last big overhaul like this was in vietnam, where i created a plan that connected everything from vietnam through south africa in a single, cohesive thread that i could travel with. and once that was done, i could just relax and plan the little things as i went (or leave them unplanned and see what would happen!). it's actually a lot like seat-of-your-pants internet product management -- i think my fellow net PM/entrepreneurs will know what i mean.

and so what are the results of my new plan, you ask?

i am going to carnival in rio.
i am very very likely going to antarctica and will stand on the antarctic peninsula, which will be the seventh and final continent visited on this trip.
i am going to chile, brazil, argentina, and guatemala.
and now that i've done the big planning, i don't have to stress it too much. but the stuff that needed to get planned ahead of time has gotten planned. so now i can relax and follow the plan without having to think too much (and change it at will, of course!).

ok, now it's time for dinner and carousing in the plaza de armas before spending all day tomorrow exploring the sacred valley next to cuzco.

ps. and don't worry, i've been getting in some sightseeing and leisure time as well over these last few days in addition to all the planning. after all, you gotta keep having fun if you're going to make it through an adventure this crazy!