for example, I need clothes for the beach in Thailand, the temperate city in Hong Kong, and the frozen tundra in S. Korea... this is an impossible mission especially if you want to pack light (more on this later) and not check bags (this too)... I have decided to pack for one temperature, 65 degrees... I will just have to freeze my ass off in Korea and be in a sauna in Thailand... hey, there is always the option to buy more stuff (i sound like a wasteful American)
another pita, visas and vaccinations!... not just the process of getting them.. but seeing if you need to get them... the cdc website sux.. the state dept website sux... why is there 100000 words of text... a simple yes or no will do...
Travmed.com is a much easier website to use and simpler to read.
For SE Asia:
http://www.travmed.com/guide/region.php?r=East%20Asia
For Thailand:
http://www.travmed.com/guide/country.php?c=Thailand
Oh, and guess what? They put both visa and vaccination information on the same page! Brilliant!
Now the actual visas. Turns out I only need visas for China and Vietnam. Vietnam is a very easy online process (so I hear) so I have decided to procrastinate and delay it to the last possible minute. China is another story. I had to actually go to a Chinese embassy to apply. When I got there, they wouldn't even let me in. For those that plan on getting one, make sure you show up with a application filled out on a computer. Handwritten applications are NOT accepted. I had to pay an entrepreneur, wearing a red hat and blue fleece from UNIQLO, in a rental van $20 to fill out an application and print it out for me. After the guard finally let me in, they made me hand over my passport. I always get nervous when handing over my passport. They better not lose it. *fingers crossed* I am supposed to go pick it up this Thursday.
On a related note, here is a bit of information (that I didn't verify) for those thinking of getting a Chinese visa: you can get a single, double, or multiple entry from the states but if you are in Hong Kong (like I will be), you can only get a single or double entry visa.
Last story:
My passport expires in 1 year. I will be travelling Jan through March. That means my passport is still valid for 6 months when entering the last country I will be visiting. This is important because certain countries have that requirement. But I only had 1.5 visa pages left on my passport. This is a big no-no. While many times, the customs officer may add some pages and stamp that or place a stamp over an existing stamp, the officer has the right to turn you away and not let you enter the country. Instead of dealing with that possibility, I had to renew my passport. The worst part being that I started the process way to late and had to pay an agency $100 to get it process within 2 weeks. FML. Oh and for those that don't know, you get your old passport back when you renew.. and there is an option to apply for a double sized passport book.. and there is something called a passport card (think driver's license) that let's you go into canada, mexico, carribean, & bermuda through land or sea
To wrap it up, some resources that are helpful:
Information on travel destinations:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
Bangkok as an example:
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bangkok
How to pack light:
http://www.onebag.com/
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