Wednesday, September 24, 2008

where we go from here

My host Bob doesn't have a Windows XP startup CD, so I'm not sure what the next step will be, as far as my unresponsive laptop goes. I might be able to go back to that pawnshop ("All purchases final!") and ask to use the shopkeeper's CD. Something to worry about in the morning.

Right now, though, I want to think aloud about what options are available to me. I don't want to spend all night discussing the implications of each one, so I'll confine myself simply to listing some of them from off the top of my head.

1. One idea that Dad has been gently pushing at me is simply staying put in Walla Walla for the next few months: find a job here, keep working on the leg, then take off when winter wanes.

2. Find a way back to Portland, bus or train, and take up Marie's offer of the "buddy pass" to Virginia. Winter in Virginia, then fly back out to Portland and roll to Walla Walla. Take up the walk again from there.

3. Start a-walkin' down to Boise, hoping people will donate enough to get me there, then implement the original "winter in Boise" plan: find a place to stay, get a job, etc.

4. Walk down to Boise (donations, etc.), then use Marie's buddy pass to fly to Virginia and winter there. Pick up the walk again from Boise.

5. Walk along I-84 and stop wherever someone offers work. Might not be bad to stop at La Grande, Oregon, which is a college town.

Continuing the walk without a chase car is going to mean either attempting to walk with the backpack on, or obtaining one of those fancy trailers that I can harness to myself. The problem with walking without a trailer is that I now have a heavy backpack with a laptop in it. I might have to "pull a Steve Vaught" and hang the smaller pack off my front. That, or I should somehow rid myself of the computer and software before leaving Walla Walla. Sell it all at reduced prices?

MS Office, Home Edition: $50
Adobe Photoshop Elements 6: $50
NetGear Wifi CD and USB module: $15
Optical USB mouse: $5
Cranky-but-salvageable laptop: uh, $10

Everything but the laptop would be almost totally new, and all the above-quoted prices are approximately 50% reductions. Any takers? Heh.

So those're the options. Feel free to help me think this through, and/or to add other possibilities to the list.


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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

One tiny addition: Spokane is actually the closest major airport to where you are.

Kevin Kim said...

I think my cousin ruled Spokane out for some reason. Could be because her airline doesn't have service there. I need to re-check my email exchange with her.


Kevin

ClearlyEnlight, said...

Well Kevin, I looked at your list of finances and it just shows how expensive America is, a person can travel the Middle East for a year if they start at $9000.00.

Camping out for the winter would be a good idea, taking care of your knee, and making some extra money for the next spring.

The idea to go back to your Dads is a good idea, also. You could regroup and plan for the spring. I think getting your knee into shape is the most vital issue, although this is just my opinion.

I would not rely on donations, many Americans are broke.

Do you don't mind if I ask, how long did you plan your walk before you left?

ClearlyEnlight, said...

By the way Kevin, you should check out wwoof.org and helpexchange.net. There are two sites that organic farmers are looking for a helper and you get a free room and food. There are plenty of farms along your route.

I will be organic farming in Israel and Greece this winter.

Just an idea, maybe this type of resource could help for next summer.

Anonymous said...

I had been thinking that some kind of push or pull cart might be good--it would relieve the pressure on your joints. Of course, then it adds to the complications when you encounter stairs and such. Saw some carts intended for parents with toddlers at REI that had nice large wheels so that you wouldn't be limited to blacktop. But they weren't exactly cheap.

I also suspect that you could add some wheels to the backpack itself, if you had someone who is clever about improvising that sort of thing. The wheels would add weight--but then, you'd only be carrying it for short distances (up and down stairs, etc.) and rolling it the rest of the time.

Decisions, decisions, racking the minds of the young people of America today.

If I had a vote (and why should I? but these are my thoughts for what they're worth) I'd suggest you try to make Boise this fall if you can figure out a way, financially and in terms of weight of the pack, to do so. Two reasons: the next few weeks will be a relatively pleasant time to be crossing northern desert, and I suspect you would feel better about the project if you made it a bit further before holing up for the winter. On the other hand--if pushing on ended up racking up that knee again, it wouldn't be worth it--the entire project depends on your having a healthy, functioning body.

Kevin Kim said...

Enlight,

Planning began close to a year before the walk started, but if you read my earlier posts, you'll see that my hope-- the strategy I latched onto early on-- was to make this a "self-planning" trip, i.e., the people I met at Point A would tell me where my Point B would be; the people at Point B would tell me where Point C was, etc. This hasn't worked out, and it's probably the most fundamental disappointment of the walk.

I agree about not relying on donations, especially when my readership is so small. It's unfair to ask the same small group of people for donations, again and again. If, by now, I had a readership in the thousands (ha ha), it wouldn't be a big deal to ask each reader to send in just a dollar or two.

But as I wrote in my early posts, I'm not comfortable with donations, anyway, because I feel it's money I haven't earned. This may, however, be another pride issue with which I have to wrestle. As a guy in Korea with a steady job, I was used to living independently, the way I wanted. I sometimes found myself in the position of lender, despite my ongoing scholastic debts ($600/month, even now). As a walker, though, I've had to rely on others almost the entire time: people have given of their time and effort to help with route planning, to feed me, and of course, to house me.

Early on, I had been hoping to start the walk with around $15,000 or so in the bank. Little did I realize how much I'd be spending on hotels, motels, and even campgrounds. Part of the problem is my fault for wanting to remain legal: a few long-distance walkers have saved money by sneaking into the woods somewhere and camping out, careless of whether they might be on someone's property. Because I hang close to population centers, the property question is always a concern for me, as is police involvement in my walk. Despite my best efforts, I've already had three encounters with the police. They've all been friendly encounters, but I wonder how things would go were I to be caught on someone's farm, or in a public park, or in someone's back yard.

How do you get by in the Middle East? Is it largely a matter of, say, Muslim hospitality, or are inns, etc., very cheap? How did you plan your route, and how long did it take to plan? Or has your route been open-ended?

Thanks for the online references; I'll check them out.


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Omandazzzler said...

I know of a place in LaGrande that has an extra room(that they'd probably love to rent). I'll run it by them and ask them what they think...

Omandazzzler said...

Oh, oh I almost forgot. They have a whole bunch of little studio apartments that they may rent out for cheap if you agreed to help out with some Mr.Fix-it type stuff. Let me run that by them.

Kevin Kim said...

Amanda,

Thanks for checking, but just so you know, I'm still strategizing, so I don't want your friends to commit to something, and then find out that I won't be stopping in La Grande.

Gracias,


Kevin

ClearlyEnlight, said...

I got the idea to travel in the year 2000. I decided to wait until the time right, and leave for 5 to 7 years. Most people will travel for 3 months, head back, save more money and leave again. I decided to wait 7 years.

I seriously started to plan and sell everything in Febuary of 2006. November 2007 all I owned is my backpack and gear and I departed for Egypt.

The Middle East is very cheap, except for Lebanon, although I house/cat sat for two months in Beirut. Turkey is much more expensive than Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, although I am sticking to my budget.

I have a tentative route that is open for small changes, although I am sticking to most of it.

Check out this link for my route and more info @ http://clearlyenlight-travels.blogspot.com/2007/04/welcome.html

By the way you should put your blog up at http://blogcatalog.com. They have a good discussion board and it will bring more readers.

In addition to couch-surfing, have you looked at hospitality.org
I will try to think of some more resources that could help.

Maybe you could look into house-sitting, Craigslist maybe?

I think you should just knock on some doors and ask if you can pop up your tent for a night, explain what you doing, I wonder what people's response would be?

Becky said...

Wow. You've got a lot on your plate right now. I think staying here for the winter might be a viable idea, but that means no family for the holidays. However, I'm sure you'd find friends here - as you already have - to enjoy the holidays with as family. There are some great people here.

Plus, then you wouldn't feel like you were cheating, and you'd have time to rest up, heal your knee, and save up some money.

This is hard, I'm not going to deny that, and I know you know that.

I'll pray for you to feel good with whatever decision you make. Good luck...and blessings.