Yes, everything arrived :-)

I received by ticket via email. Apparently only the bar code is important. I also have a voucher for a car and a voucher for my first two days in a hotel. Everything was arranged very fast thanks to Tioga Tours, a company that I found out about while reading forums about traveling to America on Fok!.

I’m looking forward to it!

Making a phone call in America is done in a different manner as in Holland. Why, I will probably never understand, but I do understand that only with a very expensive phone it is possible to make calls in both countries. My free Postbank mobile is useless in America, so I won’t be taking it with me.

My plan is that once I arrive in America I’ll go and find a cheap prepay phone and inform my family at home about the number.. maybe I’ll even post the number on this blog. The change anyone will abuse the number is small, because any international call will cost the caller a small fortune. :-p

Of course I’ll check my emails, at least if it’s send to the correct address. I’ll also try and post some of my adventures here online. There is no reason to panic, just be patient and for sure I’ll send some note in the next three months.

Just received my flight details..
Departure:
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2004
From: Schiphol Arpt, Amsterdam Netherlands
To: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
Departs: 11:00 AM Arrives: 1:10 PM
Return:
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004
From: San Francisco Intl Arpt, San Francisco CA – U.S.
To: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
Departs: 8:25 AM Arrives: 4:45 PM
and
Date: Sunday, August 29, 2004
From: John F Kennedy Intl, New York NY – U.S.
To: Schiphol Arpt, Amsterdam Netherlands
Departs: 6:25 PM Arrives: 8:00 AM Next Day

When I leave it will take me 2 hours and 10 minutes. Pretty good time, but when I return I will have to face a massive 20 hours and 55 minutes of flight time! Incredible!

Things are starting to faster then I was recently used to. Calling here and there, arranging tickets, comparing drop off costs of various rental cars… planning my route in more detail, deciding the places I want to visit, and for how long… finally a nice bit of stress. :-p

Whats more? Well, tonight will be a boring night. Tomorrow maybe I’ll go to parkpop, but I have my doubts. Monday and Tuesday I will need to prepare and package all the stuff I want to take and Wednesday I fly! And of course Tuesday I’ve got a pesty birthday… my own. I’ll see what I’ll do. Probably when I celebrate my birthday very few people will show up because it is a Tuesday and people will have to work. We’ll see.

Rain and wind. A typical sight in Holland, even in the summer. It provides me with a good excuse to finally do something. After transplanting my marihuana plant, cleaning an empty fish bowl, cleaning the house and reading Good Omens there is still time lift for 1 thing… planning my trip!

For now I have the following general plan… New York, Philadelphia, Washington, …?…, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, San Francisco. There is still plenty of time to plan more details, but things are flowing in the right direction. My provisional date of departure to New York is next Wednesday, but this will be confirmed tomorrow.

My departure to America is taking more time than I would have liked, and it is all my own fault. I still don’t have any ticket which is in part caused because I still don’t know from where I will leave. The map is lying open on my table, but I’m to lazy to look it over and make some plans.

The good thing is that I’m in no hurry, because my future plans are still absent. The bad thing is that I’m slowly getting the feeling that I’m wasting my time here in Holland. I could be enjoying myself a lot more on the road. We’ll see, maybe I’m use this Sunday to think of some travel-route.

I did it! I started reading my Lonely Planet book. This, combined with advice from friends and ex colleagues resulted in a short list with places I would like to visit; San Fransisco, Las Vegas and a big park with lots of rocks. This morning I was chatting with Bar and it bettered my desire to get a nice planning/itinerary.

How exciting, just one more week and then I have planned my trip to the United States. Armed with a Lonely Planet book about the USA and a map by Michelin. Bad thing is I didn’t open and review the book and map yet.

I wanted to leave in July but a number of things came up.. a less then positive bluesnight (you learn from your mistakes, and I learned a lot), a cocktail event, the birthday of Bar combined with a BBQ and the half marathon in Leiden.