Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Well, I've been AWOL for a bit, having been sick and then out of town. And in that time, there have been some major changes to the trip.

The impetus for the changes was my brother's wedding in November. Since I have to be back in the States then, it makes the most sense to split my trip into two parts, before and after the wedding. Unfortunately, I had to be in New Zealand by July 7, which put certain restrictions on how I could structure my trip.

Those restrictions are now gone. The wonderful people at New Zealand Immigration were extremely accomodating, and gave me a five-month extension on my working holiday visa. So now I don't need to be in New Zealand until December 7. Once I had this extension, I made several extended phone calls to Delta, attempting to (a) change my flight to NZ to after the wedding, and (b) get a new flight to Asia before the wedding.

The upshot of all this is that I am flying to Singapore on May 15. From there, I will be exploring Asia for 5 1/2 months, heading back to the States on November 1. Then I will be heading out again November 16, leaving for New Zealand and Australia.

Obviously, I've decided to forego Europe and Africa (which were possibilities on this trip) in order to focus on Asia and Oceania. Which is fine by me - I'm still going to visit Africa sometime, and I've spent a decent amount of time in Europe already.

And who knows, I could always add more to this trip if I get the chance...