Travel dammit. The Big One. The Not Yet Married Long Haul. Seven or eight months should about do it. Before I split, I’ll bum around UW and find some scholars show me how to write, in the language of each country on my itinerary:
“Hello from USA! I’m sorry I can’t speak [the language], but I would still very much enjoy and appreciate being shown around and learning what I can about you.”
That way, I can set up little signs everywhere I go and see who bites. Q: Who? A: Somebody.
o Seattle -> Dusseldof Germany, Der Vaterland for yours truly (cheap seats ~$700)
o Krakow Poland
o Prague & Brno Czech Republic
o Bratislava Slovakia
o Vienna Austria (pack tuna fish, apples and crackers in Bratislava and don’t spend a dime there.)
o Kiev Ukraine (Ukrainian Aviation Museum!)
o Moscow (Red Square! Russian Aviation Museum! Trans-Siberian Railroad!)
o Omsk
o (RussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussiaRussia…)
o Beijing & Shanghai China (biggest container port in the world!)
o Wuhan, Chengdu, sore butt, B.F.E. China…
o Laos (Mekong river boat to…)
o Camboia (Angkor Wat motherfucker!)
o Thailand (“Hellooooo tall cowboy handsome man!”)
o (cheap flight to) Calcutta India, up the Ganges, hello Armritsar
o Nepal (Teahouse trekking in the Himalayas! Hiking without camping! Yes!)
o USA (get a job, find love, get married, have babies, tell them stories, listen to The Eagles, mow the lawn.)
Longshot City 
November 23, 2008 at 11:33 pm
The largest wheeled Pelican case that can be checked onto an airline:
http://pelican.com/cases_detail.php?Case=1620
Hoo yeah!
November 30, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Years ago I had an unexpectedly long layover in Costa Rica (on my way to Buenos Aires) and I got in a cab and asked him to entertain me for the afternoon. He took me to a local place for lunch (he paid!), drove me around, and seemed happy with a $20 payment when I was returned to the airport. I enjoyed myself, but in retrospect I was completely at the mercy of this stranger who could easily have extorted more money from me (No! I will not return you to the airport until you pay more!)
While I believe in the kindness of almost all people, I also believe in preparing for things to go wrong.
If I were going to undertake your proposed grand adventure, I would want to have a plan for what I would do if I were robbed and left stranded on the side of the road. Some things I would prepare — hide a stash of money and an extra credit card somewhere on my person, memorize my credit card phone number(s), scan in my identity documents in such a way that I could print a copy of them from a library or internet cafe, and have pre-arranged “check-in” times to call people at home.
It would also be a shame if you did not keep a journal on such a journey.