C40's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
bostonimproper
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by bostonimproper »

What a lovely garden! Sorry to hear about the visa fears. I hope you’ll be able to figure to something out or be able to return soon. Your photos are so quiet and peaceful— they really speak to a love for your time in Vietnam.

Gilberto de Piento
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Post by Gilberto de Piento »

https://apnews.com/article/vietnam-indi ... f6fdcad70d
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam has discovered a new coronavirus variant that’s a hybrid of strains first found in India and the U.K., the Vietnamese health minister said Saturday.

Nguyen Thanh Long said scientists examined the genetic makeup of the virus that had infected some recent patients, and found the new version of the virus. He said lab tests suggested it might spread more easily than other versions of the virus.

Viruses often develop small genetic changes as they reproduce, and new variants of the coronavirus have been seen almost since it was first detected in China in late 2019. The World Health Organization has listed four global “variants of concern” – the two first found in the U.K. and India, plus ones identified in South Africa and Brazil.

Long says the new variant could be responsible for a recent surge in Vietnam, which has spread to 30 of the country’s 63 municipalities and provinces.

chenda
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by chenda »

Love reading your updates and photos C40, hope you get the visa issue sorted.

I love those pens and journals which you have too :)

LiberateMind
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by LiberateMind »

A beautiful garden! Always inspired to see you set a goal and then achieve quiet seamlessly.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

——————————————————

JUNE 2021 - LEFT ASIA

——————————————————

Ok, I returned to the USA. As I shared before, I preferred to stay in Vietnam, but there were a few strong reasons to leave. If I kept staying as I was, I would probably be having to leave now without any choice. The only way to stay was to get a job and all the legit permits. I’d thought about doing that about six months ago at a coffee shop I really liked. But at the time, I decided not to, because times were tough there for people, and I felt it would be wrong to take a job that some Vietnamese person could surely do. As I was deciding I needed to leave, I told the folks at that coffee shop that I wanted to work there (but didn’t expect I could). After a few days, they offered me a job. But, once I spoke with them about it - and saw that they don’t yet know about the legalities.. and after talking to other people about the process of getting a work permit in that current time/environment, I decided I didn’t want to deal with all the complexities and risks.

So, after some long flights and layovers, I am back. I’ve bought a motorcycle and am busy making preparations to be able to travel around the US using the motorcycle.

Selling my stuff in Asia went well for the most part. I came out even on my gaming PC, even though I bought many components new. This was because the prices of GPUs increased a lot in the 6 months I owned mine. On my motorbike, I made some profit. Of all the things I sold, I had spent $2,300, and got back $1,800. That included a surprising amount of things (motorbike, gaming PC, big garden, bicycle, coffee gear, dehumidifier, and more small things). Of these physical things, the garden was the difficult one to sell. I’d wanted a garden like this ever since seeing Mr. MIYAGI when I was young.

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I applied much of those sales moneys to the months that I had purchased the item. This smoothed/normalized my spending data. So, in the end (and, how it would likely be if I stayed for years) my spending in Vietnam was low and very consistent. Here are some charts summarizing that

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The red dots are the spending amounts.
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Same chart, showing the timing of life phases I’ve had since retiring
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Had a great time while there, and also added to the net worth
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It has felt strange coming back. It is a change that I didn’t really want. Also, it felt very much like my life was going in reverse.. I had been settling in more in Vietnam, and getting more ‘stuff’… So, when I was selling things, it felt sort of like going backwards or in reverse. Also felt the same the other day when I bought a motorcycle (because it was the last thing I did before leaving the U.S., and now was the first significant thing I did upon returning).

Also, once I arrived back, the change felt very sudden. I spent a lot of time with my ~ex girlfriend in the couple weeks before leaving. So, even though I was preparing to leave, I was still very much ‘living there’. I also felt, upon arrival in the U.S., that I had really reduced my life down to a clean slate again. I don’t really want that right now. But, if I am here in the U.S. I guess I would want it that way.

Ok, I have a lot of preparations to work on.
- Bike checking, maintenance, updates
- Prepare bike for touring
- Prepare ‘stuff’ for touring
- Add more details to my general route plan


hope you’re doing well.

SavingWithBabies
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by SavingWithBabies »

That sounds really bittersweet C40. I understand the garden. I sold most of my succulents when we left California. Actually, I tried to sell them but the lady was so nice that I basically gave her all of them so they would go to a good home. One succulent rode back to the midwest in my cup holder and I still have it today. It doesn't look the same as how it grew in California. In California, it had a tree-like structure and it looked really cool. It suffered here for a long time but I'm trying to revive it. It is now split into multiple and recovering but only green plant so far -- no "tree" structure. I'm trying some outside time in the hotter summer months to see if it's the missing UV exposure when kept indoors. All a round about way of saying that one spends so much time with plants you tend to that they come to mean a lot more. Plants and plant tending is really a wonderful thing.

For the motorcycling, are you going to take a tent and cook stove and all that or going lighter? Sounds like the start of an awesome adventure!

AxelHeyst
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by AxelHeyst »

Wow the data for Vietnam tells a strong story there. Sorry you had to leave when you didn’t want, but respect for the strength of character to do what felt right (/not wrong).

What bike? Planning on tent camping boondocking? How long? Looking forward to following along. I’ve sabotaged all my own previous attempts at real touring and done something else for some reason, maybe your inspiration will get me to pull it off finally.

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Lemur
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Post by Lemur »

What a cool journal. This is motivating me in a way how you moved from U.S. and lived in Vietnam - so radically different (but not radical for this forum). Hope you find your footing back in the U.S. Whenever I lived with my Spouse in the Philippines, even for short amounts of time, I always came back to U.S. and missing the PI. Feels like a whole different world.

Frugalchicos
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Frugalchicos »

I feel you. Being there, having to sell everything you built for years might be tough. However, it can also be fun and liberating, giving you some mental power to prepare the next adventure.

I really like the graphs with your life stages and the expenses. What is your next stage? planning in settling in the US after the bike trip? Are you still thinking in buying a house?

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

SavingWithBabies wrote:
Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:38 am
For the motorcycling, are you going to take a tent and cook stove and all that or going lighter? Sounds like the start of an awesome adventure!
A tent for sure. A stove, I'm not sure about that yet. It'd be nice, but I will have to make decisions about what to take and not, and I'm not certain about a stove yet.

AxelHeyst wrote:
Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:40 am
Wow the data for Vietnam tells a strong story there. Sorry you had to leave when you didn’t want, but respect for the strength of character to do what felt right (/not wrong).

What bike? Planning on tent camping boondocking? How long? Looking forward to following along. I’ve sabotaged all my own previous attempts at real touring and done something else for some reason, maybe your inspiration will get me to pull it off finally.
I did see that if I stayed and did nothing, I'd be coming home now. Word is, they are stopping all extensions of tourist visas. Only way I could have stayed is to have gotten a job there like 8 months ago (with a real, legit work permit). Also, as I feared, they are still struggling to control their current covid outbreak, and I believe have went over the point of being able to eradicate it as they did before.

I bought a Suzuki DR650. It already had a number of parts that I would need (the pannier racks, a rear rack, skid plate, and a large gas tank)
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Going by my daydreams and imagination, I wanted to get one of these below, a Royal Enfield Interceptor 650:
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But, they are difficult to buy now (only in production for 3 years, so there's not a large supply of used bikes yet). And, because I want to do ~30% of my riding on dirt/gravel roads, and go to campsites, I was hesitant to buy one. It could have worked, but could be difficult at times and might give me worry. And, the shiny parts would get all beat up from rocks thrown up and from dropping the bike (which is inevitable eventually). The interceptor would have been great on highways and freeways, and I wanted to get a different type of bike than a Dual Sport (since I've owned 2, but not other types of motorcycles).. But the DR650 was the more pragmatic and reasonable choice.

For the camping - yep, in a tent, in the same kind of places I camped with my van (on BLM land and National Forests).


Frugalchicos wrote:
Sat Jul 03, 2021 2:46 pm
What is your next stage? planning in settling in the US after the bike trip? Are you still thinking in buying a house?
As for that, I'm not sure. When in Vietnam, I was feeling more and more like I wanted to settle down there (or some other country) long-term. I was taking some steps to do so. But then I jumped ship. Now, one of the reasons I am traveling on the bike is because I don't want to start settling somewhere here (right now). For now, that is because I don't want to get an apartment/home and then start putting stuff in it, and then be getting rid of that if I decide to go back to SE Asia in 2 years.... So.. idk. I need to think about it.

Salathor
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Salathor »

We're planning on moving in the next few months and then again a year or two after that. It's hard feeling dis-settled, so I feel you (although ours isn't as abrupt and forced as your relocation). I hope you keep us all updated! I've been following (lurking) in your posts since right after you started mywilddreams (commented on there a few times).

I'm not sure motorcycle touring would be for me, but it certainly seems like an adventure. I'm not very extroverted though, so having a core group of people (mostly family) nearby is really important to me. I'd have a hard time making friends on the road. I don't know how you guys do it overseas. The language barrier would be impossible for me to overcome.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

Salathor wrote:
Wed Jul 07, 2021 9:42 pm
...I'd have a hard time making friends on the road. I don't know how you guys do it overseas. The language barrier would be impossible for me to overcome.
In Asia (at least, while in cities, where there are many people) making friends was significantly easier than here in the U.S. The language barrier was not much of an issue in Thailand or Vietnam, because so many of them learn english, and, many of the ones who don't are accustomed to interacting with foreigners, and don't expect them to learn the local language.

Locals were more interested in me than people would normally be, and there were significant amounts of foreigners, and those foreigners are in a situation/life phase where they are also more open to making friends, compared to people being more 'settled' in their home country.

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C40
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Post by C40 »

Setting up a new phase of life can be expensive! ayyyyyyy

Image

These costs should average down some, over the course of ownership, and when I sell the motorcycle. Also, in the perspective of my total surplus since retiring, it's not so bad. Dropped from about $43k to $37k.

Image

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Some things just take money. Sure, you could scrounge around for a $500 motorcycle and maybe get lucky and it doesn't leave you on the side of the road a bunch of times in the middle of nowhere. Will it be worth the stress and hassle? Probably not unless that is not the kind of experience you want. Dual sport bikes are always in demand, I'm sure you'll get most of your money back if the bike is in the same shape when you sell it.

Salathor
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Salathor »

How has motorcycling around the US been going so far? Is it a notably different experience than the van trip? And how do you feel about returning to Asia--would you head back if you were able?

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

Contents:


———————————————————
MOTORCYCLE TOURING
———————————————————

Ok, so I went out riding. Did a big loop around the western half of the U.S.

Here is the route I took. I also went into Kansas and Nebraska.

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I stopped to see family (Mom, Dad, Siblings, Grandmas, Aunt/Uncles). I also stayed with my friends up in Portland for six weeks. It was nice to see everyone. Part of the reason I went around is to see folks in case I leave the US again for a long time.

While I was traveling, I also stopped to stay on the properties of motorcycle travel enthusiasts that I hooked up with through a forum (and a map they use for willing hosts to mark on the map, and travelers can ask to stay there, use their tools, etc.). I met some cool people that way - folks that I’d never meet through normal life. It also made camping easier in California. It can be tough to camp for free there already, plus a lot of National Forests had been closed while I was route planning. It also allowed me to stop and hang out in cities. Some of the properties were nice or interesting (like people with a few acres near the CA coast, whose backyard was against some government land/park, and had redwoods in the yard.. Also stayed in a shop building in a strange industrial area across the bay from San Francisco. Had a million dollar view from that area when it wasn’t foggy. It was also nice because these guys gave me great advice on what route to take and fun roads to take detours on. I felt a huge amount of gratitude toward those folks.

I enjoyed the riding quite a lot. There were long stretches where I was just riding to get through the area. And days where I went too far and that took enjoyment out of fit. But I also rode through some REALLY nice areas and on nice roads, and had a great time.

As for the camping, I didn’t enjoy that much. The whole motorcycle travel thing was just a back-up plan, and it didn’t actually have a strong appeal to me. The logistical work and discomforts of camping was annoying at times. I also needed to get used to being in a tent instead of a van. The wind was the big difference. One night while camped at the top of a hill in Big Sur (with a spectacular ocean view) it was REALLY windy. A lot of dirt/dust blew into the tent, and it was really loud. That would have been a perfect spot for my van, which is barely impacted by wind, but in a tent it was horrible. As the trip went on, I adjusted and put my tent in wind-sheltered spots.

Overall, the touring was fun and I’m glad I did it. I did travel too quickly for much of the trip. That was related to wanting to get up to Portland while it was still summer, so I could spend time there before it got cold and rainy. In more normal circumstances I would probably travel slower. I’m not sure whether I would get more tired of the tent camping, or more comfortable with it.


———————————————————
PICTURES
———————————————————

All stocked up on sardines
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An example of partial packing organization
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The bike worked pretty well. I put on two near tires. I had a chain problem about 2/3 of the way through (some tight links), which I fixed afterwords. Near the end, the rear shock seal developed a leak, so I went back to Arizona a quicker than I would have otherwise. I’ve since rebuilt the shock. The suspension of this bike is too soft all around from the factory, so I added some shims to the shock valve to increase damping.
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I didn’t want the bulk of a stove and fuel, so I ate food that doesn’t require cooking. It was easy enough, and I ate reasonably healthy since I was traveling quickly and going through cities regularly.
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(these aren’t in chronological order)


This is near Joshua Tree, California.
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in Central Arizona
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Northwest New Mexico
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In the midwest
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In Colorado
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Southwest Wyoming
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Think this is in Idaho
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Central Oregon
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Hanging out in Portland
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A nice park in Seattle (hanging out with friends there)
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This is in Oregon, along the coast
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And the rest of the pictures are from California. It sure was nice riding along the coast, and through some redwood groves, and up around hills near the coast. I did also go up into the eastern sierras. During the trip, there were a lot of forest fires around the country. I modified my route some to avoid smoke, and I got pretty lucky, basically never being anywhere that was really smoky, and also hardly ever getting rained on. But my luck ran out in the Eastern Sierras. I had been watching the fire/smoke map, and it was good. But the day I went up there it got really smoky, so I didn’t stay long.

For a long time I’ve been wanting to camp in Big Sur, up above the ocean. Finally did it. It was a little tricky. The national forest had just reopened after a long drought/fire closure, and some roads were still closed. I stayed up here two or three nights. It got really windy one night.
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This is in Antelope Valley, near Lone Pine. It would have been a wonderful place to stay a while. It’s another that I’ve never been to but have been wanting to go a long time. But with this much smoke, I bailed. Those mountains you see in the back are not far away and normally the view would be very clear (and, also there are more behind that which I couldn’t see at all)

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——
In redwood groves

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—-

I ended up going through part of Death Valley on my way from the Eastern sierra area to Joshua Tree. There was a really nice road on the way into the park. But then another road I went on for a long way had a REALLY bad surface.

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I had missed some of my coffee routines while in Asia. I had my coffee stuff stored in a family member’s basement in the states. For my travels, I shipped that stuff a couple times. Once out to Portland. And from Portland down to Arizona, so I have it all here for the winter.


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———————————————————
ARIZONA FOR WINTER
———————————————————


Some of my family live in Arizona. I’ve stopped here for the winter. I was thinking I might only make a pit stop, and head down into Baja and rent an apartment in San Jose Del Cabo or some other city along the way. But I didn’t feel like doing that yet.

Here, I bought a second motorcycle to ride for fun, and to try out a cruiser. I got a Honda for cheap - only $1,800, and it is heavily modified in ways that I like. I have also been helping someone build a camper van. Between my two bikes, they’ve had a handful of mechanical issues that I’ve been fixing. A lot of the time, I’m riding one bike and fixing the other. I’ve also been further modifying the cruiser for fun.

I’ve been having a good time here, spending time with the family, doing fun motorcycle stuff and riding a lot, and the van building. I don’t expect to stay here past spring. I’m thinking about what to do next. Right now, I’m thinking of going to another country and renting an apartment and living there for however long. I’m doing research on countries and cities. I’ll share more about that in a future post.

One good thing about Latin America: Spanish is far easier than Vietnamese. Just looking at apartment listings, I see there are many words that I already know, and many words that I can understand from context. With Vietnamese I had to memorize every single word, starting from scratch, plus many pronunciation difficulties.

- - - - -

About the money and spending: it’s fine. I’ll probably do a year-end update.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Beautiful and inspiring! Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to hearing about your next adventure.

theanimal
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by theanimal »

Great photos, sounds like a good trip overall. You have really gotten quite good at photo composition.

If you are heading south and interested in learning Spanish, I'd recommend checking out this book: https://www.amazon.com/Madrigals-Magic- ... 0385410956 It builds on many of the similarities between English and Spanish (words that are the same, words that are more or less the same with slight differences in spelling etc) and goes from there. Online tutors are good too, I've been taking lessons on Preply from my instructor in Mexico for over a year now. Either way I'm sure you'll advance rapidly wherever you end up and start talking with locals.

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C40
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Re: C40's Journal

Post by C40 »

@theanimal, thanks for the book recommendation. I just downloaded it any put it on my kindle. I'll try it out.

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