Books and Movies--two of our favorite things

We both love books and we both love movies. Alright, that is not exactly true-- Pearce really loves movies (he invests time into websites, blogs, podcasts) and I on the other hand, just watch them. Even so, we thought we would take our passions for reading and cinema and focus them on our trip to Asia so we can learn more about the countries and people we will be visiting. After all, since we are committing a considerable amount of time, energy and resources to this adventure, we should probably get more out of it then a bamboo chopsticks set and nice tan (me, not Pearce). We want to already have a foundational understanding of the culture, history and politics of the countries we are going to visit so that way our experiences there are that much deeper and meaningful. Or at least that is the goal!

With this in mind, we have begun putting together a list of books and movies we will try to tackle over the next year. The books include both fiction and nonfiction, while the movies mainly draw from documentaries--yay for free Netflix on Demand! If have any books that you feel we shouldn't miss, please let us know and we will add it to our list.

Mongolia:

1. Gobi: Tracking the Desert by John Man
2. Genghis Khan: Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford
3. Hearing Birds Fly by Louis Waugh
   
4. Dateline Mongolia by Michael Kohn
   
5. Wolf totem by Jiang Rong
   

China, etc:

1. Shogun, Tai Pai, Gai-jin, King Rat, Noble House
2. Chasing the Monk's Shadow
3. Fried Eggs with Chopsticks
4. Oracle Bones
5. Red China Blues
6. Riding the Iron Rooster
7. Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City

Thailand:

1. Siam Mapped - Winichakul
2. Forrest Recollections: Wandering Monks in 20th Century Thailand - Tiyavanich
3. A History of Thailand - Baker
   

Laos:

1. Stalking the Elephant King:In Search of Laos - Kremmer
2. Another Quiet American - Dakin
   
3. The Coroner's Lunch

Vietnam:

1. Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides - Appy
2. Vietnam Where East and West Meets - Do Van Minh
3. An Introduction to Buddhism - Peter Harvey

Movies:

1. Wild China
2. China: A Century of Revolution
3. Vietnam: a Television History
4. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
5. Globe Trekker: Thailand, Malaysia and Laos
   

Allyson and Pearce

A Practice Test

In August, Pearce had two of his four weeks off for the year. The first week, we headed to St. Lucia by invitation of his parents and the second week we headed to Smoky Mountain National Park to do some camping. We made sure to use it as an opportunity to practice for our trip next year. Needless to say we learned (or relearned) a number of things that are important to successful travel:

1. Don't pack a bunch of clothes, you'll never get to them all; whereas the opposite is true for sunscreen and bug spray-- you can't have enough.
2. Along the same line, when flying, if you must check a bag be prepared to never see it again; have all of your most important items on you at all times while traveling.
3. Make friends with the locals, they have the best information on where to eat, what to see, and what to do. Expats can also be a source of amusement.
4. Never ease up on your paranoia of having something stolen, keep your things in a safe or hidden on your person at all times and keep your passport and passport copies separate. It also helps to have small change separate from the rest of your money when out and about.
   
5. You are going to get lost. Is that really so bad, it's not like you know where you are anyways...
   
6. Hiking poles are a must, as are hiking boots. Climbing straight up boulders for two hours is not as fun as one might think when only using your thigh muscles. Going down is event worse.
   
7. Head lamps are awesome for reading in bed.
8. Make sure to inflate your dive vest before jumping off the boat with 50 pounds of gear.
9. Keep a clean cup of water next to the sink to brush your teeth with, a pain, but you won't regret it. Also, a steripen can save you a lot of money on bottled water.
10. Driving in a foreign country is exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time-- buy the insurance.
11. A parka and hat are essential while hiking, that way when it starts raining you can smile smugly at the hikers without them as you walk by nice and dry. Of course, make sure that your camera is also protected from the rain, or you will feel differently, I know.
    
12. Don't try to force an experience that is not playing out like you expected, let go and move on to bigger and better things.
13. ENJOY each other and take advantage of the things you never get to do in 'real' life like sleeping in, reading the day away, or watching the sun set.

If you have any other travel tips that you think will help us on our journey, please let us know. For now, enjoy these pictures from our trip(s)!

Safe Travels,
Allyson and Pearce