It has begun. I've left Missoula, Montana, USA for Mysore, Karnataka, India. Leaving my wonderful Ann was harder than I thought. Leaving my beloved Montana and all the loved ones in it was saddening also. Nothing like leaving to make you realize what you have. I appreciated it all before, but that appreciation has deepened.

After landing in Minneapolis, I promptly found my next gate, confirmed that my bag would indeed be transfered over with no work from me and then went to find a restaurant to soak in one of those last good American meals I was sure I would grow to miss. Then, pulling a classic Evan, I skated in with about 10 minutes before departure expecting a short to non-existent line, only to find out that I was right: the line was non-existent. But then so was my chance of getting on the flight. To his drop-jawed customer the desk clerk explained that I had to be there at a minimum of 15 minutes before departure. I know, I know: I should know this. And I did, but I just had a flash moment of ineptitude (I mainly blame it on the monster headache that had been building over the day that wouldn't stop tormenting me for another 7 hours). Others will tell you I'm always late, and they are right. Anyway...

After we arranged for me to be on the same flight the next day, he mentions to me that if I call this number (which I don't have anymore, but wanted to share with you) and ask for a "distressed rate", I could get a significant discount on accommodations for the night. They had a shuttle service that would be there at the top of every hour, after catching it I went to my hotel and crashed in frustration and pain (from my massive headache). I awoke to a realization that if I didn't get out and do something, I would not sleep through the night. Taking a previous suggestion, I decided to head to the Mall of America. May as well, huh? Again, the shuttle service of the LaQuinta Inn and Suites proved to be friendly and helpful.

Yep, it's a big mall. A big mall with a frickin' theme park in the middle. I was underwhelmed by it all. I perused, I walked, I stopped at the LEGO store (which was the coolest part of it all), and then I left. Then back to the hotel for a little internet catchup, a pizza, and then to bed.

You better believe that I made my flight the next day. I was feeling much better too, so I was glad I didn't go on with my travels when I had such a vicious headache that refused to go away. Catching good conversation with so many people on the way was very nice as I love hearing other people perspective of just about anything. Here are some pictures I took during my flight:

Then I was in Newark, NJ for a small time before my flight to India. One of my last American experiences: an Indian Pale Ale. Ha!

Then a 13 1/2 hour flight with an hour delay that left at 9:40pm Eastern time and landed 8:20pm Indian time the next day. We left during night, flew through a very short day (since our arced flight path lead us through the Artic Circle), and then into the night again. Weird. I was surprisingly awake and alert when I landed. Also, contrary to my belief, my bag was not lost.

So I got an email sent through the contact form of this site by an Associated Press reporter doing a story about Americans traveling to India and how the recent Mumbai attacks affected their plans. After a call back and a quick email she said she would shoot me an email with a link to the story. And she did. Already. That was about a 6 hour turnaround from interview to story, although she probably had already gotten most of the story done. But still, I was impressed.

Here's my glorious part:

While he was shaken up, Evan Lovely, 27, of Missoula, Mont., said he is still leaving on Wednesday for Delhi. Mumbai is not part of his travel plans, he said. "I don't think the attacks should warrant staying away from the entire half of the country," he said.

Original Story

I had to send my actual passport in with my Visa application for India and the United States Postal Service lost it. Why didn't I get certified mail, you ask? I did! Tracking number and signature guarantee upon arrival were a part of this service. After it had been 10 days with this informative website you see a screenshot of, I decided to call into a real person, surely they can get the wheels turning and find out what happened to my passport. Once I got a hold of someone, I was told they would look into it and they would get back to me the moment someone found anything. So, I waited. I got a hold of them later that week and she told me that no one was answering the phone down at the Embarcadero Post Office and since I didn't call her she thought I got it all worked out. What? They aren't answering the phone? Yep. That's what became the final answer to this fiasco. After 20 days missing that's all they ended up telling me was that no body at the post office was answering the phone. Isn't the Post Office a government agency? This seems ridiculous to me. I have lost all faith in the USPS. Fed Ex and UPS for me from now one. So I've rush ordered a new passport complete with a RFID chip. That's the thing that pisses me off the most out of everything. Even more than having to pay $135 for there mess up (not to mention the payment for the rush delivery down and back to San Francisco because I still have to get my Visa in time). My old passport was aqcuired June 2006, months before the US started putting RFID chips in their passports. Not that being tracked by Big Brother bothers me, but the fact that identities can be easily faked because the security the US government choose sucks really bad.

So I'm going to India from December 3rd, 2008 until January 13th, 2009. First, I will meet my great friend there, Ben Little, who has just got done with 2 years and 4 months volunteering for the Peace Corps in Tanzania, Africa. We will be practicing Ashtanga Yoga in Mysore for 2 weeks at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute, home of the founder of this style of yoga: Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Afterwards, we will probably venture north, through Goa, a beach paradise. Then up further north, we will stop by the famed Taj Mahal in Agra. Then it's up to Rishikesh, which is suppossed to be the "yoga capital of the world". This is in the foothills of the Himalayas. Although I know it's improbable that we actually get to hike in the Himalayas, being able to see them in the distance would be a dream come true. Being a Montana boy, I love mountains. This is all subject to change of course (not the first 2 weeks, that's pretty solid), as Ben has still yet to preview these plans. I'm sure he'll be down. Our 2 weeks in Mysore was unexpectadely cut down from the traditional month. I'm kind of glad that I get more time to check India out though. We will be on the other side of the world (12 hour time difference from Montana) and it would be a shame to stay in one town the entire time.