I started this trip ten months ago in Mexico, traveling with my grandmother in her country of birth.  While this was my first trip of longer than a few weeks, Abuelita was old hat at it, having spent months independently traveling through South America, China, and Egypt.  She had plenty of advice on long-term travel, and was prone towards giving it at all times.  Still, my preparations for this trip were extensive and I imagined I had all the answers.  I tended to discount or ignore many of her suggestions, perhaps due to the pride and vanity of youth (ha!) or maybe just an eagerness to be off adventuring rather than spending even more time dissecting my packing list/hotel selection plan. (more…)