The Budget

Photo: Our evolving budget on a clipboard, Xining.

One point of this journey has been to show Sander how to travel on a low budget. I just didn't realize how low, low was going to be. Actually, I didn't realize many things...such as how precisely we were going to have to plan our exit from China. This we completed yesterday with the purchase of airfare tickets from Xining to Guangzhou on August 11. From Guangzhou, we will take a train to Hong Kong before flying home on the 14th. Given the national squeeze on the transportation systems, we had to plan all this out now before heading into the steppe. Had we waited to do this, we would have found ourselves saying, as Ulysses Everett McGill did in O' BROTHER WHERE ART THOU, "Damn! We're in a tight spot!"

Tomorrow, we head into the steppe and will be out of touch for the next 18 days. Our plan is to make a loop visiting Tongren, Henan, Zeku, Tongde, Xinghai, Guinan, and Guide. These are all places Sander chose based on goals, research, and cross-referencing as well as our budget. I haven't Google-earthed these communities but if I could, now I would. This is the part of the journey Sander and I have been most looking forward to. We also have to keep to a budget that amounts to less than $20/person/day for the next 20 days. This will not be easy but we have to do it. If we don't, the consequences will be severe.

The urgency of taking on this challenge, assuming this critical responsibility, is something Sander has risen to. In fact, he has taken control of our finances and has organized his record-keeping to an art. This has carried over in everything, from how he maintains his backpack, counter-space, life. The degree of maturity I have witnessed in Sander is staggering. And because he has been involved with every decision and part of every solution, he, I feel, has grown in ways that classroom or organized tours simply can't provide. This has become Sander's journey. It's just so wonderful to witness this growth in Sander.

Sander has now begun to keep me in line. Last night, as I debated whether or not I could get one more day out of what I had been wearing, he said, "Dad! You really need to change your clothes!"

Photo: Night view from hotel (the Great Mosque of Xining, also known as the Dongguan Mosque, is outlined in green), Xining, Qinghai, P.R. of China.