Wow, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?
I had to press “pause” on this blog for a little while, because between my two jobs, I suddenly found myself working about 60 hours a week. But, I did …
Tents, saddles, parkas, and the kitchen sink. Discussions of expeditionary equipment.
Everything from plane tickets to fundraising to mapping routes across a land without maps.
Everything about Mongolia you ever wanted to know, and some things you didn’t.
Other equine explorers, daring documentarians, and adventurers in Asia.
Learning Mongolian and getting fit are just a few of the preparations I need to make.
One of the areas of travel planning that I have relatively little experience in is airline ticket booking. In the past, I have typically just gone to Kayak or CheapoAir and bought the cheapest non-insane ticket I could find. However, The Mongolian Experiment is a bit more complicated than that. Flying to the proverbial middle of nowhere is never cheap, and flights to Mongolia are few and far between. Most route through Seoul, Tokyo, or Beijing, but are still wallet-crushingly expensive despite having lengthy layovers (I once saw a DC-Mongolia flight with a total travel time of 42hrs!) and tend to range between $1800-$2400. Given that I’m trying to keep the budget for this trip as low as possible while still keeping things sane, I’m feeling a bit lost. But, you can help.
I suspect that I should be able to game the system a little bit for cheaper tickets, but I’m not entirely sure how. Should I look at buying separate tickets from DC-Seoul and then Seoul-Ulaanbaatar based on the idea that tickets to Korea will probably be cheaper? Should I look at a RTW ticket and make a stop in Moscow/Stockholm/Paris on the way home? I have some idea of where to start, but I know that there are plenty of folks out there who know a hell of a lot more about booking air travel than I do. If you’d like to earn yourself a spot on the Contributors page for this project, leave a comment below with any advice you have for trying to buy tickets to Mongolia. Provide me with a solid idea and I’ll provide you with your very own Contributor badge, as well as bragging rights that you helped this project come to fruition.
[Photo by Emily Wu]
You all are! Once in Mongolia, I will be completing this project entirely on my own (with the help of locals) but until I step off that plane, anyone who reads or contributes to this …
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Mongolia is a country with very few paved roads, as well as very few official roads in general. While this is not a problem for me due to the fact that I will be traveling …
Mongolian herding techniques are considerably different from those of the cowboys of North America. Long sticks looped with rope are used instead of lassos, and once the livestock is separated from the herd, the herdsmen …
When I decided to do this project on horseback, I decided that I should probably learn a bit about the horses that I will be dealing with in Mongolia. Though the exact origins of the …
I have a Mongolian pen pal who is, conveniently, a guide during the summer months. I have been corresponding with him through traditional pen-and-paper mail for a few months now, and though the mail between …
Do you have travel or outdoors gear getting lonely in your closet? A parka from a trip to Tibet that has outgrown its usefulness now that you are based in a bungalow near Bangkok? A …
There are actually two things I wish to accomplish with TME. One, as I mentioned, is to raise awareness of the issues facing Mongolia today and through that, to help out some of the charities …
Buying travel insurance for a cruise or a week-long jaunt to France is pretty easy. Just hit up WorldNomads or any of the other great a travel insurers that are out there, and …
When I first started planning TME back in January, my plan was to do this whole trip solo. As I began to think more and more about the logistics, I realized that I …
A question from the Frequently Asked Questions page asks: “What do you hope to accomplish?”
Here is my answer:
Mongolia is a country rich in culture and tradition, but it is sadly often overlooked and under-appreciated. …
Organizing the funding for The Mongolian Experiment is one of the most important and most complicated aspects of the project. It is going to be an expensive project, but not as expensive as one might …
When I decided to do this project on horseback, I decided that I should probably learn a bit about the horses that I will be dealing with in Mongolia. Though the exact origins of the …
One of the areas of travel planning that I have relatively little experience in is airline ticket booking. In the past, I have typically just gone to Kayak or CheapoAir and bought the cheapest non-insane …
Mongolia is a country with very few paved roads, as well as very few official roads in general. While this is not a problem for me due to the fact that I will be traveling …
I am incredibly lucky that Arlington, VA has the second highest population of Mongolians in the country (after San Francisco), and they are primarily located in our general vicinity. There are so …
