The final 48 hours

Here are Rick Steves' suggestions on how to minimize the effects of jet lag by arriving well-rested and ready to start your big trip:

Plan from the start as if you're leaving two days before you really are. Keep that last 48-hour period sacred (apart from your normal work schedule), even if it means being hectic before your false departure date. Then you have two orderly, peaceful days after you've packed so that you are physically ready to fly. Mentally, you'll be comfortable about leaving home and starting this adventure. You'll fly away well-rested and 100 percent capable of enjoying the bombardment of your senses that will follow.

- "Europe Through the Back Door, The Travel Skills Handbook 2009"

Here are my last 48 hours:

T minus 48 hours:

Go out for big breakfast with friend in Calgary who will be coming to meet me for Jordan, Egypt and India. French Toast and Bottomless Hashbrowns!

T minus 46 hours: Get phone call that UK passport has arrived in Winnipeg! Request that Winnipeg connection Fed-Ex passport for Saturday delivery in Calgary. Rejoice that all seems to be falling into place.

T minus 46 hours: Spend the rest of the day in the sun building the Taj MaShed in my sister's back yard.

Dad and the shed at the end of building Day Two

T minus 40 hours: Shower, beer, excellent supper of salmon with family.

T minus 38 hours: Coffee and dessert with another friend, who's kind of the one who got me into this in the first place, but that's definitely another post.

T minus 34 hours: Lie in bed trying to get to sleep. Realize annoying shed-building error and attempt to devise coping strategy. Finally fall asleep.

T minus 25 hours: Wake up and check online Fed-Ex tracking to ensure passport will arrive in the next 90 minutes.

T minus 24.999999 hours: Notice that package is not scheduled for delivery until Monday, June 15th.

T minus 24.999998 hours: *** HEAD EXPLODES***

T minus 24. 5 hours: talk to nice people at Fed Ex who are sympathetic, but may not be able to help.

T minus 22.5 hours: Attend niece's under-4 soccer game, Yellow Banana vs. Purple Chickens.

Go Bananas!

T minus 21.5 hours: Trip downtown to MEC for a few last-minute things, including luggage locks and new, slightly more packable water bottle.

T minus 20 hours: Get message from Kim at Fed Ex in Calgary, who has moved Heaven and Earth to get my package delivered to the door at 5:00 am tomorrow morning. Nominate Kim for sainthood, vow to name first-born children after the night shift ramp crew of the Calgary Fed Ex Depot.

T minus 19.5 hours: Laundry, load #1

T minus 20 hours: More shed-building in tropical temperature and scorching sunshine, including fixing annoying error of previous day, and aerial skilsaw ballet. Consider staying at a different B&B for next visit to Calgary. This one has good wireless internet access and an excellent menu, but the work detail is grueling.


T minus 19 hours: Break from shed-building and attempt to glue recalcitrant silicone earpiece onto Skype headset.

T minus 18.5 hours: Fail utterly in above attempt.

T minus 16 hours: Knock off shed-building, clean up and enjoy beer #1.

T minus 15.5 hours: Excellent farewall supper of BBQ ribs (Good ribbance!). Beer #2.

T minus 14.5 hours: Playing with niece, Laundry, load #2

T minus 15.5 hours: Blog.

Future plans:

Finnish laundry, label small pot of Sport Suds so it doesn't look like a container of unidentified white powder, pack all the stuff that's staying behind, PACK THE AERONAUT, relax, bed.

4:30 am tomorrow: Phone the friendly boys at Fed Ex to see if they are bringing my passport. Shower, breakfast, last minute packing, ride to airport, tearful goodbyes, check in, pass security, board plane. Phew.

Maybe Rick Steves has a point...

The Western Canadian Farewell Tour, last stop

Rosetown, Saskatchewan, en route to Calgary. One of the last grain elevators I'll see in a long time.

I've arrived in Calgary for the last leg of the Go See Run Eat Drink Western Canadian Farewell Tour. I've got a few days here staying with my sister, brother-in-law and niece before the big flight out on Sunday morning. On the agenda: seeing a couple of friends, attending my niece's daycare wind-up, last-minute trip-related shopping, oh, and building a 6' x 14' shed for my sister's back yard. No sense in hanging about doing nothing for 3 days, eh? I think once I get to London all I'll want to do is sleep for a week. Then again with the transit strike it may take me a week just to get from the airport to my hostel.

I'm still feeling completely unprepared. The list is shorter, but it's still there: establish secure online document storage, attach earpiece to Skype headset, print approximate itinerary for non-techno relatives without blog access, get two more small luggage locks, get a smaller water bottle, slice up Rick Steves guide books to eliminate unnecessary sections, and print a few things that need to be carried as hard copies.

As for being mentally prepared, despite the fact that the countdown clock says something ridiculous like 3 days, I still really can't believe it's actually happening, and I can't shake the "What have I done?" feeling. I really hope some excitement starts very very soon.

Packing the Aeronaut for the jaunt to Calgary was as discouraging this time as it was the first time. It seems that my list of stuff has surreptitiously ballooned since the last attempt. The final pack on Saturday night will require some extremely hard-nosed decision about things I thought were non-negotiable. I really need to embrace the "If in doubt, throw it out" theory. Things that have already fallen prey to this rule: long underwear, light gloves, buff, the folding Orikaso cup and the plastic sleeve the Orikaso stuff came in. Things on the chopping block: hand sanitizer, one t-shirt (there are 2 others, plus one for running), some first aid kit stuff, the retracta-safe cable lock, the Rick Steves shower caddy, the small travel towel, the Absolute Shoulder Strap... and so on. If absolutely necessary, I'll divide stuff between the Aeronaut and the daypack, and carry two bags, but that would really be admitting defeat.

I have NOT received my UK passport yet, and my hopes of having it in time to enter the UK without having to provide proof of onward travel are fading fast. I paid 3 USD per minute to phone the "What's Going On With My Passport Application Information Line" last week. I spoke (as quickly as possible) to a woman with a very thick Scottish accent who confirmed that my application was received, and that my payment had been processed, which means my application has been accepted and they will be issuing me a passport. However she said there was a "significant backlog" in applications, so I shouldn't expect to receive the passport until 20 working days after they processed my payment. That was on May 6th, so 20 working days from then is approximately last Thursday. Thank you Miss Scotland. I'm now relying on the receipt and confirmation of my Russian Tour and my Eurail pass to prove that I won't be staying forever to go on the dole and watch "Coronation Street". I've also got a colour printout of a scan of my UK citizenship certificate (of course the passport people have the original...) so really they should just shut up, let me in, and give me a cup of tea and a nice biscuit.

(Aside: One reason it's so important to be certain they'll let me in to the country is that United Airlines won't even let me on the plane if they think I'll be turned back. If I get all the way to London and the British border officials refuse me entry then United Airlines has to pay to return me. So if the United folks at the Calgary airport look askance at my Russian tour documents and my copied citizenship certificate, I'll be going nowhere on Sunday.)

It looks like I may need to have the passport sent to an obliging English relative for me, in the hope that it will arrive before I leave that country on about July 5th. Even if it can't ease my entry to England, at least it can get me into the short "We're all Europeans Here" line-up at all future EU borders.

Ok, this has been a bit of a downer post, eh? At least it's actually summer here in Alberta, instead of that lingering chilly spring that's been going on in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Also, I just got off my first real Skype call, and after a bit of technical difficulty, it worked, with video and everything! Nice to see you, Steve.

Off to bed.

Racing to the Starting Line

At first I was going to title this post "Racing to the Finish", but then I realized that everything I've done up to this point is really all about getting me to the starting line on Sunday morning! It's a whole shift in thought that I really need to get used to. I feel like the To Do list is still haunting me, and I worry that I'll arrive in London, find a wireless hotspot, and continue to get ready for the trip, even though I'll actually be on it! I've been preparing for so long I think it will be hard to realize when I need to start DOING.

That said, the last few days in Saskatoon have been kind of like my last few days in Winnipeg - much busier than I expected (though with lots more home-cooked meals!). Because I've been perpetually swamped since about January, I put off some things that I knew I could leave until now, so I've been trying to get through that.

For instance, here's a shot of me taking part in the traditional Sewing of the Flag onto the Backpack:

(Ok, this makes me look a bit like The Joker. What can I say? I'm tired, and I'm 40...)

I've also "pimped my daypack" so that the zipper tabs have little hooks on them that snap onto metal rings thus preventing the zippers from being surreptitiously opened by nefarious evil-doers while I'm distracted by, oh, The World.

I finally decided on which travel insurance I'm going with. I chose World Nomads over Bon Voyage (a product designed for Travelcuts) though it was a tough choice. What tipped the scales for me is that World Nomads offers $2,500 of coverage for lost or stolen baggage, whereas Bon Voyage coverage is only $800. On the other hand, Bon Voyage offeres $50,000 for death and dismemberment vs. World Nomad's $10,000. I guess I just figured the odds of me losing some important bit of kit are greater than the odds of me being dismembered. Or perhaps I'd just like to believe that, so all you actuaries out there can just keep your contradictory information to yourselves, 'cause it's too late.

I've also insured my car for storage, replaced the battery in my watch, scanned some more important stuff, bought a better second pair of running/sleeping shorts, informed my credit card companies that I'm leaving the country, got some earplugs, printed out stuff that has to be in hard copy, got a folder to carry stuff that has to be in hard copy, tested my Citizen's Bank ATM card, fixed the mic volume problem with my Skype headset and bought Skypeout credit for calling regular phones with Skype (for just 3 cents/minute!).

And I nailed down a lot of my itinerary for England, booked a lovely B&B for a couple of nights outside of London, and bought my Great Britain guide book. Most importantly, though, I've been in touch with the London Hash House Harriers! They're running on the evening I arrive, so what better way will there be to cap off a long long long day of traveling and jetlag than with a Hash run and a pint of Real Ale.

It's almost time!

The 400th Running of the Winnipeg Hash House Harriers

First of all, apologies for not posting in a while, but the last week has been hectic and something had to give. In retrospect I could have planned things a bit better, starting on Wednesday, when I was still working full time, and trying to pack everything in my house, and had dental surgery as well. Thursday was my last day in the office, and more packing. Friday was all pack, pack, packing, followed by loading almost everything out of the house and into my storage space, and my last night in my first house. Saturday was the scramble to get everything else out of the house, and the big Hash event. Sunday was my first chance to come up for air... and blogging just wasn't at the top of the list. I'm sorry, but also: get used to it. My life has absolutely no structure anymore, so while I will certainly continue to blog, the happy Tuesday-Friday schedule of posts that most of you probably never noticed anyways is officially a thing of the past. Just enjoy 'em when you get 'em.

So on to today's topic: The 400th running of the Winnipeg Hash House Harriers. The event was a photo scavenger hunt, which was a LOT of fun. To quote the illustrious organizers (also my generous hosts for my last days in Winnipeg):

To celebrate the 400th run of the Winnipeg Hash House Harriers we organized a photo scavenger hunt. The group was divided into four teams and sent on a 3 hour odyssey around Winnipeg. The list was extensive and included four categories: basic tasks, locations or things; random acts of silliness; interpretation of common sayings and interpretation of movie quotes.

All team members had to be in every photo. The teams were allowed to run, walk or take transit. No biking and no cars allowed.

I was on a team with 4 others, and we had a blast running around Winnipeg for 3 hours, getting sunburned and accosting strangers to get them to take our picture (and I learned how to use the self-timer on my camera, which should prove to be a useful skill).

Here are a few of the shots of my team, with accompanying captions:

Everyone jumping (no feet touching the ground)

In a shopping cart

"Few and far between"

"Fore!"

I am proud to report that my team completely smoked the other three teams and won the event by a significant margin (what were the rest of you guys doing all day anyways?). We claimed the grand prize of frozen margarita mix and tequila, and then there was beer and chips and hotdogs and cake.

Most surprising though, was when the Winnipeg Hash House Harriers presented me with an uncharacteristically generous going away present. Keep in mind that this is a group of individuals who often can't cough up the $5 fee to cover beer costs for the weekly run, so imagine my surprise when then presented me with an envelope of cash and strict instructions for its use. I'm supposed to wait until the worst day of the trip when things are crappiest and I just want out, and use the money to check in to the fanciest hotel I can find and have one night of luxury, courtesy of the hashers. Thanks guys; you are the best. I will definitely write a post from my posh hotel room, hopefully while wearing a complimentary bathrobe and enjoying a bit of room service.

There's more to write about the previous week - lots of emotions about finishing work, and leaving my beautiful little house, and the seemingly endless rounds of goodbye lunches and dinners. But I figured I'd have some fun today and bash out a post about the hashers, so everyone can see some of the great folks I'm leaving behind, and so I can focus on the good stuff.

Everything must go!

"Pay no attention to the sticker price! Make us an offer! The longer you stay, the less you pay! YOU WILL NOT LEAVE EMPTY HANDED!"

Here's what the email to my local friends and coworkers said:

What: Garage Sale to sell lots of Pam's Stuff

When: Saturday, May 23rd, starting at 9:00am (please oh please oh please let it be a nice day because, uncharacteristically, I have no back-up plan)
Where: XXX Xxxxxxxx Avenue.
Why: Because I've sold my house and quit my job and I'm leaving for a year long trip around the world at the end of May. My house is 850 square feet, my storage space is 75 square feet, and traveling is expensive. You do the math.

I spent most of my free time last week sorting through every box, shelf, closet, drawer, trunk and cupboard I've got. I was doing ok for the first few days because I started at the top of the house - the bedroom. That was pretty simple. Then the spare room and the living room - lots of books to sort, but I found that the faster you make the decision, the easier it is. In fact, the more stuff you mentally "let go" the easier it becomes.

Then it was the basement, and after a night or two it was like the entire history of my life had exploded down there. I kept opening boxes and unearthing essays from university, packed alongside my Brownie handbook and Lego, and a cookie tin of broken crayolas that smelled like childhood, and a crest from my elementary school and a box of multi-sided dice from my geekier days*, and boxes of cards and letters from forgotten friends, work colleagues and family. It was overwhelming.

Thankfully, friends came over Friday night to help me price stuff, kibutz, put up signs, bully me into having a "Free" box, drink beer, and generally help me get through it all. Then they came back at an unGodly hour Saturday morning to haul dusty junk out of the basement, set up tables they'd brought over, and get everything out into the yard.

The morning of the sale. (Not pictured: the Housewares Department, Tools and Hardware, Women's Clothing, Sporting Goods, or the Library on the Mezzanine Level)

Upon viewing the amount of stuff crammed into my back yard one friend said "How did you fit that all in your house?" The sad thing is that, post-sale, there's almost no difference in what the place looks like, which makes me wonder why I had all that stuff to begin with. It's cliche, but purging like this really is kind of liberating.

The sale was fun, though sometimes discouraging. There busy were times, and times when we sat around waiting. The best was when friends came by, and lots and lots of them did, so it ended up being part garage sale and part reunion and part good bye. One friend even brought our whole running group through while they were out on their long run!

I think lots of people spent more than they would have at an "ordinary" garage sale, and I want them all to know that I appreciate that very much. Some bought $15 worth of stuff and then didn't take the change from a twenty. Some carted away so much crap it almost didn't fit in their cars. Some came and bought a few things and then stuck around all afternoon to help clean up at the end.

It's also nice to think that lots of my stuff went to people I know and care about. Now when I look back I can think, "Oh yes, I remember that chop saw... C. has that now." Or, "It's nice that D. took the whole series of Bruce Alexander books." Or, "That was a great breadmaker**. I hope E. actually figures out how it works."

There was even a pizza delivery guy who stopped in while on a delivery and carted away a giant oil painting done by my grandmother. I feel bad about letting it go, but it was one of her earlier works and I have many, many others. Also, the guy who bought it (while someone's pizza was congealing on his front seat) pronounced it "wicked". Or maybe it was "awesome". Or possibly "sweeeeeet." Something flattering, anyways.

By mid-afternoon we'd managed to move all of the "big ticket" items, and pack up everything else. We took two loads of stuff to Value Village and a half-dozen Venetian blinds went to the ReStore. The day before I would have been crushed to have some of those things hauled away with nothing to show for it, but after 8 hours in the sun I just wanted it all GONE.

(And a word of advice for your next garage-sale: DO NOT sell your Dollar Store bag of assorted coin rollers in the garage sale, and then try to roll all the coins you accumulated at your garage sale.)

I also have to say really, really huge thanks to everyone who helped. Karen, Steve, Natalie, Dwayne, Jackie, Laurie, Marilyn, Adam... you guys made it easy and fun. It will be hard to say good bye.

And now it's done and I'm over one more hurdle. Next, I've got a few days to get everything that's left packed up and into a storage space. I've spent my last sunny Sunday in this house, and I can't believe how soon it's all going to be over.

Or, more importantly, how soon it's all going to start.


* I was going to write "geek days" as if they were behind me forever, but really, do you ever leave that behind? And what's the saving throw on a plate of bad sushi in Kyoto? I'd look if up, but I just sold my DM's Guide.

** Dear Mom: Yes, the bread maker. And the dustbuster. And the iron. Thank you for them all. They gave me faithful service, but it was time. Now they will buy me an extra few beers or entrance to a museum or a new guide book. They are the gifts that keep on giving.

Packing it in

This weekend I did two things that have been on my list for a while. I tried packing all my trip gear into the Tom Bihn Aeronaut, and I took the fully loaded Aeronaut (which I've now started to refer to in my head simply as "Tom") for a jaunt around town, on foot and by public transit. The result was somewhat discouraging and very revealing. For those of you who want the Coles Notes version, here are my conclusions:

1. I want room for more stuff.
2. I want to carry less stuff.

Me and Tom and my Boston Marathon jacket, at the bus stop. (A self-portrait)

The Stats:

Approximate weight: 25lbs - 3 lbs over the 10kg. limit for most carry-on.
Approximate dimensions: 25" x 15" x 10" - about 1" too big in all dimensions, due to bulging.

Some thoughts on the packing:

I am very grateful that Tom Bihn makes a high quality product. Heavy duty construction and good zippers are essential when you're cramming a year's worth of stuff into 2700 cubic inches.

Not surprisingly, shoes are an issue. I wore my traveling yak-leather shoes and packed my running shoes and my new sandals in the bottom end pocket of the Aeronaut, and it's a squeeze. I don't know what I'll do when I want to wear the sandals and pack the Yaks.

I also had to repackage my Malarone prescription, because when I picked it up it came in FIFTEEN boxes, with twelve blister-packed tablets per box, taking up about 12" x 5" x 2.5" of space. Luckily, the pharmacist provided me with a giant pill bottle, properly labeled, so on Friday night I popped all 180 tablets out of their shiny foil and dumped them in the bottle. Much better.

Dear GlaxoSmithKline: Seriously?

I did some triage on my first aid kit (heh heh... get it? Triage... first aid... heh...). I abandoned about half the bandaids and Pepto Bismol tablets, some antiseptic swabs, and the crash scissors. I also put everything into a zippy pouch that's flatter than the much swishier but slightly more bulky zippy pouch most of the stuff came in. Also, why do OTC drugs like acetaminophen, ibuprofen and dimenhydrinate (Gravol) come with 24 tablets in a bottle big enough to hold 100 tablets? And would I get into trouble at border crossings if I repackaged them into smaller, unlabeled containers?

Other items that may be on the chopping block:

• bathing suit (Could I just wear a pair running shorts and running bra?)
• extra running/sleeping shirt (I have 3 technical t-shirts and 1 sleeveless t. That may have to be enough.)
• extra running/sleeping shorts (Though I haven't yet figure out how to wash and dry these overnight and still have something to wear to maintain basic decency in a hostel.)
• the Absolute Shoulder Strap (The backpack straps are unquestionably the most comfortable way to carry a fully loaded Aeronaut, which means the strap would likely only be used for:)
• the Convertible Packing Cube / Shoulder Bag (I love it dearly, but it may be extraneous.)
  

I've also decided on a new daypack. Astute GSRED readers may remember that my first pick for a traveling daypack was the Rick Steves Civita. The Civita has the advantage of being super light and packable, but its big disadvantage is its complete lack of structure (referred to by the GSRED Product Testing Division as E.F.Q. "Extreme Floppiness Quotient"). It's also not even remotely waterproof.

Instead I've decided on this pack, from MEC. It's a hydration pack, which will make it great when I'm doing long runs (or on long camel treks in the desert!), but also functions well as a daypack. It's smaller than the Civita (13 litres, as opposed to about 20), but I think I prefer that. Also, the interior sleeve for the hydration bladder fits the Eee PC perfectly, it has a chest strap and removable waist straps, a good number of compartments, and some structure. (I'll just have to get over the fact that it's called the "Petite Fille". Yeesh.) The problem is that all those extra features mean that it doesn't pack up nearly as tightly as the ole' Civita. Despite going through about 47 packing permutations this weekend, this is still causing some consternation.

Some thoughts on wandering around with fully loaded pack:

I walked a few blocks to the bus stop and made my way down to the Exchange District where I enjoyed an unsecured wifi network and a tasty but very sloppy veggie burger. (Seriously, they should serve that thing with a bath towel because I almost needed a shower to get all the vegan creamy salsa off. I think I still have some in my eyebrows.)

I also spent some time at MEC. I hauled the Aeronaut up to an empty bench in a corner of the upper level, along with various sizes of small zippy pouches. Then I proceeded to unpack a thousand tiny bits of miscellaneous gear to try and organize them more efficiently for easier, tighter packing. I was only mildly successful, but very grateful that the sales person didn't mind me sitting there amid a pile of pill bottles, adapters, chargers, cables, toothpaste, sink stoppers and other travel effluvia, cursing softly and occasionally resting my face in my hands and sobbing quietly.

As for actually carrying the bag, the first few blocks were fine. The first hour was ok, but 25 lbs was hefty to swing around, especially when getting the pack on and off. I can't imagine how people travel around the world with 30 or 40 or 50 lb packs. By the time I was hiking to the bus stop for the return trip, my shoulders were sore and all I wanted to do was go home. Then I realized the next time I do this there will be no home to go to.

The State of the Union, May 8th

Phew. I've got about 37 days to go, and it seems like the list of thing to do is getting longer instead of shorter. I know from experience that this is how it goes - the closer you get to the completion of a project, the more detailed the items become, and the longer the list gets. Now, instead of a general note to "get stuff", I've got a few exact things I'm still looking for (though I'm happy to report I've found The Shirt). Some day soon things will settle down. For now, here's a rundown of the current state of the Go See Run Eat Drink enterprise:

The House:

As I mentioned, the house is sold! Having that off my list of things to do has been a huge relief; I didn't realize how much time and mental energy it was taking. Now I have to deal with the lawyer stuff of transferring ownership, but that's relatively simple. Also, I haven't packed a thing yet. I'm actually a bit stymied on how to start, and it's depressing living in a place that's half-packed, so I've been procrastinating. I'm not sure how to go about separating things into "Keep and Store" piles and "Sell at Garage Sale" piles. And I'm really worried that even after the garage sale is over and the "Keep and Store" pile is complete there will be a lot of stuff leftover.

Other lawyer stuff:

I figured since I was seeing the lawyer anyways, I might as well go ahead and get a will drawn up, since I don't have one. I'm also having Power of Attorney papers done too, just in case anything needs to be dealt with back home while I'm away.

Running:

If you're reading this hot-off-the-press on Friday morning, I'm probably crammed in a minivan with 6 friends heading for the bright lights of Fargo, North Dakota. I'll be running a full Marathon on Saturday morning, hoping for a 3:35 finish, but (I think) resigned to the idea that my training and fitness might not be up to the task. I'll report back about how it all went next week. I'm looking forward to the weekend with friends, and after that I'm really really looking forward to NOT training for a marathon. There was a while in the previous few months when I was training hard, fixing up my house and very busy at work all at the same time. That was good planning.

Work:

The last big project at work is basically complete, and was celebrated with far too much scotch and an appropriate number of drunken "I'm gonna miss you"s. The New Guy starts after Victoria Day, and it looks like my last day of work will be May 29th. I'm looking forward to doing some shorter days leading up to that, because the list of things to do for the trip is now longer than the list of things to do at work.

Travel Preparations:

My UK Citizenship was approved! I'm now waiting for my UK passport to arrive, and getting nervous about the fact that it hasn't yet.

I did go ahead and pay the deposit on the "Taste of Russia" tour, and I've got the confirmation voucher from the Russian tour company. That's an exciting bit of paper - it's got official seals on it, and loads of Cyrillic lettering! Here's what "Pamela" looks like in Russian:As soon as I get back from Fargo, I'll be popping my passport, visa application, and a money order for $75 into a FedEx envelope and hoping the important bits get returned by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation before I leave town (they say it takes 10 days...).

I also paid the deposit on a 23 day overland tour of Africa! This is the one I had my heart set on, and I managed to jig around my schedule so that it works with everything, everywhere, and everyone else I've got going on. Even more exciting is the fact that a friend (from my hockey team) is going to join me for the first two weeks of the tour, which is FANTASTIC! (Thanks Laurie! We're going to Africa, baby!) Now I need to dig up a sleeping bag and a camping mattress of some kind. I may borrow a bag, but I think I'll splurge on a really good pad of some kind. 23 nights is a long time to be sleeping with a crappy piece of junk between me and the Serengeti. And Laurie has even offered to be my pack mule and bring my camping stuff with her when she flies in to Nairobi!

SERVAS:

I have been approved as a SERVAS traveler, and I've got my official Letter of Introduction. I've also got host lists for Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands and Benelux. I'll have to get in touch with SERVAS coordinators in another country to request additional lists, because it's just not feasible for me to carry all the lists I'd need - some of them are quite thick. The lists themselves are interesting, and will take a lot of time to peruse. Each one has an introductory section with general information about the country, and then the list is broken into geographic sections. Each potential host is listed by name, along with a lot of details about location, notice required, contact information, gender, age, profession, interests, languages spoken, countries traveled to, blood type, traffic violations committed, and grade school attendance records. There's a lot to digest.

Booking a ticket:

No, I haven't booked a ticket yet, because I started to get seduced by a possible around-the-world ticket again, after spending some time at this site. I've already whiled away many hours investigating whether an RTW ticket is worth it for me, and I think I've been confirmed in my suspicion that it isn't, mostly because my itinerary doesn't work well with the rules that go along with RTW tickets. I may take some time to write a post about the whole process, to clarify my own thoughts, and come to a decision once and for all. And I guess I better do that soon. Somehow, that countdown clock is winding down much faster these days!

Still on the never-shrinking list:

- find storage space
- travel medical insurance
- confirm Jordan/Egypt tour
- renew driver's licence
- get international driver's licence
- renew and revise auto insurance for keeping car in storage
- find out charges for international transactions on Amex and (new!) Mastercard
- get small padlocks for luggage zippers
- sell more stuff on Kijiji
- build spreadsheet to track expenses while traveling
- pimp my day pack
- test packing and wandering about with loaded Aeronaut
- get sandals
- call credit card companies to tell them I'm leaving the country
- figure out how to back up the blog
- figure out offline Gmail for access to stuff when I'm not connected to the internet
- get an SD card for my new unlocked GSM phone
- book first hostel or SERVAS host for London
- make appointment for last round of Twinrix Hep A/B booster shot
- order Britrail and Eurail passes
- make up package of Africa stuff to leave with Laurie
- get my external hard drive loaded up with video content by savvy friends (JBJ, I'm talkin' to you!)
- assemble first aid kit
- scan every important form, piece of ID, or bit of paper
- organize and conduct giant garage sale
- get a Skype headset (recommendations?)

I'm in the home stretch now, and though there's still a lot to do, I feel like a lot of things are falling into place just as I'd hoped. The house sale, the UK citizenship, the African tour, even finding The Shirt. It's like this is really true, and that's pretty cool.

SOLD!

It's done. My house is sold. If I still had any doubts about whether I was really committed to this whole venture, they have to be gone now. As of May 31st, I'll officially be unemployed and homeless.

The sale process was pretty painless and quick - exactly according to plan, in fact. Showings started last Friday, with an Open House on Sunday, and a call for offers on Wednesday night. Between the pre-arranged appointments and the open house about a hundred people came through, and my agent worked really hard for me. In the end all those showings generated two offers, and two is all it takes for one person to get nervous and dig a little deeper, and that's what happened. I ended up getting just a little bit more than my asking price, and the sale comes with no conditions, and a very convenient possession date. In fact, the buyer even wants to know if I'd be interested in selling any of my stuff too, which could be quite handy for both of us.

I was really pleased to learn that the successful offer came from a first-time home buyer who is reportedly really excited about the house. I like this because this was my first house, and I put a lot of work and a lot of love into it, so I want it to be special for someone else too. It's a great house; I hope he appreciates it as much as I have.

It's bittersweet though. On one hand, I'm happy and relieved that it's over and I can now concentrate on prepping for the trip instead of spending all my spare time with sawdust and cans of paint. On the other hand, it's my house. I've loved it and cared for it and worked on it for 11 years now, and it will be really really sad to let it go.

It's another milestone, and they're coming fast these days. There's still a lot to do, and I think these last two months will go by incredibly quickly. At least now I can get on with some of the fun stuff like actually buying a plane ticket!

The State of the Union, March 27

Things are starting to happen fast, so I thought I'd give a quick update on how it's all going. Lately I feel like if I let a day go by without accomplishing something, anything, that gets me a step closer to leaving, then the day is wasted. Of course I've managed to schedule things so that the busiest time at work, and the rush to get the house ready, and the peak of my marathon training all occur at the same time. Oh, and did I mention we've had about 20 centimeters of snow this week? My back gate is completely immobilized from being frozen into a puddle of slush, so I have to traipse through my neighbour's yard to get to my car. Apparently this winter is NEVER GOING TO END. There's a bit of stress over here these days.

The House:

It looks like the house will list for sale and start showing on April 3rd. This is a bit later than I thought, but I'm fine with that. It gives me a bit more time to get everything as close to perfect as possible. And how is the house shaping up? Pretty well I think, but it's a shame that I didn't do a lot of this stuff much sooner. By the time everything's done, it won't really be mine anymore. Still, I'm gratified that I did some stuff - like refurbishing the bathroom - early in the fall, so I've been able to enjoy that myself.

I spent a lot of last weekend thumping up and down the stairs to the basement, trying to clear out eleven years of the stuff that accumulates when you're a do-it-yourself-er and a pack rat (a dangerous combination). That, coupled with the fine (and not-so-fine) layer of sawdust that coated almost every surface, made for a tiring weekend. The basement looks quite tidy now, but sort of soulless. It used to be cluttered and dusty, but full of potential. Now there's almost no raw material down there, and all the coffee cans of unsorted hardware are gone, and those things that I was keeping around "just in case" got carted away by a guy I found on Kijiji. It all seems like it's just not my space anymore and it makes me a bit sad to go down there now.

(By the way, the Kijiji guy was fantastic! He came and hauled away a big load of stuff I left piled on my back deck. Even though he didn't know me at all he agreed to do the job without me having to be there, and he just left the invoice in my mailbox. He even laid down old sheets of plywood to walk over so my wet and muddy lawn wouldn't get churned up. All this for $60.00. Great service from this guy! If you need something hauled in Winnipeg, call SuperDave!) .

And I still have a lot of decluttering and packing to do and I'm a very short on empty boxes. Anyone?

Work:

It's getting really busy, and will just continue to get more and more frantic for the next month or so. And interviews for my job are underway, which is really weird. Also, I don't really know when my last day at work will be yet, because it that may depend partly on when my house sells, and what the possession date is.

Running:

The Fargo Marathon is about six weeks away, and the workouts are getting tougher and tougher. Last weekend I had my longest run since the Boston Marathon last April: three hours and twenty minutes, for a total of 34 km. I'd like to set a new personal best in Fargo, which would be anything faster than 3:41:09. But really I'm hoping for 3:35 or better.

Travel Preparations:

My application for U.K. citizenship is in the works, and I have no way of knowing whether it will be processed before I have to leave. At this point though, I think it's getting less and less likely. If the citizenship doesn't come through quickly enough for me to get a passport, then my initial entry into England will be a bit more complicated because I'll have to provide proof of onward travel. Also it might be logistically trickier for me to get a passport while in England. Ironic.

This week I tried to apply for a new Canadian passport so I could get one with 48 pages instead of the usual 24 (I didn't want to take the risk of running out of empty passport page while traveling). Despite this perfectly valid and responsible rationale, Passport Canada refused to issue me a bigger passport, claiming that my current one is too new, and it's a "security risk" to issue too many passports. WTF? How is it a security risk to issue me a new passport? It's not like I'm asking for a spare! They can have the other one back! Isn't it more of a security risk to force me to apply for a new one overseas where I won't have access to the same kind of supporting documentation I have at home? Arrrrgggghhhh!!!

Several calming breaths later...

Ok, this is fine. Now I just get to add something else to my list of life experiences: "Have passport renewed in a foreign country." It'll be an adventure. Fun times ahead.

Now that I don't have to wait for a new passport, I've got more time to send my current one to the Russian Embassy in Ottawa, to apply for a Russian Visa. (I think that's the only one I need to get before I leave the country.) In order to get that visa for Russia, I have to prove I'm traveling there with a tour company. Apparently they don't let you in if you're just going to be wandering around, unescorted. So I have to go ahead and book that tour, which I think will be the "Taste of Russia" tour, with Intrepid. 8 days, Moscow to St Petersburg! Once I confirm the booking with Intrepid, they'll send me a letter that I submit with my Visa application. (Aside: I wonder if having a tour booked in Russia for 6 weeks after I arrive in England constitutes "proof of onward travel"?)

Tonight I'll be attending my first interview with the local representatives of SERVAS. I anticipate it will all be fine; I think it's just a getting-to-know-you kind of thing so that they can make sure I don't have two heads or fangs dripping blood or something like that. I'll try to remember to leave my Satanic robes at home.

Oh, and then there's the small matter of actually booking some kind of flight to get me out of the country. The trouble is I don't know when to book, because I don't know when my last day at work will be, because I don't know when the house will sell. In fact, I'm not even sure what city I'll fly out of.

A few other highlights from the list:

- change of address stuff
- new bank account for travel (that's another post)
- check on fees for international transactions with my current Visa card
- get a Mastercard for places that don't take Visa?
- find a storage space
- get travel insurance (that's another post)
- visit my G.P. to see if he'll give me a prescription for some general broad-spectrum antibiotics, along with the information to know when to take them (just in case)
- get international driver's licence
- get/make GSRED business cards
- get the rest of the gear I need
- build spreadsheet to track expenses while traveling (Spreadsheets! I *heart* spreadsheets!)
- sell more "big ticket" items on Kijiji
- giant garage sale
- pack up house
- call back SuperDave to haul away everything that didn't get sold or stored or packed
- take a deep breath

And that's the state of "The Getting Ready" for March 27th. Lots has been done, but there's still a big hill to climb before I'm settled into my economy class seat for the long hop to Heathrow.

Stay tuned.

Store, Sell, Give, Toss, Take

Soon - alarmingly soon - every single one of my physical possessions will have to be assigned to one of these categories:

1. Things to store - These items will be put into the smallest storage container possible, in Winnipeg. I'm hoping that this storage space will be about 5' wide x 10' long x 8' high. I think at some point I'll actually have to mark out that space in the middle of my living room and see how much will fit in it.

2. Things to sell - I'm gradually trying to sell some "bigger ticket" items through online classifieds like Kijiji. Everything else in this category will be put on offer at a giant garage sale, probably held on a Saturday in May, 2009. (Mark your calendar. Friends who come help with the sale get first dibs!).

(Note/Warning to My Generous Friends and Family: If you come to my Garage Sale and discover an item that YOU GAVE ME being sold for ten cents on the dollar, please don't be offended. It's not that I didn't like your gift, or appreciate it, or use it and love it every day. It's just that, well, I had to make some hard choices. It doesn't mean I don't love you.)

3. Things to give away - I figure there are some things that belong in a new home without me having to try to get a few bucks for them. For instance, Henry's old kennels and other small dog accessories will be going to the great people at Blackjack Bassets, where I got him from in the first place, and who really were Henry's other family. It's nice to think that future generations of basset hounds will benefit a bit from this. Also, I imagine there will be lots of stuff that doesn't sell in the garage sale, so I may be calling a charity to come and pick it up.

4. Things to toss - If it's not worth storing, or selling, and nobody wants it, and no charity will take it... well all I can say is I wonder why I owned such a thing to being with.

5. Things to take - the smallest category of all. Everything I take will have to fit into one carry-on sized bag, not including the clothes I wear.I know there are some really hard decisions about stuff in my future. I know it's all just stuff, but a lot of it is stuff that's important to me, or at least I think it's important. Emblematic of this whole struggle is my couch. I love my couch. It's the first piece of grown-up, non-futon-based furniture I ever bought. It's leather, but not that poofy marshmallow style of leather couch. And it's comfy. And it was expensive (at least to me) (at least at the time), and it would be expensive to replace. It may not look too special but it's... well, it's mine.


Then again, I have no idea where I'll be living when this is all over. I may end up in a small bachelor apartment where the size of the couch would be comically out of proportion. Maybe I'll store it for a year, at great expense, and then have to sell it anyways.

Here's a related post on the subject from Nomadic Matt:

Selling Your Stuff - Get rid of it all! When you come back you’ll find you have a new appreciation for simplicity and you’ll be amazed at how much stuff you had that you didn’t really need so sell everything. Many times people go away and end up staying away. Better to get rid of what you can than worry about... You don’t want to be in Nepal and thinking “I hope my TV is ok.”

Maybe Nomadic Matt is right. Maybe when I get back after living with so little for so long I'll end up opening up my 5' x 10' x 8' storage space and think, "What am I going to do with all this stuff?" But part of me also thinks that I really like my couch and I want it to be there to come home to. I've pretty much decided to let it go - I even have a friend who may be interested in buying it - but it continues to tug at my heartstrings. It's like a big leather reminder of what I'm leaving behind.

In the Bleak Midwinter

The countdown clock is showing 160 days as I write this, which has me kind of freaked out. It was fine to talk about the Eiffel Tower and pyramids and safaris and such in July, but now it's the bleak midwinter and Winnipeg has been in a deep freeze for weeks. My dog is dying, and the trip-related expenses are getting serious, and I'm about to commit to leaving my comfy job and my beautiful house and my fantastic friends, and it all seems a bit much. Right now I'm relying on momentum and the kind words of those fantastic friends to keep me focused and on track.

Having said all that, here's an update:

I've decided that if I'm going to do this trip I might as well jump in with both feet. To that end, I will pursue getting my British citizenship. I found a better website that gives a much clearer idea of what's required, so I'm gathering the paperwork and hoping it all goes smoothly and quickly.

And in the spirit of "jumping in with both feet", I will not buy a RTW plane ticket. I'm worried any ticket of this sort would be too restrictive - limited mileage, small number of stops, blah blah blah. Instead I'll just get myself across the pond and then book as I go. If I have British citizenship they'll have to let me in, even if I don't have on onward ticket, and I think I'll be glad to have the flexibility to change plans whenever I want.

I bought the computer I'll take on the trip! I went with the Asus Eee PC 901, Windows version. I found a good deal on a "recertified" model from Tiger Direct.ca . I'm really excited about getting my hands on it and getting it all ready to go.

I also bought my luggage! On Saturday I placed the order for the Aeronaut,the Absolute shoulder strap, the convertible packing cube/shoulder bag, and one large Aeronaut packing cube. Yikes, that was expensive, but I should have it all in plenty of time for my short trip to Montreal at the end of the month, when I plan to try one-bag travel for the first time. (Note: I've traveled carry-on only lots of times, but I've always had a suitcase type thing AND a "personal item". This time it'll be one bag, and one bag only!)

I also bought a new iPod (it was an EXPENSIVE weekend!). At first I gave in to my gadget lust and bought a 16GB iPod Touch, despite my misgivings. I had fun playing with it on Friday night; the App Store is very cool, and the device itself is beautiful. HOWEVER, on Sunday I took it back and I plan to get an iPod Nano instead. Here's my logic:

• The Nano is actually a more functional music player than the Touch. The controls are much easier to access, which is something that always bugged me about the Touch. The Nano is MUCH better for running with.
  
• What does the Touch do that the Nano doesn't? Video playing, Wifi Web, photo viewing, ebook reading... those are all things I can do on the computer, with a bigger screen.
  
• I suppose the Touch could also do things like handheld translation or currency conversion and such, but a lot of the apps require web access, which I won't always have.
• The speaker on the Touch wasn't great - not much volume, and certainly not as good as the speaker on the tiny Creative Zen Stone Plus with Speaker. If I need a speaker, I'm probably better off with the X-mini.
• The Nano will also, I think, be more robust. I can't get past how easily my Touch died after a short fall.

I'm going for my second set of vaccinations today - Twinrix (round two) and Yellow Fever. I elected not to get the meningitis vaccine, because since I'm now mere days from turning 40, I'm not exactly in a high-risk group. And I will not get the vaccine for Japanese Encephalitis; once I get to Asia, someone please remind me not to spend more than two weeks in a rice paddy at night.

Finally, sadly, I have to report that Mr. Henry Hound is not well. His decline has occurred much more quickly than I expected, and it's hard to take. He's not really eating anymore, and has lost a noticeable amount of weight. He also has to go out to pee a lot now - I can't leave him for more than about 2 hours or he'll have an accident inside. I'm doing a lot of loads of laundry to wash towels used in clean-up (I'll be picking up one of these for him today). And really, he's not himself. It's clear that the end will come much much sooner than I thought, I just have no idea how to decide when that should be.

I took Henry to the vet on Monday, and he's now on a good anti-inflammatory that we hope will make him more comfortable. I also got a prescription for some kind of doggie-morphine, which the vet said should improve his mood (no kidding!). And I remembered that I've got a couple of pounds of beef liver in the freezer, so I defrosted some of that and Mr. Henry ate more in those 10 minutes than he did in the previous couple of days. It wasn't a huge amount, but coupled with the NSAIDs and the opiates, I expect he'll feel a bit better. Still, the whole thing is miserable.

I originally thought that this would be the week I'd tell everyone at work about the whole big crazy plan, but the stress of dealing with the dog makes me feel like I want to leave that for a bit. One thing at a time is all I can handle right now.

And that's what it's like here at Go See Run Eat Drink World Headquarters at the beginning of 2009: sad, scared, hopeful, excited, nervous, increasingly debt-ridden, slightly more disease-resistant, much more stressed, and definitely in need of a boost.

Gear Picks - One Bag to Rule Them All

In case you haven't realized it yet, my plan isn't just to spend a year traveling. It's to spend a year traveling with just a single carry-on sized bag. Therefore the choice of bag is, to put it mildly, somewhat important. The best website out there for packing light is that of the one-bag guru Doug Dyment. If you're looking for great information on what to pack, how to pack, and what to pack it all in, you can't go wrong at that site.

Here are my basic criteria for an RTW bag (RTW is short for 'Round The World, and is what all the Cool Kids say). My bag must be:

• Soft-sided - No wheels! They add weight and take away interior space. Also, they're Hell on cobblestones, dirt, grass, gravel... really anything that isn't a smooth airport concourse or featureless sidewalk. I know there will be times I wish I could roll along, but I think overall the extra weight and bulk would be too much.
  
• Convertible - meaning it can be carried with a handle like a suitcase, or with a shoulder strap, or with stow-away backpack straps. Note that the backpack straps on convertibles aren't nearly as ergonomically designed as those on REAL trekking backpacks, but I'm not climbing Everest here.
• Carry-on sized - Every airline has slightly different rules which makes this is a slippery concept, but most people seem to agree that about 9" x 14" x 22" is a reasonable size (about 45 litres). A bag this size will end up being too big to carry on with a few airlines, but anything small enough for all contingencies might be, well, too small. (For a look at a bag that would probably pass anywhere, check out the Tom Bihn Westen Flyer and imagine living out of 26 litres for a year.)
  
• Tough - This bag has to last me through a year of packing and unpacking almost every day. While my eBags Weekender Convertible was a steal at $69.99, I really don't think it would last.

My current favourite pick for an RTW bag is the Tom Bihn Aeronaut. It's been very well reviewed here, here and here (and in a zillion other places too). There's even a video here of a guy taking a ten-minute shower with a packed Aeronaut showing Tom Bihn's claim that the zippers are "splash-proof" is a bit of an understatement. I think I've read every word the internet has to offer on this bag, and most people agree that Tom Bihn makes really high end stuff of exceptional quality - tough enough to live out of for a year. In fact, people tend to rave.

Here's what the Aeronaut looks like:It's pricey, especially when you add in things like the Absolute Shoulder Strap, and the Convertible Packing Cube, but I have a feeling this is an area where I really shouldn't cheap out.

Here's what I like about the bag:

• It's got a few compartments which will help with organization, but it doesn't have so many pockets that I'll forget where I put things.
• I think the end pockets will be big enough to hold two pairs of shoes in one end and a day pack with Eee PC, guidebook, MP3 player, and snack in the other end. This would make for easy extraction of the day pack before stowing the main bag and sitting down in a plane, train, bus, rickshaw, donkey cart etc...
• I like that it's got lots of places to grab - both ends and the top, plus the straps.
• Most reviewers say that they were able to fit lots more into the bag than they expected, and found it more comfortable to carry than they thought they would, despite the weight.
  

Here's what I don't like:

• It's expensive, and there's really no way I can get a look at one without shelling out the money up front.
• It only comes in red, black and grey. Though the red is flashy, I'm leaning towards grey.
• There's no obvious place for a water bottle, unlike the Rick Steves bag, which is also a contender (though the decided underdog) in my One Bag Smackdown.
  
• The square-shaped centre compartment looks like it might be kind of awkward to pack.

Despite these minor drawback I think that once I actually commit fully to this crazy plan one of my first purchases will be a shiny new Aeronaut, with all the accessories. I even have a short trip to Montreal in January which would let me test it out a bit. When I actually take the plunge, you'll hear about it here first.

Fun times at the WRHATH&TMC

On Monday of this week I went for my first appointment at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Travel Health & Tropical Medicine Clinic, where I met with a nurse named Judi, who was really friendly and helpful and laughed at my jokes, so she's ok in my books. Also, the clinic itself is located conveniently close to work, and they have a whole shelf of Rough Guides to peruse while you're waiting around. So far the WRHATH&TMC gets two thumbs up.

My appointment lasted over an hour, and Nurse Judi gave me the rundown on a horror-show of diseases that I need to consider vaccinating against, including the relatively mundane Hepatitis A and B, polio, tetanus, diptheria and rabies, moving to the more exotic yellow fever, typhoid, malaria and meningococcal meningitis, and finishing off with a touch of altitude sickness and the decidedly ferocious-sounding duet of Tickborne and Japanese Encephalitis.

Today I got the booster shot for polio, diptheria and tetanus (thoughtfully provided in just one needle), and my first round of Twinrix, for Hep A/B. I also picked up the oral vaccine for typhoid, and made an appointment for early January to receive another shot of Twinrix, and the Yellow Fever vaccine, and whatever else I decide to go for. Finally, in early June, I'll get my last Twinrix shot just before I jet off.

For a mere $150, I'll likely go ahead with the meningitis vaccine, but I have a decision to make about Japanese Encephalitis. At $120 per dose, and requiring 3 doses, it's not cheap vaccine. The virus that causes JE (as we savvy 'Round The World traveling types call it) is carried in birds and pigs, and transmitted to humans through infected mosquitos, mostly in rural areas, and almost exclusively at night. And what happens to the infected? Here's what Wikipedia says:

Japanese encephalitis has an incubation period of 5 to 15 days and the vast majority of infections are asymptomatic: only 1 in 250 infections develop into encephalitis.

Severe rigors mark the onset of this disease in humans. Fever, headache and malaise are other non-specific symptoms of this disease which may last for a period of between 1 and 6 days. Signs which develop during the acute encephalitic stage include neck rigidity, cachexia, hemiparesis, convulsions and a raised body temperature between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius. Mental retardation developed from this disease usually leads to coma. Mortality of this disease varies but is generally much higher in children. Transplacental spread has been noted. Life-long neurological defects such as deafness, emotional lability and hemiparesis may occur in those who have had central nervous system involvement. In known cases some effects also include, nausea, headache, fever, vomiting and sometimes swelling of the testicles.

Well at least I don't have to worry about swollen testicles.

In all seriousness though, bad JE infections are one of those things that are very very rare, but very very bad if they do happen. My risk of getting infected is really low - I likely won't be in rural areas late at night, and even if I am I'll be taking precautions against mosquito bites anyways, because of the much higher risk of malaria. Nurse Judi said that unless I'm in a rural area hotspot for more than 3-4 weeks, I should be fine. On the other hand, these people decided to go for it. When it comes down to it, $360 isn't much to protect me from lifelong neurological defects.

And then there's biggie: malaria. Malaria kills between one and three million people each year, and there is no vaccine. It's carried by mosquitos, like JE, and is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where I will be spending some time. It's also in India, Southeast Asia, and South America. Because there's no vaccine, the only thing you can do is limit your exposure to mosquitos, and take anti-malarial medication when you're in a malaria zone. The WRHATH&TMC offers three options, which I would buy here and pack around with me until I hit the M-Zone. Those options are: Malarone, Doxycycline and Mefloquine. Of these, the best choice seems to be Malarone, which is the newest, and has the fewest side effects, and is also (of couse) the most expensive. Anti-malaria meds need to be taken before, during and after any stay in the M-Zone, and Malarone costs about $5.00/day, whereas the other two come in around $5.00/week. I have to think about what to do here, and figure out how much anti-malarial medication I should take with me. It is possible to pick up the stuff while out on the road, but Nurse Judi pointed out that travelers need to be wary of counterfeit drugs when buying overseas.

Nurse Judi also gave me a helpful handout on how to stock a first aid it for world travel, and confirmed my suspicion that it would be a good idea to get and fill a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic to have with me, just in case.

As for the budget, Monday's tab breaks down like this:

• Consultation with Nurse Judi: $52.00
• Tetanus/Diptheria/Polio Booster: Free (thank you Manitoba Health)
• Twinrix (Hepatitis A/B), first round: $62.00
• Oral Typhoid Vaccine: $42.00
• Total: $156.00

Still on the menu:

• Another two consultation/visit fees: $42.00
  
• Yellow Fever vaccine: $78.00
• Twinrix, rounds 2 and 3: $114.00
• Meningococcal Meningitis vaccine: $150.00
• Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, 3 rounds: $360.00
• Malarone anti-malarial meds: estimate $300-$500

The total here comes to a staggering $1,100 - $1,300.00 (not including first aid kit supplies) which is close to double what I budgetted, and I thought I was overestimating. Perhaps it makes most sense to spend my money on the good anti-malarials, and consider skipping the JE and meningitis vaccines. Then again, is this any time to cheap out? Opinions are welcome, especially if you actually have experience with any of this stuff.

Rule Britannia?

Here's a dilemma I've been struggling with: Due to the fact my mother had the foresight to be born in England (thanks, Mom!), I'm actually eligible to claim British citizenship. This would mean I'd be a dual citizen of Canada and Britain, and I'd be able to hold a British passport along with my Canadian one. Because Britain is part of the European Union, having a British passport would make traveling into and out of E.U. countries a complete breeze. In fact, as far as I know I could even live or work in an E.U. country if I felt like it. This all sounds like a very good thing for someone in my position.

So what's the dilemma? Well, there are two:

1. The Cost: Applying for British citizenship currently costs £459.00, and that's just for the actual application itself. That doesn't include the cost of gathering all the properly certified paperwork that's required to accompany the application. It also doesn't include the cost of the passport itself (another $237 USD), or the courier costs, or the passport photos to be taken, or even possible costs associated with getting to a swearing-in ceremony, which is apparently mandatory. (I guess you can't just sign on the dotted line while humming a few bars of "God Save the Queen".) I estimate the whole affair would probably add up to about $1,500.00.

2. The Gut Reaction: I'm not sure why, but the thought of being a citizen of somewhere other than Canada gives me pause. Part of me worries because having citizenship in a country doesn't just mean having rights in that country, it also means having responsibilities. What obligations - legal, moral or otherwise - would I have to Britain if I went down this path? Deeper still, it just feels funny to think about being a citizen of anywhere other than Canada - it feels like a betrayal of the country of my birth.

I don't want to imply that I have anything against Britain - I strongly identify with all things English. I'm not just a WASP by default - I grew up with grand and great-grandparents speaking in an accent, and steak-and-kidney pudding for Sunday dinner (Mmmm!) (No, really!), and Beatrix Potter books. I still have family there. If any country other than Canada could really be home to me, I think it would be England. In a very real sense, they are my people. (This is not to lessen the contribution of the prairie farming stock that make up my Dad's side of the family. I'm also a big fan of Saskatoon pie and have been known to cheer for the Roughriders.)

Friends I've asked about this idea tend to take a purely pragmatic stance - Shorter line-ups! Legal short-term work if you need it! They might change the rules again - do it now while you still can! On a more philosophical level, they've pointed out that we live in an increasingly global society, and being a citizen of an E.U. country might have great benefits for me down the road quite apart from the advantage it would be on this trip.

So what do you think? I'd be interested to hear other opinions on the subject. Leave me a comment and give me something to think about.

I've got a little list...

Lately I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the things I need to accomplish before setting out on this trip so I decided to go over the list and make a rough plan of when to try and get different things done. For instance there are a lot of small-ish renovation things I want to do on the house so I can squeeze every penny out of it when I sell, and there are a limited number of weekends when I can reasonably expect to be able to do this kind of work. Now I've got a timetable (not suprisingly, in spreadsheet form!). This is actually helping a lot, since instead of looking at the list and being paralyzed because I can't figure out where to start, I just need to look at the things I've scheduled for September, and then I can dive right in.

So far this month I've scraped the peeling bits and painted one whole side of the house, scraped and repainted the trim on front window, scrubbed the front steps, purged a lot of junk from the basement to the back drive (for easier removal to the dump), and installed two new florescent fixtures in the laundry area. This weekend I'll tackle building a big set of heavy-duty storage shelves in the basement. Apparently, buyers looooooooove storage.

Next up, in October: the Bathroom.

Itinerary

Here's my current best idea of where I plan to go, and when. Sometime I'll post about my reasoning behind where I've chosen to go and where I've decided to skip. And I'll try to update this as things become firmer.

Fly in to London, England from Calgary - June 15, 2009 (2 weeks in England)
Train to Edinburgh, Scotland (2 weeks)
Train/Ferry or cheap local flight to Dublin, Ireland (2 weeks)
Fly to Copenhagen, Denmark (it's about the beginning of August by now) (5 days)
Fly to Riga, Latvia (3 days)
Fly to St. Petersburg, Russia (1 week)
(This hop to Russia is out-of-the-way, but I want to get there in the summer - St. Petersburg in November would be grim...)
Fly to Amsterdam, Netherlands (3 days)
Train to Belgium (1 day, just passin' through)
Train to Paris, France (10 days in France)
Train to Barcelona, Spain (September) (1 week in Spain)
Train to Lisbon, Portugal (1 week)
Train/Ferry to Morocco (1 week)
Fly to Rome, Italy (October - 3 weeks)
Train to Ljublujana, Slovenia (1 week)
Train to Vienna, Austria (4 days)
Train to Prague, Czech Republic (4 days)
Fly to Athens (2 weeks, with Athens Marathon on November 9th)
Fly or Train or Ferry or ?? To Istanbul, Turkey (2 weeks)
Fly or other to Jerusalem (December) (3 days) Though I may skip Israel - I'd love to see the city but it makes me nervous.
Fly or other to Amman, Jordan for an Adventure Travel tour something like this one: Jordan & Egypt Adventure (2 weeks)
Fly from Cairo (end point of tour) to Kampala, Uganda (for Christmas?) (1 week) I'd also like to do some kind of safari tour thing, maybe like this one: Kenya Highlights (1-2 weeks)
Fly to Capetown, SA (January) (1 week)
Fly to Mumbai, India (24 days)
Fly out of somewhere else in India (Calcutta?) to Beijing, China. (February) I may want to do an organized tour of China too, like this one: The Road to Shanghai (24 days)
Fly or other to Vietnam (March) (1 week)
Overland to Laos (1 week)
Overland to Cambodia (1 week)
Overland to Thailand (April) (1 week)
Overland to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (3 days)
Overland to Singapore (3 days)
Fly to Tokyo, Japan (2 weeks in Japan)
Fly to San Francisco (beginning of May, hopefully staying with friends, for a rest - 5 days)
Fly to South America - probably Quito, Ecuador. I'll probably do an organized tour here, too. Something including the Inca Trail hike: Inca Adventure
General South America destinations: Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina (or Chile). I've allotted 2 months for all of South America.

Home by about July 1, 2010.

Phew.

On the Road with the Eee PC

I'm off on a ten-day trip to London, Toronto and Ottawa. I'm visiting friends in London, seeing friends and family and hopefully doing some Big Trip shopping in Toronto, and attending a conference in Ottawa.

I'm looking at this as an excellent chance to try out a bunch of Big Trip related gear, including the Eee (on which I am composing this right now, quite comfortably). I'm also bringing a lot of the clothing I plan to travel with, and I'm in possession of a new MP3 player, the Creative Zen Stone Plus with speaker (more on this in a separate post). Because this trip will include three cities in ten days, and feature travel by air, train and public transit it should be a decent test of everything from luggage and clothing choice to on-the-road laundry, internet access and footwear.

The bag I'm traveling with on this trip is the eBags Weekender Convertible, purchased online for $74.87 from eBags.com. In this context, convertible means that it can be carried by a handle like a suitcase, but also has stow-away straps that convert it to a backpack. I've also added a shoulder strap that gives a third option. I bought this particular bag because I was keen to get my hands on a convertible carry-on sized bag and the price was right. I'm skeptical that the eBag has the wherewithal to stand up to the rigors of 12 months of heavy-duty traveling, but for my purposes right now, it's sufficient. I'll write a detailed post about my top luggage contenders at another time, but my current picks are the Rick Steves Convertible Carry-on and the Tom Bihn Aeronaut.

I'm also carrying a day-pack that I'd hoped to fit in to the eBag so that I would truly be one-bagging but logistically that seemed tricky. I need to figure out a way to have a small daypack packed with on-the-plane essentials that will fit in the carry-on, but be quickly and easily extracted once on the plane. What prevented me from doing that today was the fact that the daypack seemed a bit bulky to be crammed into the eBag. More research is required.

I tried to weigh my luggage this morning - including the eBag and the daypack - using the highly scientific bathroom-scale method, and it looked like my total luggage weight was about 28 lbs. This is far too much – I'm hoping to be near or under 20lbs in total. Later I weighed the eBag alone with a luggage scale at the travel gadget store in the airport, and it was about 22lbs. I'd really like to get a proper luggage scale for testing all this out. More research is required.

While I'm in Toronto I'm hoping to hit the Tilley store to pick up 3-4 pairs of their “Unholey” travel socks (guaranteed for 3 years, and light enough to dry overnight!). I'll also look at convertible pants and collared shirts. My other big quest is for the perfect pair of shoes. Ideally I'd find a single pair of shoes that is comfortable enough to wear all day, every day, and that's also waterproof (or very quick-drying), and dressy enough for a dinner out, and rugged enough to take on safari or to hike the Inca Trail. A tall order indeed.

In case it's not abundantly clear by now, one of the things I'm really enjoying about planning this trip is figuring out exactly what gear to bring, and how to pack it. There's really nothing I like better than a good bit of planning, and the next ten months are going to be all about planning. Stay tuned for posts about all the various bits of gear, clothing, and luggage that I'm planning on taking.

Six Things I am Allowed to Buy

Once I conceived this big plan for house-selling, stuff-storing and world-traveling, two things became clear. First: this is going to be expensive, and second: I have a lot of stuff. Therefore, I've instituted a rule that for the next year I'm only allowed to spend money on the following things:

1. Consumables - food (groceries and restaurant meals), gas for the car, toiletries, running shoes (Non-runners may not understand that this belongs in "consumables", but runners will agree right away.), gels, Bodyglide, beer...
2. Immediate but unforeseen needs - perhaps the water heater gives out, or the car needs new struts (ok, that's actually a foreseen need since I've been warned about it already, but you get the idea)
3. Gifts for other people
4. Items that do not occupy physical space (movie tickets, DVD rentals, race registrations, hockey fees, iTunes downloads, massages, etc... this is a gratifyingly open category)
5. Items related to fixing up the house for sale.
6. Items directly related to the trip - gear, clothing, travel agency fees, tickets, guide books, laser eye surgery (Ok, this is a stretch, but the trip was my motivation for taking the plunge.)

Note: mortgage, property taxes, utilities, home and car insurance, investments, etc.. are not included in the ban. I'm really talking about discretionary spending here. And about not accumulating more stuff that will just have to be stored, sold, given away or abandoned.

Welcome to Go See Run Eat Drink!

Thanks for stopping by. I've started this blog in an attempt to chronicle my year-long traveling adventure, including the preparations, the nerves, the packing, the good-byes, the sights, the running, the food and drink, the fun, the highs, the lows and, finally, the coming home. For those who are new to this plan, here it is in four easy steps:

1. Work in my current job for one more season (until the end of May, 2009).
2. Sell my house and put my stuff in storage.
3. Travel the world for a year.
4. Come back to Canada, find a new job in a new city, and start a new life.

Why did I decide to write a blog instead of just emailing my exploits to friends and family? Well, I thought that pushing my emails on people might get a bit tiresome for those left behind in the cold and dark of a Canadian winter ("Oh great, another email from Pam, with pictures of her sunning on a terrace on the Piazza San Marco. Charming. I'll read that as soon as I finish shoveling the driveway for the 9th time this week.") Also, I thought it would be nice to have everything arranged in a neat package for myself to look over during and after the whole event. A blog seems like a good way to do both those things. I can keep a sort of diary of my experience, and you can come and look when you want, if you want. The name of the blog is, of course, comprised of the 5 main activities of the trip, in the approximate order in which they will occur: going places, seeing things, having a bit of a run, and then having something to eat and drink.

I have to say a big big thank you to Phonella, my Blogger layout expert, HTML coach and overall booster. The reason this blogs looks as good and functions as well as it does is entirely due to her work. Thanks! Go ahead and click around to discover all the great features of this blog, or for an exhaustive guide to Go See Run Eat Drink, check out my post called Blog 101.

And because no blog of mine would be complete without a mention of the Boston Marathon, here is me at the top of Heartbreak Hill during the 112th running of the Boston Marathon on April 21st, 2008.