A Month In A Backpack
I think it did it.
I think I managed to fit everything I’m gonna use this month in a travelers’ backpack that I’ll be lugging around. After a lot of negotiating with myself about what to bring, I finally zipped up my backpack and tried it on to make sure it wasn’t heavier than I could carry. It was fine, but I sure felt like a turtle, carrying my house on my back.
This trip sure was a long time coming. After all the planning, getting time off of work, figuring out where in the world to go explore — and with whom — and then getting visas for our destinations, it’s finally the day before the longest flight in the world! I’m already anticipating the worst. The flight to Israel is about 12 hours, and this is gonna take twice that amount of time. I have my books, my ipod and snacks. Bring on the exhaustion!
This month I got more shots in my arm than I’ve gotten since I was a kid. I think I got something like 8 vaccinations, including the Malaria pills I have to take with me for Angkor Wat. The travel clinic warned me there are a lot of mosquito-born diseases so I have to get heavy duty bug repellant, plus repellant for my clothes, although I’m a little skeptical because the clothes repellant is so serious, the bug die when they touch your clothes. That can’t be good for my skin!
Anyway, I got all the prescriptions I need — antibiotics and then special antibiotics for just Thailand, Malarone (malaria pills) for Cambodia and the cherry on top of it all is Ambien for the long flight. I asked my doctor how will I know if I need to take antibiotics and she told me it’s for “travelers diarrhea” and not to worry, I’d know if I need to start the pill regimen if necessary. I’m sooo not drinking water this month! Ha!
It’s been a while since I pulled out this old backpack. I traveled with it in Europe a couple of times and remember how heavy it was. I was a pretty bad packer though. hopefully I did better this time. I used to have dreams that I’d put it on my back and then couldn’t get up because it was so heavy. I was thinking about taking a suitcase that rolls, but then I started thinking about crowded streets and unpaved roads and finally broke down and cracked it open.
I spend a lot of time on the phone tonight parting with friends and family. Apparently, some people are a little freaked out about me going so far away. Mom told me she heard on the news there was an earthquake in Indonesia and maybe that’ll cause another tsunami. Tamir told me to watch out for terrorists. This is sort of what happened when I headed off to Egypt — I was in Israel and my friends told me not to tell anyone I was Israeli for safety reasons. I got all worked up about my safety, and I ended up being just fine.
Alright, gonna try to sleep since I have to leave around 7-ish… hopefully I can sleep because I’m SO EXCITED!!!!
August 31, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I am so excited getting ready to watch you in Asia!