Five Days to Go!

After deciding to go on this trip about a year ago, we can't believe we're leaving on Sunday! I think we are pretty well-prepared...all our flights are booked and we have ideas of what we'd like to do and see in each city we'll be in. Here's a map of our flight-path. Though we'll only be hitting two continents, our travels take us directly "around" the world. We'll be visiting Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Egypt, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa.














As part of our prep, we went to the International Travelers' Clinic to get our immunizations. They were so helpful there, but the visit was a little unnerving, too. Hearing the list of precautions you "might want to take", I started to stress. As most of you know, I wear my emotions on my face. So, as we walked out, Matt pointed out that the nurse practitioner should have also said, "You may get struck by lightning," just so they have covered EVERYTHING. He's right, of course, and armed with an insider's perspective to the world of Public Health (thanks, Sarah!), we got our shots, anti-malarials and a few antibiotics to bring along. Now we need to get our DEET bug spray, sunscreen and a couple of other toiletries and we'll be all set.

There is, of course, that giant obstacle of packing. I'm having a hard time getting started on this. It shouldn't be too difficult since we're only bringing one backpack each, but as a chronic "overpacker" I am starting to get anxiety about leaving certain things behind. Of course we've been checking the weather in Cairo, Bangkok, Windhoek and everywhere in-between, but can the "Weather" app on the iPhone REALLY be trusted??? We shall see. Plus, how do we know what types of clothing we'll need for a night out in Livingstone? We got some new hiking shoes for our jungle trek and safari, headbands to try to tame the curls in the Asian humidity, and I still think I will bring along a pair of wedges, just to be "safe".

We hope you will all join us on our journey by checking out this blog. We think it will be the easiest way to keep everyone (read: nervous Moms and Sisters) aware of where we are and what we're doing. I'm new to this, and some of the areas we'll be in will be pretty remote, so I can promise to TRY to update regularly. Hopefully I can convince Matt to share in doing some posts as well. Currently, though, he thinks that the blog is a great idea...for me to be in charge of. Wish me luck!