Canada

( Jenn )

Well, mostly. We are all packed up as evidenced by this photo:

(everything that was laid out on the futon the other day in 2 backpacks, 2 small daypacks and Anica's daypack)

It was tough though. We'd already done a run through but it still seems like so much stuff. We've chopped at our list, read through dozens of similar ones, listened to advice on what we can and can't get over there (so much of it conflicting). Finally we've decided that the packs will just have to go as they are and once we're overseas, we can assess the situation and see if there are things we can jettison or send home. Ideally we'd like to travel even lighter but, as we keep reminding ourselves, we are 3 people traveling with 2 carrying the majority of the weight and with a kidlet, there's a lot of things you carry because you can't chance being without them (pediatric versions of meds, etc).

We're very excited. Our airport limo (oooh, sounds so much more thrilling than it is when it's simply a flat rate Lincoln Town Car) comes at 5 am and I know I'm going to have a tough time sleeping tonight but I'm going to try because I'm terrible at sleeping on planes.

First stop is Vancouver, British Columbia to visit Rob's sister Jean and her family (husband Bruce, son William and daughter Lauren). Anica can hardly wait to see her cousins (it's been over a year) and we're looking forward to just spending some quiet time with them all and having them show us around Vancouver (Anica and I have been before but Rob hasn't) before we head to Singapore.

(Rob)

-we were getting our last immunizations and Dr. Wise asked Anica if each of us have different roles to play while traveling. I wasn't sure if she understood the question, but she answered immediately: "Mummy plans, Daddy drives, and I play." Yep. That's about right...

-our passport now contains four visa pages: China, India, Egypt, Vietnam. We haven't gone anywhere yet, but it makes for a lovely collection.

-can you learn anything about a country from its consular services office? (Or is it like judging a city by its airport, a useless exercise.) If you can, Egypt would win: leather couches, lots of brochures, and the guy working there gave Anica candies. China, however, was standing lineups only, and a continously looping propaganda video. When it finished a loop, the Chinese woman in front of me snorted, turned around with a laugh to me, and rolled her eyes.

-biggest worry before leaving? My back. I hurt it just testing out my backpack. Not a good omen.

-our little two night trip to Ottawa last week reminded me that even "ordinary" travel can lead to frustration and squabbles. I have a more realistic picture in mind again about what we can handle and expect.

-here's something I joked about with my friend Chris at work:
"All We Really Need to Know About Traveling We Learned From The Amazing Race"
1) Either learn to drive standard (we didn't) or insist on an automatic (we did for Europe)
2) If you're not sure what to do, ask someone at a five-star hotel
3) Ask for directions sooner rather than later
4) If you and your spouse dress the same, you look dorky
5) When you're lost and arguing, it's not a pretty sight, but when you reach your goal, all is forgiven
6) For most people, being yelled at is not a form of encouragement
7) Don't make bad karma!

-after all these months of dreaming and planning, we leave on Monday. Like Anica said: "I wonder how it will feel in these places. Like India. How will it feel? We'll be touching India's things!"

( Jenn )

Here are two pictures of us all from when we were in Ottawa last week. I'm not terribly fond of the picture of me but then again, I hate having my picture taken and avoid it whenever I can :P

And of course, the obligatory all-our-stuff-laid-out picture to be followed by the all-our-stuff-packed-up one tomorrow

( Jenn )

It seems like only yesterday we had one month, three weeks to go. Gah.

I'm freaked but not as much as I might be. Although, that's still one of those things that varies from minute to minute :P

We have four visas - China, Vietnam, India and Egypt - and they're the ones we really need because of tours or the ones we would find harder to get on the road. It's also more than I thought we'd have - originally we'd planned only to get two from home and we thought (time-wise) we'd be really pushing to get that. So yay!

We have all the clothes and travel gear we need, a general packing plan, our rough itinerary.

We have a number of things booked already - two tours, our first accommodations in Singapore, our hotels in Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok and Cambodia, our flats in Spain (1 week in Nerja, Spain - our first real stop in Europe) and Tuscany (2 weeks in March), our car for Europe (a Peugeot Open Europe lease) and almost all our flights (most of which we can change the dates on if need be).

The rest of our accommodations we'll book as we go and I'm happy with that.

We also have a better clue as to how Anica will do with museums (as long as we don't swamp her) thanks to the four hours we spent at the War Museum in Ottawa. She took in /so/ much, found it fascinating and has talked to us about it /a lot/ since our visit.

We've already had some lovely experiences -- the people at the embassies and consulates have been wonderful, the couple at our place in Spain have offered to take delivery of some guidebooks (and anything else we'd like to have in Europe but can't carry now), the couple at our place in Tuscany have told us if our deposit via wire transfer deposit doesn't work (they're in a small town and our bank branch didn't seem 100% convinced it would go through), not to worry, we have the flat booked and we can pay when we get there. It probably helps that we're totally off-season and have been emailing back and forth with them for weeks but still... lovely.

We have a friend who's offered to do a scrapbook for us *hugs her tight* and who we will be sending all the little odds and ends which I had planned on not collecting this trip because of the daunting task of putting them together when home.

We have the wonderful gentleman who made our selling our car such a nice and smooth experience and made Anica feel less sad about "the Altima" being gone.

And of course we have our parents who have "been there" in so many ways - taking care of Anica while we shopped/ran errands, helping us get around once the car was gone, looking after things for us when we're travelling, etc. I can't even begin to list everything they've done. But above all, they've offered nothing but support and advice and been thrilled for us all the way.

( this is Jenn's typewritten version of Anica's HANDWRITTEN account of our trip to Ottawa last week to get our Egyptian and Vietnamese visas. )

1st day - We went on a 4 hour drive, long, got to Otwwa, had lunch at Elgin Street Dinner, looked around Eligan, got candy, went to the B[ank], went to Vientam ambessy, had hard time finding Redio Hegiths Inn (no pool so always kept swimsuit) or hotel, turned out to be a motel, checked in, number 2 second floor 32 number of room, (nice), rest, went out and looked in a town, saw canal, bought some more candy, had dinner at Mexican restaurant, went back, watched Canadian Idol, went to bed

2nd day - Woke up, had breakfast, went to Eygipt ambessy, played at park, saw wading pool wa! closed, went to war musem (intresting), had lunch at caftria, fineshed, went back to eygipt ambessy, went to park yea! yay! OPEN!!! went wading, went to market, had dinner at pizza place, went home, watched TV, goodnight

3rd day - Good-Bye Ottwa, woke up, had breakfast, good-bye Ottwa

(this is Anica in the trenches at the War Museum)