The clock's ticking...

(Jenn)

Ironic is spending half an evening talking with your husband about food and water safety in third world countries and then coming down with food poisoning in your own :P

Yesterday ended up being a write-off with me sick but luckily Rob was able to drop Anica off for her last 1/2 day of school, run downtown to pick up our passports with our Chinese visas and courier a whole new package including passports to the Indian Consulate.

If you've never applied for a visa, it can be a nerve-wracking experience. What if you're rejected? Would you ever even find out why? What would you do then? It's even more anxiety-provoking when you have a tour or two (as we do) riding on getting them.

And despite the constant advice I read to dress up (or at least nicely) when you visit an embassy or consulate, the majority of people at the Chinese Consulate on Monday were dressed in jeans and t-shirts. Oh, well. Better safe than sorry.

I still feel like we're in a holding pattern - no control over visas except delivering the packages, not able to sell the car just yet, etc - but I also feel like we'll be ready no matter what and there's a strange peace that comes with that. Whatever we're missing, we'll get. Whatever needs to be done, we'll do. Of course, and hopefully I'm not the only person planning a RTW who feels this way, I alternate (sometimes several times daily) between "ack! I need to be doing more!" and "It's going. It's going." (said in Dory from Nemo voice)

My pile on the futon was growing as I added mosquito coils, more insect repellent, cable and luggage locks, silk sleep sheets (for hostels and questionable hotels) and some small collapsible toys (frisbee, ball and kite, all of which are /tiny/ and very light when packed). BUT I took everything out of its packages, used small labels to print out and stick on instructions where necessary, and grouped everything in ziplock bags. Presto! It looks manageable again.

I've told Rob we'll start paring down when we do our trial packing and figure out exactly what our packs weigh. Our stingiest maximum for flights is 15kg of checked baggage, but honestly, I figure if my pack is over 33lbs, overweight baggage fees are the least of my worries. I don't want to be carrying that much. I honestly want to carry as little as I can and figure that my enjoyment of each day may be in direct proportion to how much crap I'm carrying on my back. Of course, we're also carrying the kidlet's stuff but that's divided between the two of us (and she'll be carrying her own pack with her swimsuit, travel towel, baby (stuffed doll) and nintendo ds lite with its pack and games for the many long train and bus rides we'll be on).

Lastly, we thought some of you might be interested in the following:

Steripen

It uses UV light to destroy waterborne microbes. It's not cheap at $159 CAD (the Adventurer/Traveler model) but if you figure out the cost of bottled water - no matter where you're buying it - times the three of us over 6 months (the length of time we're in countries with questionable tap water) - it's well worth it. Plus it's fast, light, and convenient. AND it will also decrease the environmental damage we do with adding more plastic bottles to the landscape. Yay!