It's not easy to get ready for a trip of any substantial length to parts unknown - although everywhere we're going is pretty well known by tens of thousands of travelers. One of the most important pre-journey preparations is the trip to the doctor.

We're lucky because we were thoroughly inoculated and educated about tropical diseases before our trip to Senegal in 1997. A few of our immunizations had worn off so we had to get the tetanus and typhoid again, but we apparently have a lifetime immunity against Hep A and Polio. We declined the recommended Hepatitis B and Rabies shots. I argued with the travel nurse that we weren't at risk for Hep B (it's transmitted the same way as HIV) but she countered that the blood supply in SEA is pretty likely to be contaminated with it so we are at risk in the event of a transfusion. My theory is that if I'm getting a blood transfusion in Asia there are lots of other things to worry about, like HIV and Hep C, so Hep B can just join the club. Plus the vaccine is expensive! We've decided that only one of us at a time can get into an accident because the other one is needed as a safe blood donor. And finally, we're shelling out about $500 for 26 weeks worth of Lariam (anti-malaria drug) and hoping that we don't go psychotic while we're on it.

We are in the midst of taking care of other preparations like talking to our insurance agent about the cars and the house, selling one car to my mother, buying travel insurance, getting an extension on our taxes, prepaying and setting up auto-pay for our utilities and mortgage, suspending our cell phone service, and downsizing the satellite TV subscription. Pearse canceled the satellite yesterday and then reconsidered when he realized that he's going to be at home next week and would miss all the Liverpool games on Fox World Sports. Not to mention the Blazer telecasts. Horrors!

The one thing we are completely done with is packing. Pearse is still on the lookout for a good deal on a slightly smaller backpack, but we feel pretty much ready otherwise. Since everyone seems to ask what one takes on a trip like this, here's a list (the short answer is "not much" if you're too bored to continue reading):

- 2 pairs of lightweight pants each
- 1 pair of shorts each
- 1 long skirt for me
- 1 fleece jacket each
- 1 long sleeved shirt for me - 2 for Pearse
- 1 short sleeved camp shirt each
- 4-5 T shirts each
- 5 pairs of underwear each (ex Officio, quick drying anti-microbial. Veddy nice!)
- 3 pairs of socks each (a little bird told me we were getting anti-mosquito socks for Christmas, very excited about those too)
- 2 swim suits each (one of Pearse's pairs can double as walking shorts)
- 1 pair trail shoes/runners each
- 1 pair Tevas each
- 1 pair flip-flops for me (Pearse also uses these in the shower)
- rainjackets, sun hats & sunglasses for both of us

- Toiletries, medicines & first aid kit
- 1 travel towel each, a couple washcloths and a sarong
- 2 pillowcases
- 2 silk sleep sheets
- 1 travel pillow for Pearse (I strongly covet this but don't think I have room for one of my own)
- Head torches (flashlights for you Americans) & mag lite
- 2 dry snorkels & 2 snorkel masks (mine is prescription)
- Inflatable life jackets
- Digital camera & extra memory card
- Lots of sunscreen
- Lots of large plastic Ziploc bags for just about everything
- Clothes line & Woolite
- Diaries & lots of pens
- Cards & dice
- Books (I'm going to have to work on limiting these but I think I'll have a panic attack if I have fewer than 3 of these at all times)
- Guidebook (Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring)
- Money belts w/money, tickets & passports

You'll notice there aren't a lot of clothes on the list (although most people who have gone on these trips would say there are too many clothes), so we'll be doing laundry often. But if there's one thing we've found in our previous travels is that there are plenty of people in the laundering business and we should have no trouble supporting the local economy whenever we don't feel like doing it ourselves. We have each promised to wash our own underwear (eew!).