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Archive for May, 2008

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Back in California (2 days to go!)

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

I just got back to California last night after spending two weeks of visiting my friends and family in Alabama and Pennsylvania. It was great to see everyone, so I’m really glad that I went. But now I’m pooped, and I have a whole list of things to get done before Monday night when we fly away!

I really can’t believe that there are only two days before we go. To be honest, I’m a little freaked out. I’m sure we’ll get everything on our list done (they’re little things and reminders, nothing major). But I still feel really overwhelmed. Actually, I feel so overwhelmed, that I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’m just going to get busy checking things off of the list.

[read on]

Posted in Pre-Trip Planning | No Comments »

A Little Light Reading–Moon and Rough Guides vs. Footprint and Lonely Planet (24 days to go!)

Friday, May 9th, 2008

Things have settled down a bit recently. We found a new roommate to take over our room in the shared house starting May 15 (he’s already paid us back our deposit and he’s given Angela 1 1/2 months’ rent). We’ve packed all of our stuff that we won’t be using for the next 4 days, so it’s all ready to go to Steve’s mom’s house for storage. One of Steve’s friends is going to take Elizabeth (our cat) for the year that we’re gone. Everything is really coming together. The only things left on our to-do list before we leave is to cancel Netflix (which I’ll do right before we take off), and I need to change over all of my mailing info to Laura’s house (we’ve already put in a change of address at the post office, but I want to change things directly, too). Things are becoming more and more real all of the time. I’m a little bit in shock that this is actually going to happen. Steve and I are really about to leave for a year long trip around the world. It’s been a year of planning for a year of fun! But I think it’ll all be worth it and then some. I think the reality of the trip is really setting in now in part because we have more free time to read the Peru and Ecuador travel books that we bought. We’ve both been spending our evenings lying in bed with the kitty, reading the books and sharing information–dreaming and planning. We still plan on winging most of the trip with the help of the guidebooks and people we meet along the way. But we have to plan our bus route and where we’re going to stop from Lima to Cusco in order to arrive in time to get acclimatized before our Machu Picchu trek. So, that part of the trip is really coming together in terms of what we want to see and do and how long it’s going to take so that we make sure to arrive on time. But I’m not going to share our plans just yet–you’ll have to just check back in to see what adventures we’re having. [read on]

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Laura–Our Angel!

Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Steve's sister Laura has graciously agreed to be our home contact (or Angel as one travel book called it) while we travel. She will be responsible for various tasks such as collecting our mail--opening important looking things and recycling all ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Finances, Friends and Family, Pre-Trip Planning | No Comments »

Travel Insurance

Thursday, May 8th, 2008
It was a difficult process trying to figure out travel insurance. On top of trying to decipher the legal-speak of the contracts it turns out that Steve and I have different ideas of what we think travel insurance should be ... [Continue reading this entry]

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Stuff! (27 days to go!)

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
A few days ago Steve and I pulled out our packing lists and starting getting out all of the stuff we've acquired for the trip, checking off the items on our lists as we went. It was really a helpful ... [Continue reading this entry]

Posted in Gear, Pre-Trip Planning | No Comments »

Money Matters (31 days to go!)

Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Someone out there in internet-land asked a while back what we were going to do in terms of getting at our money while we're traveling. We've done some research, and here's our plan: We're going to take each of our bank's ... [Continue reading this entry]

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