Sunday, December 19, 2010

Malaria pills...check. Camera...check. Cat...cat?!?

A big welcome to those of you who are now receiving our updates via email and to all our patient readers who have been checking the blog on the web and waiting for us to stop talking about it and finally hit the road. The long wait is nearly over. After bittersweet goodbyes at our respective offices (Hey Arts Umbrella and BCCEWH folk!), Sarah and I have spent the weekend finalizing the lists, packing the house, and doing the first pack of the backpacks. And in less than four days, we'll be out of the house and living in our backpacks 'til June.

Here's a few shots of the fun mixed in with some thoughts about how we'll do the blog.
 Sarah, Zephyr, and the empty packs. They are so light all by themselves. Sigh.

There are lots of types of travel blogs. They run the gambit of styles, but tend to either be of the tedious-details ilk ("I just changed my socks!") or the infrequent but deeply reflective type ("I totally just reached a new plane of consciousness, man...."). We're going to try to shoot the gap between these two styles.
I won't bore you with the complete list of what goes into these bags, but here's a few highlights - malaria pills, universal adapter, sleeping bag liners (for those "budget" accommodations), and a sterilized needle pack. Zephyr is making a concerted bid to be included in the packing list.

So, by shooting the gap I mean we will do our best to not bore you with mundane details, but we'll also try to provide enough interesting details with enough frequency that you have somewhat of a feeling of climbing into our packs with Zephyr and coming along.
We'll see how far that yoga mat makes it...

The general idea is that every three days or so, we're going to pick the one event, experience, person, etc. that we found the most fascinating and we'll write a post about that. Pictures and potentially even videos will be included so you don't get dreadfully bored just listening to us jabber on.

The packs have been packed, and remarkably, are not back-breaking to wear. We'll see what happens after hiking a few miles though...

So that's the full scoop on the blog and our packing process. If we can't take you all along with us, we'll at least try to keep you in the loop.

Less than 4 days till liftoff!

4 comments:

  1. Is Zephyr going with you???
    And why the sterilized needles?
    Just curious!
    I'm so excited for you guys!

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  2. Funny the things you pack that I didn't even realize were a necessity... And don't worry, once you lose the mat, you can still yoga on the earth =)

    Ridiculously excited for you! Safe travels and amazing adventures. Love tech and the fact that it'll 'take me with you' as you go.

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  3. Hey Nicholas! As much as Zephyr would love to lounge on the beach in Greece - all 20 pounds of him - he and Flora will have a nice 5 month vacation with the family in California.

    Sterilized needles were a recommendation from Sarah's aunt who is a big world traveler. They are for use in case you end up in a hospital in a developing country where you can't be 100% sure the needles are sterile. You buy this little pack with syringes, needles, tubing, etc, which comes with a little form verifying that you are not a drug addict :)

    Humaira! Sarah's here with me waving hello. Yoga on the earth sounds...earthy. Glad you enjoyed the blog post!

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  4. My money is on the mat making it to Thailand but no further. Any other S&S followers care to make this interesting?

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