packed and ready to go!!

Well, we're finally all packed and ready to go!! So now we enter that long wait until the airplane leaves - it's 1:15am, and I've got 6 hours before I have to leave for the airport. True to form, I have decided to stay up all night. Why? Well - I have this theory about jet lag. I figure that if I start acting as though I'm living in another timezone before I get to the timezone, then when I get there, I'm already acclimatized and hence no jet lag!!

Catherine has a theory too, but it's not complimentary to me and hence I won't share it with you all. But it revolves around the concepts of maturity and wisdom and the lack of it :)

'Tis very exciting to see our backpacks all set up against the door, with our money belts and day packs arraigned suitably!! Finally feels real, although somewhere in the back of our skulls lurks the fact that we are leaving our comfort zone and are undoubtedly going to face some challenges. Oh well, bring them on, I say now, bravely, from the comfort of my living room :)

For those of you who may want to do this some day, I have a few tips.

1. Do not lose your checklist. Most of you would already understand the importance of making a list, checking it twice, etc etc... but add to that - DO NOT LOSE!! We made a fabulous list. Honestly. Truly detailed, with every thing you could think of that you'd need. Even a corkscrew. Don't ask why. Of course, we wrote it on paper. Then went shopping with intent to purchase some of the outstanding items - and yes, you guessed it - we get to the shops, and can't find the list!! After a suitable period of 'I thought you had it - no I gave it to you - no you did't I'm sure that you had it in your pocket', we switched to a more mature means of conflict resolution, whereby we resolved to blame each other, and then went from memory. And of course forgot half the stuff again. It didn't help that when we got home we couldn't find it either. So for your sanity, and the sake of your relationship, either give one person all the responsibility for packing, or make duplicates of your list. That way there's no doubts about whose fault it is when you're in some far-away country and you don't have your deodorant and nobody will squish with you on the bus :)

2. You do not need high heeled shoes on round the world trips. 'Nuff said.

3. You should never work up till the last day of your holiday. Let's face it - you're leaving your colleagues when they probably need you most - you need at least a day to get over the guilt.

4. Do not pack food into your backpack. Especially pizza. If you do, make sure you're not the one who does the laundry.

5. Your weapons - you will not need them. By this I mean - put all your nail clippers, scissors, knitting needles, penknives, corkscrews, wine cutters, etc in your luggage and not your hand luggage - or you will lose them at the airport. Of course, wooden clubs, ceramic daggers and really sharp pieces of glass will all get through. All hail the powers that be that manage our airports :)

OK, time for me to spend my last 5 hours in Sydney profitably! Next stop - Buenos Aires, Argentina!! Have got a 16 hr flight to Santiago, Chile, then a two hour stopover, then 2 more hours to BA. Yay. This is supposedly the Paris of South America. Personally, it just sounds like a really cool city, one that you don't so much see, as much as experience.

I plan to learn the tango. Hmm. Maybe I should have packed the high heels after all...

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