Ready for the Plague

---

Well, only a few days and Hanmu & I are jetting off to China (via Chicago)! We leave this coming Sunday (July 1st) at 8am from Toronto!!!

But before we head off, and being responsible students of medicine, we thought that it would be good to get ready for any disease that may be thrown at us! Therefore, we have taken (I'm quite sure) every vaccine and prophylactic available to us. Here is just a short list:

Hep A
Hep B
Typhoid
Tetanus + Diptheria (booster)
Flu (unfortunately, not against avian flu 😞 )
Dukoral (cholera + ETEC)
anti-malarial (lariam - who know you could take perscription haleucinogens...)

And that is just perscribed drugs. If, and when, we get the plague we are bringing an assortment of "over the counter" pharmaceuticals:

advil
ibuprofen
motrin
tylenol cold & flu
flo-nase
immodium
peptobismal (chewables - that way you don't need water to take them)
anti-naseau/vomitting
melatonin
sleeping pills

We also decided to take lots of bug spray, afterbite, sunscreen (spray-on so you use it more efficiently), rub A535 (it sure saved me after running a triathlon last week!), polysporin and a first aid kit which reminds me more of a mini-hospital since we've jammed it with so much stuff!

As for packing, we're pretty much done that too. Here is a quick list of things we're bringing off the top of my head (note: we both have 85L packs from Mountain Equipment Co-op):

pants x 1 (cargo + roll into shorts)
shorts x3 (one pair = swim shorts)
t-shirts x3
sweater x1
long sleeve t x1
underwear x5
socks x6 (2 long pairs, 4 ankle socks)
water proof + breathable coat x1 (rolls into pocket)
ball cap x2
sunglasses x2
surong x1 (= towel + sheet in sketchy hostels)
toilitries (razors, deodorant, shampoo, soap, etc etc)
trail runners (Garmont Nasty's)
birks
flip flops x1
Power Bars x12
deck of cards
Lonely Planet China (2006 ed)
Mandarin phrase book
water purifyer solution (enough for 250L)
water bottle x2 (1 nalgene + 1 sports bottle)
day pack (I'm using my small DaKine Heli ski pack)
travel wallet (holds everything from my passport to my iPod!)
iPod
iPod wall charger
camera + cords
money belt
small sewing kit (aka suture practice!)
mosquito net
dental floss x1 (450yards - great for your teeth & drying clothes!)
clothes pins x6
detergent x 150mL
summer sleeping bag/sheet x1
toilet paper x2 (just in case...we'll probably buy when we get there too)
passport, RMB/Yuan, US cash, US travellers cheques, liscence, ISIC card, University of Guelph student card, insurance cards, credit cards, bank card

I think that's it...maybe a few extra things - but I'm pretty sure that's complete. We also stuffed most of our things in pack sacks (Outdoor Research has some great ones). They save a lot of space by taking the air out of your packing! They're a little expensive but worth the investment.

I suppose that's all for now! Only a few days left and we're off!

---

Comments

[steph]

missed you...dang
yo yo yo, I was in Dominican for a week and I totally forgot that I would miss your leaving....and your last haircut.......how was it? I hope it is awesome. Have an amazing trip guys, can't wait to read more about your upcoming adventures