The Pre-Trip Blog Post

---

---

"We apologize for the delay, we attempt to give each customer as much personal attention as possible. Please hold for the next available customer satisfaction representative."

So its Sunday before leaving for Seoul. I've packed and re-packed, and now I'm sitting on the couch trying to reach all of my credit card/bank/cell phone providers to let them know that I'll be leaving the country on Tuesday. Each wants to know my travel itinerary in detail. Great. Because I'll for sure know where I'll be in 6 months and 3 days from now. Scotiabank has been the best so far, very friendly, a bit too chatty, but knowledgeable nonetheless.

Work was a bit surreal yesterday. All this month has been a whirlwind of wrapping up projects, passing things off, and dodging the proverbial bullet that would keep me working any later than 4:30pm! This has been a big change from the months leading up to now, and quite frankly, making me feel a bit lazy! I spent the afternoon cleaning out the files on my desk, deleting emails and saying goodbye to the great colleagues and friends I've made over the years.

The gang at work has been great, providing all I need for the transition. HR has been really helpful, and I think it's all gone quite smoothly. Having said that, I've already been warned that for the next 6 months if something goes wrong, I'm the company scapegoat. Which is fine, I'll be on a beach in Thailand and those suckers will be dealing with belligerent contractors and pissed off clients. I kid, I kid. ... I'll be on a beach in Vietnam first!

I'm surprised to be finished packing so soon in the scheduled few days of pre-trip preparation. Perhaps I'm a bit too organized? I've been running through situations in my mind, trying to not second-guess my packing ability, while at the same time trying to hold-back from packing for every possible eventuality. Why is that you ask? Well, I bought a 58 litre backpack for this trip, which I'm told is a bit bigger than what I 'should' need. Why is that a problem you ask? Well, having packed everything into my new 'oversized' pack, I have found that there's really not any extra space for anything. Don't get me wrong, it all fits. But just.

So what in the world does one need to pack for a trip around the world? First, choosing the pack is important, as it will be inevitably strapped to your back, thrown on top of a bus, the back of cars, lockers, through all kinds of airports and etc. I chose to get a trusty Mountain Equipment Co-op bag, of course. The staff were VERY knowledgeable and helpful (and patient) while I tried on bags for 3 hours one Thursday afternoon. They've got extra pillows and weights so you can actually get the feel of the thing.

The chosen one is a MEC Sojourn Backpack, 58 litres, made of ballistic nylon, with a zip-off ~15 litre day pack. I chose it for the functionality in airport situations, the integrated shoulder and waist straps can be covered by a fold-away sheet of nylon which zips across the entire back surface of the pack, essentially covering the straps and turning the pack into an oversize duffel - key in situations where your straps will be instantly cut if caught on an airport conveyor belt. Plus the daypack is the perfect carry-on.

So then what do you put in the bag? Or should I say, what can you fit? Well, I've never had the experience of long-term travel, so I've been researching what to bring. Most websites recommend laying out everything you wish to bring with you, then get rid of half of it. Therefore, here's my list:

Clothing:
4 t-shirts, 2 polo shirts, 3 dress shirts, 1 sweater, windbreaker/waterproof jacket, jeans, dark pants, swimsuit, khaki shorts, scarf, gloves, 5 underwear, 5 pair socks, sandals, runners, dark shoes. Thats it!

Electronics:
Netbook, iPhone, camera, memory stick, hard drive, extra camera memory card, flashlight, power adapter.

Personal:
Travel towel, umbrella, medical safety kit (also from MEC), cold/flu medication, Cepacol, Gravol, Immodium, Afterbite, family planning, anti-histamine, travel prescriptions, toothbrush/paste, shaving, nail clippers, sun block, multivitamins, bug spray, knife, ear plugs, zip-lock bags, elastic bands, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, pens/pencils, journal, money belt, business cards, playing cards, energy bars/candy, reading book/sudoku.

Information:
Passport/copies of passport, ATM card, 2 major credit cards (visa and mastercard), vaccination records, extra passport photos for visa applications, Vietnamese visa, travel insurance certificate, driver's licence, student card, health card AND airline confirmation numbers.

The list is long for the personal stuff, but its such small stuff it mostly fits easily into a small bag.

I've already bored most of you to death with these details, so I won't go into what I had to do to get to where we are today, lets just say it was also extensive. I'll bore you with the details perhaps while I sit in the airport on Tuesday morning! Woohoo!

I'm travelling from Ottawa to Vancouver on Tuesday, the flight leaves at 7:30am and arrives at 10:50am in Vancouver. My flight doesn't leave for Seoul until 1:30pm, and arrives in Seoul at 4:30pm Wednesday. I'll be flying on Air Canada to Vancouver and Air Korea to Seoul. More on that later!

If you have any specific questions, do not be afraid to ask!

00
DAYS 

00
HOURS 

00
MINS 

00
SECS

Ok, now that I've written this blog post, I realize I've forgotten the most important thing. The friends and family that have gotten me to this point. You've all been there for me over the past several months while I've been planning this thing with Trung and I thank you for that.

Over the last couple of days I've had a whirlwind of drinking/eating/Catan/visiting and the like and it has been the best. I was telling Hollie the other day that I've been kind of depressed over the last three weeks getting prepared to leave it all behind. I realized that because I have such great friends it makes it hard to leave. I won't miss the city of Ottawa or the -100C temperature, but I'll miss my friends and family very much while I'm on the road. I know I'll have Trung (but we all know what that will be like, day in, day out...😉 and I hope to stay in touch as much as possible. Feel free to send along a message whenever!

xoxo
Andy

---

Photos

Mr. Call Centre
What I imagine the call centre at Mastercard to look like, based on the quality of the conversation I had with them.

MEC Sojourn
The daypack AND shoulder strap is attached here.

Everything laid out
The clothes are sorted in the mesh travel cubes.

Korean Air
Photo Credit: Reuters