16 countries. 1 pair of underwear. No passport. Almost.

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36 hours to lift-off! We're so excited and exhausted from the packing and preparation.

For a while there, we thought Peter wouldn't even be able to get out of the country. He submitted a renewal application for his passport in November. 3 months later, still no passport. The Irish government is switching to biometric passports and the passport photo requirements have become impossible. Peter has taken about 7 different passport photos and they have all been rejected. The infuriating thing is they won't/can't tell us what is wrong with the pictures. It's just rejected without notice. The lady at the Irish consulate couldn't have cared less if Peter got his passport. She kept telling him to call back, probably hoping that someone else would pick up the phone. I guess Peter's cute Irish accent doesn't work so well on actual Irish women.

Because of the delay, Peter had to file an emergency passport application last week and it finally came on Friday. Hallelujah! I have never been so excited to see a Fed Ex truck in my life.

And while all the passport drama has been going on, I wasn't able to focus on the more important issues--what to bring (i.e., what can I shop for). The first thing we learned while preparing for this trip was that there is an entire cottage industry of travel clothiers just waiting to take your money. Everything is state of the art. Moisture wicking! Dries in 15 minutes! Folds into its own pocket! Saturated in mosquito reppellant! Protects you from sunlight! Protects you from vampires!

The most ambitious seems to come from travel underwear made by Ex-Officio. The slogan is something like...16 countries. 6 weeks. 1 pair of underwear. I'm thinking that the guy who came up with that didn't really think it through. I'm sure they really don't want their customers to buy just one pair or think that bringing just 1 pair of WHITE underwear was a good idea.

Anyway.

Everyone's been fascinated by what we'll be packing and while we will not be travelling as lightly as I want, I am trying desperately to keep my pack under 20 lbs. Without going into the gorey details (like how many pairs of underwear we'll each be bringing--needless to say, it's more than 1), we're each bringing 3 pairs of pants, 3 pairs of shoes, 1 wind/rain jacket, a couple fleece items for warmth, thermals and 3 long sleeve and short sleeve tops.

Let me just say that the worst decision I had to make was bringing just 3 pairs of shoes. I agonized over it for months but couldn't find the perfect dressy/comfy shoe so I settled for bringing a pair of sandals I had that I can wear with a dress or pants for a nice dinner out.

So, I think my slogan should be...20 countries. 6 months. Only 3 pairs of shoes.

Pretty ambitious.

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Comments

[Jane Lee]

Only 3 pair of shoes?!!
That is unheard of... I know, this is coming from a person who took 6 pair of shoes to a 2 week vacation in Australia and bought 2 more pair of shoes in Melbourne. But I'm sure you will be just fine, Dinh. Obviously, I am sooooo jealous as I am sitting at my desk wondering "what the hell am I doing here today?" Well, have a safe and fun trip guys! Can't wait to see your pictures. Jane

[Tony]

Congrats!
Congrats on finally getting out of here! Enjoy your trip and keep us posted!

[Raymond Ha]

Packing light
Good luck with everything guys! And packing under 20 lbs? That IS pretty ambitious. Shoulda have consulted me on packing, but then again I would have prepared you for hurricanes, earthquakes, and ice ages. Fly, ride, drive, walk, run, hike, swim safe! I look forward to more blog entries.

[Quynh]

happy new year!
you are starting the year in a spectacular way! have fun in hong kong.

[Colette and Vincent]

Harrington's trick
Nobody warned you that it was an experience to travel with a Harrington ? Can't wait to read the rest of you adventure Slan