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Published: November 15th 2005
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Casa Rondena, Albuquerque
November in New Mexico -- soon I'll be leaving this for London, Portland, and Thailand! Any trip I take seems to entail way too many preparations in the weeks before departure and my upcoming December journeys are proving to be no exception.
The easy part is actually finished once I've decided where I'm going and have booked the plane and hotel reservations. Those steps, for me, actually take about a week of research -- where do I want to go? what's the least expensive way to get there? what's the least expensive, but still comfortable, place to sleep there?
Once all the transportation and accomodation arrangements have been made, the "real" work begins.
The first matter involves luggage. It seems like whenever I return from any trip, I decide my bags aren't good enough for the next one. I've essentially been searching for the "perfect" piece of luggage for the past several years. I've learned from past mistakes of carrying along too much. I don't like to be weighed down by a whole lot of gear but it's almost unavoidable in these days of electronic gadgetry. I will never again travel with a laptop after lugging it all over China and Hong Kong a couple of years ago. I also swore on that trip to try not to check any bags; it's carry-on only for me if at all possible. (My last trip where I checked a suitcase was in December 2003 while on my way to spend Christmas with my family in Florida. I changed planes in Houston during a blinding thunderstorm and actually saw my duffle bag sitting on the runway for almost an hour before it was loaded onto the plane. You guessed it -- a load full of ruined waterlogged gifts.)
I'm not a big fan of hard-sided suitcases and most rolling carry-ons just don't seem to hold up very well to the rigors of travel. I've found that I prefer dufflebags (especially waterproof ones after that Christmas fiasco) with plenty of zippered compartments for easy access to travel documents and nicknacks. During a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, I used a dufflebag that had a telescoping handle and wheels and found I liked that very well -- handy for wheeling through the airport and train stations and then I could use the duffle handle for hauling it onto trains and busses. It worked very well except that it had too great a capacity; I brought a long too much gear and the weight caused one of the wheels to buckle and break towards the end of the trip. But, afterall, I'd spent only $20 or so for it at Wal-Mart so it wasn't the highest quality. I also rolled it too much, using it on the streets of Portland and Seattle more than I really should have.
A backpack would have solved that problem. Well, I then started surfing the Internet looking for what I felt would be the perfect solution -- a bag that not only met carry-on guidelines but was a combination dufflebag, roller suitcase with telescoping handle, and could convert to a backpack. And it had to be waterproof and made of quality materials so it wouldn't fall apart after only one trip. After some searching, I found a good one made my High Sierra. Not only did it have the features I just detailed, but it also had a drop-bottom compartment so I could separate my clothes and other items. All that for less than a hundred dollars! I ordered it and was very pleased when it arrived. My first trip with this new piece of luggage will be to London in less than three weeks. It should be just big enough to hold everything I'll need for those four days. A bigger challenge will be the Portland/Thailand trip when I'll need cold-weather clothes for a week and warm-weather clothes for three weeks. I figure I can ship back some of the heavy clothing from Portland and purchase any extra clothes I might need in Bangkok. I always pack an extra daypack to bring back any extras.
With the matter of luggage out-of-the-way (and I'll do a "pre-pack" about a week before the trip so I know exactly what will fit and what won't), I turn my attention to any new travel supplies I might need to purchase. I have my favorite travel clothes so that really isn't a problem. I did purchase a couple of swimsuits for the beach in Thailand (I haven't owned a swimsuit or gone swimming in ten years or more!) and some sandals to walk around in (something else I hadn't owned in quite some time). Also in this list was some heavy-duty bugspray, sunscreen, and a mosquito net. Not to mention travel-sized toothpaste tubes, deoderant, shampoo, etc. All the essentials....
But my biggest pre-trip purchase always seems to be books about my intended destinations. Not only do I buy the regional guidebooks from my favorite publishers (currently Lonely Planet and Rough Guides), but I also seek out local histories and even mystery novels set in those locales I'll soon be visiting. I try to immerse myself in the culture and history of these places long before I set foot on the plane. That's an awful lot of pre-trip reading, but it gives me additional ideas of what to see and do when I arrive. Maps are also a must; I'm a map junkie and I'm always seeking the "best" map I can find for any place I venture. For this Thailand trip, I ordered several directly from a publisher in Bangkok and then compared each one when they arrived so I could decide on one to take with me (it will become ragged on the trip so I save one of the others to include with my future trip diary and sell any extras on eBay).
I also attempt to learn at least a few key phrases in the local language. I usually purchase a language CD, a traveler's phrasebook, and a pocketsize dictionary and spend as much time as I can studying these before leaving home. Some sticks, some doesn't, but at least I have a rudimentary knowledge of how the language sounds before arriving. And I tend to get better speaking and understanding it the time I have to depart.
Some may think this is all overkill. You can overthink and sap the life out of your travels by preparing too much. But I enjoy it because it keeps my mind occupied. I don't read the material like I'm studying to take an exam, I read to enjoy and learn a bit. It's better than anxiously waiting for the departure date with nothing to do. I keep busy and before I know it, it's time to leave.
Bon Voyage.
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