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Published: April 5th 2018
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The rucksacks are packed and we are almost organised at home. The automatic watering system is now up and running in the garden, our two dogs, Mutley and Megan, have been to the vets: annual jabs endured, check-ups undertaken, tick collars attached and we have all of their medicines sorted. Our big dog, Mutley is epileptic so a great Tupperware box of drugs is ready to accompany him to our son Nick’s house next Tuesday afternoon. We read somewhere that the way to pack is to lay everything out then halve it! Well, we haven’t needed to do that because amazingly almost everything fitted in; just a few things were discarded and relegated back to the wardrobe! Having packed the rucksacks for backpacking before, this isn’t really surprising. The list isn’t really different each time. Once the essentials are packed however, there is never much room left for many clothes anyway; mosquito nets, travel towels, medical kits, sleeping sacks, toiletries, sun cream and mosquito coils, water flasks, head torches, hiking boots, swimwear and flip flops come first, then the T-shirts, trousers and underwear get rolled up to fill in the gaps! We aim at 15 kg maximum weight because we really
do not want to carry more than that. The travelling is what we get a buzz from, so it needs to be enjoyable and manageable. We know we aren’t getting any younger! So, we have just weighed them and John’s rucksack weighs 15.8 Kg and mine weighs14.6 (his is a bigger rucksack, which is my excuse for shoving a few extra things in his bag)! Incredible isn’t it! Just three months ago we flew off to Cuba for the New Year’s holiday, with about 20 Kg of gear each. Ah, but we didn’t have to carry those cases! We both have small backpacks as well which can strap on to the rucksacks and used as hand luggage, for the precious things like cameras, binoculars and phones.
We cannot wait to get going now and start travelling and blogging. We have been asked in the past if we find the latter a chore but actually we both really enjoy doing the blogs. Since we don’t exactly hit the night scene when travelling, we find that sitting on a tropical veranda with a drink or two at the end of the day, sorting out which photos to publish and
reliving the day as we blog, is wonderful and gives us both great pleasure. We shall not do that in Brunei however, since public drinking is strictly illegal, even on private property, if visible from the street; we shall be prudent elsewhere also. So, this blog collection, as previous ones, will be written wherever we end up, maybe on shady cool tropical verandas or equally likely on beaches, in steaming hot rainforest, possibly on rickety buses, trains and boats and planes. It will be our way to capture the memories of experiences enjoyed and cultures glimpsed as we pass along the way.
First leg, however, takes us to comfort in England. Our sons Nick and Dan are our chauffeurs. Nick and Mam are taking us to the airport here in Spain and Dan and Lorna will be picking us up at Heathrow, so no rucksacks to carry yet! Five days then we are off!
“Hasta luego, España” (See you later, Spain)
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Sandra Fry
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Have fun
And enjoy.