Pack It Up, Move It Out!!

Finally, everything is all packed up. Yes, everything except for our phone and the computers. (duh! how could I be blogging if my compy was boxed up???) Oh, and the mattress. But still, everything else is dealt with.

On Tuesday morning, Froody measured out a 5'X10' area in our living room to represent the smallest storage space we might need and as boxes got full we put them in our "storage area". Everything else we didn't want went in our "give away" mound or in the garbage/recycling. When about half our stuff was packed we did have about half our "storage area" free, so we went down to Ventura yesterday and paid for a 5'x10' unit for 12 months. Yes, that's 12 flippin' months.

Oh! we did manage to sell a few things: a PlayStation w/games, my spare dive equipment, our weight set.

Now the pressure's on. The moving truck arrives tomorrow at 2:30pm and we only have it for 3 hours (not including transit time, thank goodness). And it's only the two of us since all our friends are working and not on yearlong vacations like us. (ha!) For everything else the plan is to invite strangers into the apartment and take what they want, cheap as free. You are more than welcome to check it out, too. It'll be in Craig's List by tomorrow afternoon/evening. I know that Froody will be much more relaxed Saturday night when everything is finally done and gone!

With everything boxed up there is nothing left for me to wear but my travel gear. It's weird to be living out of my backpack already when we haven't even left town yet. And after tonight we'll be sleeping in our sleep silks. Hopefully our neighbors will have some sort of padding we can borrow for the night.

Gosh, at first it seemed like this trip would never get here. Now it's just around the corner but we can't enjoy it until we finish this last chore.

What to Wear

Remember your last vacation and all the stuff you brought with you for that one or two weeks? (Or weekend, if you pack like my aunt Marie.) How many shirts and blouses, pairs of shorts, shoes(s), undies, layers for when you got too hot or too cold? How your boyfriend/husband reminded you that you can only check 2 bags and bring one carry-on? And now you're thinking, "Sheesh, if I traveled for one year, what would I bring??"

What we're packing for this trip seems to be a common puzzle amongst you all. Even my father, a clotheshorse himself, after a recent visit said "Wow, how are you going to catch a plane or a train with 10 bags each?" You should have seen his face when we told him we're only packing one bag each. Yup. one. bag.

According to our First-Time Around the World book, there are two ways to look at dressing: stay in the same town and change clothes everyday or wear the same clothes and just change towns. Actually, I'm looking forward to it. :-)

So, now that I'm about all packed (that way whatever is left laying around the apartment can safely get boxed up or tossed out), I will finally share with you what I'm bringing. Froody and I are pretty much following this packing list. You're supposed to be able to stuff all this into one bag. Speaking of which, this is my bag. I got it in black.

And now, The What I'm Packing list!
* 2 skirts - I bought this one in black and another brand in khaki
* 2 pairs of pants- one black pair of Isis capris and one khaki pair of Gramicci pants that can be rolled up into capri-length pants
*2 long-sleeve button up travel shirts- you know the kind; not this brand; one white and one dark brown
*2 technical t-shirts- i.e. wrinkle resistant, quick-drying, and wicking
*3 spaghetti strap tops with shelf bras- black, white, and blue
*4 pairs of quick-drying, wicking, travel underwear- Ex Officio
*3 sports-type bras- from Ex Officio- love their underwear!!!
*1 umbrella
*1 packable rain jacket
*1 lightweight fleece jacket
*1 set long underwear- quick-drying pants and top
*1 sarong
*2 bandannas- one bug repellent and one regular
*bunch of ouchless bands for my hair
*1 pair fingerless gloves (handknit by me, of course)
*2 hats- one sun and one woolly knit
*2 pairs shoes- active sandals by Keen and flip-flops
*2 bathing suits- one black bikini (hellz yes!) and one old Speedo racing suit (conservative)
*1 sleep silk
*1 uber-towel
*1 toothbrush and floss

What a list! And this all fits in my one bag. I still have a few more things to pack, like my personal address book, some reading material, tampons, deodorant, etc. And don't get me started on my knitting! I haven't quite decided on what needles to bring. I am going to start on a small project- a pair of black wool handwarmers for Froody. I figure by the time I finish them we'll be in Turkey for the fall. I'm hoping to break the ice with locals and other travelers by knitting.

WTPF?

(In order to "get" the very-very-inside joke, click here. You need to click on the "trailer" and "deleted scene #3".)

Anyway, I guess it's about time to write stuff down, explore some feelings, and move on.

Part of me is wondering why are we going on this trip. I dunno why I'm asking myself this question. It's surfaced in my brain a few times and I've managed to push it away (I'm good at that) but I think it's time to get real, be honest, and find an answer.

Really, I don't know why. I fell in love with traveling when I went to Spain for a summer when I was 16. I tried all sorts of different foods, saw bunches of different things, and met different types of people and really liked it. So, I guess those are some reasons why I'm for traveling around the world: new experiences.

Another good thing about this trip is that it'll shake up my life a bit. I am expecting to be pushed out of my comfort zone several times at least. I've gotten too comfortable with my little life and my routines and this trip will break down a few walls.

Part of me is afraid, too. We haven't planned every detail, which I know is a good thing. We'll be spending a long time in countries where we don't speak the language and where we'll be prey for low-lifes. However, I'm also hoping this trip will support my faith in the human race and that we'll encounter way more nice, helpful people than dangerous ones. Way, way more. I hope am sure.

Curiously, I'm not all that worried about getting sick or hurt.

***Edit***Oh, looks like there's tons of people out there giving out all sorts of reasons why we should travel. Check out this site for your own inspiration.

Isn't this what I said? Only they said it better, of course.

No cars!

Needing to perform normal errands (post office, grocery store, coffee) without a car has required a paradigm shift. It made me realize how dependent we (especially here in America/California) are on our cars.

Right after the car was sold I thought, "Oh, now I need to go to the bank and deposit the money. Hmmm...I should also get some groceries...What the...Oh, yeah, no car." Luckily I live in a smallish town where everything is within walking distance and if I need to get to the bigger town of Santa Barbara there's always the bus.

It was an opportunity for seeing how we'll be living for the next 12 months. We may rent a car every once in a while, but mostly we'll be relying on buses, trains, taxis, etc. And walking, of course.

Which is what I did. I walked all over town and bought a cheap granny cart for groceries. It definitely slows down your life's pace.

However, some friends of ours lent us a car for the next couple of weeks which is good considering our 80 lb pig that we're planning to roast is way too big for the granny cart and way too weird to take on a bus. In America, anyway.

My First Adventure

According to dictionary.com, an adventure is:
–noun
1. an exciting or very unusual experience.
2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.
3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

And that about sums up how I feel about selling my car. Someone is on their way right now to see it and maybe buy it. It has been unsettling for me to have strangers call and email me, all asking me questions about my car. :-( I was hoping to sell it to someone I know, but since there are many more strangers than friends looking for cars it stands to reason that I'd be dealing with strangers.

Of course, I worry about it:
What if they rip me off?
What if my car drops dead as soon as they leave my driveway?
What if I die of embarrassment?

Then another voice in my head pipes in: Sheesh! Settle down. You're letting your imagination run away with you. Everything will be alright.

OK, OK,-Teh ITINERARY

We're leaving soon. Oh, I mean, OMG WE'RE LEAVING SOON. 21 MORE DAYS IN CALI.!!!1!!!

Here is our trip!
*Paris, France (Here I come, Eiffel Tower!!)
*Bavaria, Germany (Can you say "beer" and "dessert"?)
*Tanzania (Lions and elephants and giraffes, oh my!)
*Malawi (swimming in the 9th largest lake in the world!)
*Mozambique (Snorkeling with whale sharks!)
*Egypt (O. M. G. Can you see me on a camel? With the pyramids? Smoking a hookah?)
*Jordan (staying away from Israel and Saudi Arabia)
*Syria (Damascus, anyone?)
*Turkey (Wearing a fez? Eating baklava?)
*India (Curry! Himalayas! More people than you can shake a stick at!)
*Thailand (Tasty food!)
*Cambodia/Viet Nam (I don't even know what to expect here. Rice paddies? Angkor Wat?)
*China
*Japan
*Indonesia
*New Zealand (All of these in bold are so far in the future we don't even know what we're doing or what to expect.)

Leaving = Dead?

Since I'm leaving I've asked my principal, assistant principal, and temporary AP for letters of rec. I want to be prepared for my return, and I want to get them to write the letter now while my stunning performance is still in their memories.

So I got to read 3 letters about me. Praising my work, my ethic, my professionalism, my classroom management techniques. Basically, I gots the skillz to pay da billz.

So, here are some people saying all this wonderful stuff, like in a eulogy, and I've been thinking how sad it is that no one gets to hear these things until they are dead (and, by definition, can't hear them).

I'm not dead, but I'm leaving for ever which is like being dead, and sometime in the future someone will say, "Remember when Mrs. Newsome said/did XYZ?" and people will smile, chuckle, and wonder.

Dead to Me

I just killed our microwave. It couldn't have happened at a better time. I was steaming a spaghetti squash in it (like I always do) when it just *phhttzz* died.

I'm glad, because it'll keep my husband from trying to give it away to someone. It was pretty rusty underneath the rotating plate. Ah, I loved that microwave. I think it deserves a pome.

Ode to My Microwave

Minutes
Inside
Creates
Round and round
On
Wavy glass
And
Voila
Eat!

Gettin' Ready--Ready to Shop!

I understand that most travel blogs (at least, the ones I’ve read) start out with some sort of itinerary or budget or savings plan, but I’m going to start with the shopping!

Froody (my husband) and I are planning on living out of our backpacks for a year, and that requires special clothing. For me, anyway. That means buying clothes that: dry quickly, wrinkle resistant, can be layered, multi-season, don’t show too much dirt or shout out “lookie me, I’m an American tourist,” are very light, and pack small. These are qualities I never consider when buying regular clothing so when I started shopping and trying on things I discovered something- clothes that fit the criteria are mainly browns and make me look like a complete dork. :-( Srsly. very frumpy. and not cute. (For the record, my husband’s travel wardrobe is the same- very brown. Two shades of brown in fact.)

I was bemoaning this with a friend, afraid I would have to suck it up, bear down, and make an adjustment, when she said it’s important that I feel good during our travels, otherwise all I’ll be thinking of in the middle of all these amazing places is how bleh I look.

Luckily, there must have been other women who felt the same because quite a few companies make nice-looking travel clothes that don’t wrinkle, etc., etc. And, I’m not the sort of woman who needs lots of different outfits. Just a couple of pieces that can be mixed n’ matched: a black polyester skirt (old one I’ve had for years), white and blue tank tops, light greeny-stripey short sleeved shirt, olive green clamdiggers.

That oughtta do it! I tried on the stripey top with the clamdiggers and even my hubby thought I looked cute. :-)