How to Get Lost

It’s 8:21am. I’m at the office I have little to do, having transferred the majority of my work to others. Twenty-four hours from now, I’ll be in Seattle.

None of it seems like it’s really going to happen.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been moving at what seems like light speed for months — moving so fast that I’ve missed details, forgotten to handle things I’d promised to others, focused too much on certain things that didn’t need as much. I suppose it’ll all seem real when I see Amy tomorrow, and realize that within a week, we’ll be standing in Red Square.

Lots of people have asked me: am I excited? To be honest, I’m not. I should be, but the excitement I should be feeling is completely overwhelmed by the apprehension of leaving Alex behind. I have pictures, and I have a phone card. But it’s just going to be hard. I’m going to miss her terribly.

It’s my last day before leaving. I blinked, and the day is almost here.

Amy tackled this problem a week ago. This time, it’s my turn. I decided not to do it the night before, though, since that’s a bit of a risk.

Here’s everything I’m trying to take:

Detailed as follows:

• 1 towel
• 3 shirts
• 1 pairs zip-off pants
• 1 bathing suit
• 1 pair sandals
• 3 pairs socks
• 5 pairs undies
• 1 pair long underwear
• 1 hat
• 7 books (5 travel books)
• 1 deck of cards
• 1 bottle shampoo
• 1 bottle conditioner
• 1 box bandaids
• 1 toothbrush
• 1 tube of toothpaste
• nail clippers
• 2 bars soap
• 1 box Contac-C
• laundry soap
• dental floss
• 2 tins mint ginger tea (for nausea)
• ~80 bags jasmine tea
• 1 thermos
• 4 boxes instant soup (condensed to two boxes)
• 1 Nalgene cantene
• 1 flashlight
• 1 Leatherman
• 1 pocketknife (for the corkscrew)
• 1 roll duct tape (the non-shiny kind)
• 1 universal electrical adapter/transformer
• 6 garbage bags
• 1 extension cord (in case we need to plug more than one thing in)
• 1 journal
• 1 Minolta XGM 35mm SLR camera
• 1 Minolta X370 35mm SLR camera
• 1 50mm Minolta MD lens
• 1 28-80mm Vivitar MD lens
• 1 80-200mm Vivitar MD lens
• 1 Vivitar flash
• 2 polarizing filters
• 1 red filter
• 54 rolls of 200 ASA Fuji colour film
• 11 rolls of 125 ASA Ilford black and white film

The rest, I’m wearing!

So, on my first packing, I got it all in.

And that’s everything, including my camera-cum-day pack. It can come out as well:

I’m very curious to see how long it takes for it to start lightening up…

I’m almost done my “to do” list. At this point, I can now leave the continent without fear of missing something. But I do want to knock off the two last nasty things for peace of mind and security.

Not really sure if I need the batteries for the X370, though…

• Mongolian visa
• 50 rolls 200 ASA film, 10-15 rolls b&w (speed TBD)
• Get camera back from repair
• Traveller’s cheques
• Arrange to have house checked regularly
• Change emergency call numbers for security system
• 62mm polarized filter
• Dig out zip off pants and sandals from storage
• Buy roll of duct tape
• Put together first aid kit
• Photocopy credit cards, passport, visas, and other important documents
• Get cash in euros, and $US
• Pay taxes
• New batteries for X370
• Timers for the lights in my house
• Get new deodorant (Amy will appreciate this)
• Buy universal electrical socket adapters
• Buy additional travel insurance (not as covered as I thought I was)

I knew Google had us buried away in its index, but it’s taken a while for someone to find the site through a search engine. I watch the referrer list, just to see what draws people here. The first one was a search for Mongolian visas for Canadians.

No doubt, there are more to follow!