There have been exactly 3 responses I have received from people upon them hearing about our trip: 1. "Wow, FOUR MONTHS?" 2. "Where are you going? and 3. "How do you pack for four months?" So, let's get this over with once and for all :)
Yes, four entire months! We can't believe it either. If you are interested in how this came about, check out Raj's entry.
We have a mostly loose itinerary. We are starting with spending about 3 weeks in Chile including Santiago, horseback riding in Patagonia, and trekking in the Torres del Paine National Forest. Then we will spend about 10 days in Argenina including Ushuaia (southern most city in the world), Buenos Aires, Iguaza Falls, and hopefully some their wineries. Then we hop over to New Zealand where we will rent a car and drive through both islands for 27 days. After NZ, we go to Hong Kong, China and Tibet for a total of 30 days; we are working with a tour agency to help us with this portion of the trip so it is the only part that is set more or less in stone. Then, our current plan is to spend about a week in Japan, a week in Thailand, and finally, a week in London to see Raj's family (timing works out to celebrate Maha's 16th birthday AND help her get dressed for her prom! We return the 1st or 2nd of July - Raj returns to work on the 6th!
While still partly in disbelief that I will actually be gone for four months, I am currently going through a dizzying whirlwind trying to pack for not only the length of time, but also the likelihood that we will experience all four seasons as well as city travel, trekking, horseback riding and light camping!
I recognize that there is really no way to be totally prepared and perfectly packed for this trip. I also realize that I will likely be able to find 99% of what I might need and can make due with or without anything in particular. Yet, I find myself running errand after errand, shopping online, reading reviews, making returns, breaking in new hiking boots, trying on new clothes/raincoat, packing up my bag to make sure stuff fits and is lightweight enough. And then when I'm not doing any of these things, I am still thinking about whether I got the right bag, what is currently in my bag and what could be taken out to lighten the load and what I might want to bring instead. Constantly. All day. Either in my head, or in actualilty, I am packing. So, to answer the question officially, I have no freaking clue how to pack for four months!!!
Surely, once I'm actually on this trip, I will have much more interesting posts than this regarding packing...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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once you arrive at your first destination, you will wonder what all the fuss was about with the packing...ive watched you the past few days....so far i see you doing everything right....i.e you have researched ahead and thought about what you may need and you are following the golden rule, "packing light"! cant wait for you guys to leave so i can follow you on your fasinating world tour via your blogg!! roll on monday.... su
ReplyDeleteMust be nice. Me? I am just worried if I will have a job tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIguazu- make sure you see both sides, the Argentinean side and the brazilian side. both phenomenal! pack and then take 3/4 out, or you can always mail stuff back.
ReplyDeletecan't wait to hear all about it!
Tova & Raj,
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for your upcoming adventure. When exactly are you leaving? I plan to follow blog posts the whole way. I will post more later.
Take care, Krista
It would be interesting to see a general list of some of the key items that you brought. For example, what bags did you settle on?
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