Repeat after me: Bah nedity, Diple bah nedity.

Two weeks of unemployment and I’m burnt out. (Yes, I can hear your tiny violins playing from here.) Thanks to a week of non-stop goodbye dinners, lunches, drinks and brunches, we’re exhausted. Good thing we have the next year to recover.

But first a special shout out. Thank you Sarah, for not only putting a roof over our head for the last week but offering to get up a 5am to drive us to the airport. Someone buy this girl a drink for us. She is awesome.

Yes, it’s true we moved even further east for the last week. We had no choice; Sarah insisted and when Sarah insists you can’t say no. On the day we check out of our hotel, we were woken by the sound of jackhammers, so we were thankful that she insisted. In the words of Adrian, “we love you Sarah!”

So east we went but east we didn’t stay there all the time – after all as I said before, it’s hard to break a lifetime of living on the west side. Well, that and we still had lots of shopping and general housekeeping to do west of Yonge Street. We went to Bank A, Bank B, storage locker, Bank C, back to Bank A, MEC, storage locker, computer store, and finally, back to our storage locker one last time to drop off our winter coats.

And in between all the errands we managed to squeeze in a couple, actually five more going away events Now, before I continue, a warning. You may want to undo the top button before reading the rest of us this.

First was dinner and drinks with Loryl. And more attempts to convince her to join us somewhere before Russia (Phase 2). If you’re anywhere near her give her a little nudge for us.

There was Victoria and Jamie’s for mac ‘n’ cheese and board games. Thanks for dinner and letting us each win a game. And your gift will be much appreciated on many a airplane/bus/train/camel/boat/donkey ride.

Then Sonali and David’s for curry and drinks on the town for the boys and drinks in the house for the girls. Thanks to Sonali for the full tummy and leftovers. Thanks to Justine and Jack for the gift. And thanks to the lads for returning Adrian in one piece.

Oh and of course my family wanted an opportunity to stuff us as well – multiple times – and even more opportunities to express their apprehension over our trip. Please stop worrying; if you need to pay ransom, bail or hospital bills, Andrea has access to our banking. I’M JUST KIDDING, MOM. Honest, we’ll be fine and if we’re not we won’t tell you.

And finally there was a stop to see Liz and Graeme and little Leon. Not only did we get fed yet again but we received a very inspiration speech courtesy of Leon. His memorable words were: “gat bough irries... Da bah nedity… Diple bah nedity”. And let me tell you, wiser words have never been spoken. For those of you not fluent in the language of 2 year olds , Leon was quoting his current hero, Balu, of the Jungle Book who said “Forget about your worries. The bear necessities, the simple bear necessities.” And we’ve now adopted it as our mantra.

Especially as we began packing our bags. Soon they were as stuffed as we were after all those dinners and we weren’t even half done. Leon’s words were coming back to haunt us and not because it was the only thing he said to us all evening. So we slowly removed things from our pack, stripping everything down to just the bear, I mean, bare necessities. Finally, at 9pm the night before we left, the zippers on our bags closed. With that out of the way, we are finally able to forget about our worries and it’s all thanks to the diple bah nedity.

Moving on up to the east side to a deluxe apartment in the sky

That's right folks for the first time in our lives, we are moving east of Yonge Street. For you non-locals, let me explain. Ask any Torontonian; this is a big deal. If you grow up on one side of Yonge Street chances are, baring any extenuating circumstances, you stay on that side of Yonge Street. No idea why but it's the truth. But after 35 years, west of Yonge I'm making the move east. Sure it's only for 17 days but it's still a pretty big deal.

In order to get here, we had to purge our apartment of 1024 cds, 843 books, 165 dvds, 42 playstation games, and all our furniture. We did it. But through a combination of craigslist, donations to goodwill and the furniturebank.org we did it. And all our remaining worldy possessions now reside in a 5x10 storage unit. We made almost $3000 from our sales. And there were a few tears shed as we packed up.

But that means that tomorrow when we check into our temporary far east deluxe apartment in the sky, we'll truly be starting over with just the packs on our back.

So where are we now?

location: Toronto
departure: March 17, 2009
savings: $49,540
return fund: £7,455

To sell or not to sell that is the question?

With apologies to Shakespeare, the writer, not our cat.

To sell or not to sell, that is the question;
Whether 'tis better in the end to keep
The books and cds of our collection,
Or to take cash for our years of accumulation,
And by selling, end them. To read, to watch ;
No more; and by a sell to say we end
The possession and the thousand little joys
That collecting is heir to — 'tis a consumption
Devoutly to be wish'd. To read, to watch;
To listen, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,
For in the end of owning what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off on our trip,
Must give us pause.



This should also give you a warning about the tone of this post. Yes, it's time to get all nostalgic and sentimental. Since Christmas Eve, when Adrian and I brought home 14 rubbermaid bins, I've started the slow labourious process of packing. So far I've filled 8 bins of books, Adrian has filled 2 bins of comics and we've barely scratch the surface. That's besides the 7 bankers boxes of books and comics we've marked to sell.

I'm starting to wonder whether selling might be better. Those are hard words for this pack rat to type. By thinking of getting rid of the majority, I'm kinda questioning myself and that's not easy.

I've tried to be objective . The cost of storing versus the value of the objects. The cost of shipping versus the price for selling. Shipping estimates range from 3000-8000 dollars. Storing stuff costs about $100 per month. But those are inconclusive. Because there's another value that I place on what I own.

My name is Liz and I am a pack rat. Like most addictions there's a strong genetic factor (nature. nurture - take your pick). My parents suffer the same affliction. I don't know where they got it from or why they do it. I admit that I take pleasure in owning, organizing and accumulating. There's nothing like categorizing by subject matter, alphabetizing by author or artist, or dare I say chronological order. Yes - these things make me very happy. Maybe now you'll understand that to even contemplate getting rid of stuff, is contemplating a whole new way of thinking.

Yet, coming to the realization that I may be getting rid of a lot of it, is very appealing. To be free of all this stuff. To start afresh. It's all really freeing.

As I stare at the wall of cds, dvds, playstation games and bins of reading material that line our bowling alley/hallways, I wish I had some info to help with the decision. For example, where can I sell all this stuff that will give me the best money? And how much can I expect per piece? If you have any answers or suggestions, please leave them in a comment.

Or if you're looking for some new reading, listening or watching material or household stuff make me an offer. I'm sure eventually I won't be able to refuse.

Oh and finally. So where are we now?

location: Toronto

departure: March 17, 2009

travel fund: $49,200

return fund: £1810

Our savings goal has been essentially reached. So you'll notice a new addition to the tally. The return fund is just as important as our travel money. Because as much as we are loathe to admit it. We will have to come back to civilization one day 

Making a list checking it twice

a peek into my obsessive compulsive planning mind 

No this isn't a post full of the Christmas spirit. Rather this post is a list of lists. No, wait! Come back! Actually, I'd like to run too. 

We've entered the home stretch. Less than 3 months to go and so much to do, hence the lists. Lots of lists. 

But you've already seen the first one. The "Where are we going?" list. And that only took a year to compile. And it's only rev.7. 

The second list is medical. There's the list of doctors to visit. Travel Doc. Family Doc. Eye Doc. Dentist. 

Then there's the list of shots to get. And their prices. Oy-vey.

Yellow Fever - $75 - already have 

Typhoid - $30 - right before we leave

Hepetitis A - $120 - already have

Hepetitis B - $90 - first shot done, second shot due now, and the last shot we'll have to get on the road (the Doctor reco'ed Costa Rica as a good country to seek medical attention in)

Menengitis - $130 - right before we leave 

Flu Shot - FREE 

Japanese encephalitis - $270 - yikes, but not until we're getting ready to head to Asia. 

Between this and all the blood I've had taken, no wonder I'm feeling like a pin cushion, a very poor pin cushion. 

And let's not forget Malaria. Oh Malaria, we've never met and I already hate you. For the first year we'll be travelling in and out of at risk areas for the first 6 months and then solidly at risk for the next 6. That's a whole lot of medication to carry around - and let me tell you, it's not cheap. Malarone, the one with the least side effects and the most effective, is also the most expensive. That's about $20 a day for 365 days which means for the first time in 30 years I've written to Santa.

Dear Santa, 

I have been moderately good this year. For Christmas,  Adrian and I would like a year supply of Malarone. And if you can't afford the whole $6000 we'll take half of that. 

Thank you,

Liz.

P.S. I'll leave beer and peanuts out for you. 

Rather that visions of sugar plums dancing through our heads, it was dreams of a sugar daddy to pay the way. Good news. There is a cheaper drug option. Bad news. It's been known to cause severe depression, violence and hallucinations in a very small amount of people who take it. So let's hope my insurance covers the other one. If not, I'll give you the heads up before we start taking the cheaper option so you can take the appropriate cover. 

And if I wasn't feeling poor already, there's the third list. Packing. 

Yes, I have discovered despite an apartment full of crap, we still need (or want) so much stuff for our trip. It's a reminder of how much our lifestyle is going to change once we're on the road. 

There's the techie stuff:

laptop - $600 on craigslist - so I can update this silly little blog 

camera gear - $2000 and counting - so I can take purdy pictures

hard drive - $250 - so I can store all those purdy pictures

iPod - FREE with airmiles - for music and movies on long bus rides to nowhere

PSP - FREE with christmas present - so Adrian can be amused on long bus rides to nowhere

There's the clothing: 

I'll spare you the list this time (although if you really are interested, I've added links to my lists over there on the right under Odds and Ends). Even unfashion plates like us are struggling to come up with a year's wardrobe that fits in a small back pack. The key appears to be multipurpose clothes, i.e. pants that turn into shorts, sweaters that turn into vests, bras that turn into emergency flotation device. okay, I made that last one up but you get the idea. 

To the manufacturers of these travel clothes, I have a couple of complaints. Must everything be made of fleece? And have you not received the colours of '09 from Pantone? Or any of the last 10 years.  I don't recall hunter green, plaid, or tropical prints appearing in any of the swatches. I wish Fluevog made some footwear appropriate for jungle treks. 

And finally there's the travel gear, the things I've never had a use for in the last 35 years but have been assured by every resource that we'll need on the road: 

multitool - 100 tools in one, for only $75 

headlamps - for midnight trips to the loo, outhouse, hole in the ground

silk sleep sheets - for avoiding bedbugs and bugs in general, 2 for $50

portable clothesline - $10

travel towels - remarkably like a sham-wow (without the creepy sales guy) 2 for $50

compass - hoping to find a dollar store keychain one with a thermometer

universal drain plug - ?

and... 

What am I doing here? What are you doing here? It's Christmas and there's turkey leftovers to pick at, sentimental movies to cry over, alcohol to drink, cakes to snack on, family to fight with and presents to return. 

See you in 2009 with (hopefully) less lists and more fun. I better put that promise down on my to do list before I forget.

Edit: Good news Malarone is covered by my insurance. New eyeglasses and contacts however are not. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. 

"I love it when a plan comes together"

- Col. Hannibal Smith, The A Team.

View Larger Map

If people could be classified as one of the A Team, I would say I was Col. Hannibal Smith with a dash of BA Barcus. My friend Cheryl is a bit more like Murdoch, loveable but slightly, um, well how do you say it - insane. She's the delusional one who is convinced that Vancouver is a nice place. And she's also a crazy lady that demand I post more often even though I'm not convinced I have much to say at the moment.  See, told you she was crazy. 

The biggest news to report is the new map up above and to the right. It's all new complete with multi-coloured route markers - ooooo, aaaaahhhh - that show the new itinerary we've decided on. After my momentary panic of what to do and where to go I think I've figured it out (well for now at least). So here's what we've got so far.

Central America:

Southern Mexico: 3 weeks

Belize: 2 weeks

Guatemala: 3 weeks

Honduras: 3 weeks

Nicaragua: 3 weeks

Costa Rica: 2 weeks

Panama: 2 weeks

South America: 

Ecuador: 3 weeks

Peru: 3 weeks

Bolivia: 3 weeks

Chile: 3 weeks

Argentina: 5 weeks

Paraguay: 1 week

Brazil: 5 weeks

Africa: 

South Africa: 4 weeks

Lesotho: 1 week

Namibia: 3 weeks

Zambia: 2 weeks

Malawi: 3 weeks

Tanzania: 6 weeks

Rwanda: 2 weeks

Uganda: 2 weeks

and then

Ethiopia and beyond.

And that's where the dots on the map stop. Not because that will be the end of our travels. I hope not. But because that's as far as I'm allowing myself to plan at the moment. And by planning I mean, filling in an excel spreadsheet that looks a lot like a day planner. We still hope to carry on travelling on into Asia via Russia. But there's no need to get ahead of ourselves (that's a note more for me than you btw).

As it is, I've already been collecting tonnes of hostel, tour and adventure links in my del.icio.us profile. You can check them out there. Yes, I'm a bit of a freak when it comes to planning.

Another list I've started is things I'd like to do. This trip is completely selfish for me, in the sense that it's all about trying things I want to do. Here's a list of the top 10 in no particular order.

1. Learning to scuba dive in Honduras
   
2. Seeing the Galapagos
   
3. Seeing Easter Island
   
4. Getting competent in Spanish (and revive my French)
   
5. Taking the slow boat through the glaciers of Chile and Argentina
   
6. Cage diving for sharks in South Africa
   
7. Searching for gorillas in Rwanda
   
8. Climbing Kilimanjaro
   
9. Seeing the big 5 on safari (although I'm sure I'd settle for 1 out of the 5)
   
10. Experiencing the world with Adrian
    

Out of these 10, the closest to being ticked off is the language thing. I've been teaching myself Spanish off and on for about a year. And how's it going? You tell me.

Puedo hacer los phrases basicas. Y puedo leer despacio los libros sin el diccionario. Pero hablo muy malo. ¿Verdad? 

Well, I'm working on it, okay. I've finished my intro spanish tapes, I mean mp3s. I'll soon finish my beginner's book before I undertake the first year MIT spanish course. So hopefully I'll improve before I have to put it into practice.

As for the other things on the list, some of them are pretty crazy and I'm not even sure if I'll actually go through with them. But if I do, I hope Cheryl doesn't mind if I start classifying myself as crazy Murdoch. 

And with that it's time for an update ( I actually first posted this without it).

So where are we now?

location: Toronto, Canada

ETD: March 15, 2009

savings: $36,498

I know this priceless antique says 25¢ but how about a nickel

(not our car boot sale but close enough, thank you wiki)

People are cheap. That's all you need to know about garage/yard/lawn/church/car boot sales.

Oh and that they're a helluvalotta work. We spent two weeks of scouring the apartment for things to sell then polishing, scrubbing and cleaning the crap to make it look good, pricing it way below the 30% what we paid for it, and packing it all up to survive the trip to the sale in one piece. Then loaded up the van the night before for the trip out to a park in the almost burbs.

And this was just for stuff we couldn't be bothered to list on ebay or craigslist: vases, vhs, books, junk jewelry, children's toys, kitchen crap, assorted small appliances, as well as a couple of things we just wanted to get rid of, like mismatched speakers, an air conditioner, our 100lb tv with reception issues, and a box or two of magazines and comics.

Oh and did I mention we're on the third floor of the walkup. My body aches just thinking about it.

But sell we did. Not a lot and not the things we expected. VHS tapes and ugly jewelry were a hot commodity. While books and and any nice looking or valuable knickknacks weren't. I sold a dirty table cloth but not Royal Daulton crystal wine glasses (2 for $15). So I give up.

And after 4 hours of the sale we had made $245.

More than the $150 I wanted just to make it worth while but less than the $350 I was hoping for. And after the van rental, gas and parking ticket, our net was more like $175.

We dropped off the worthless stuff at goodwill as well as the heavy tv that we almost killed us to carry. We kept about 4 boxes of stuff to try again at a later date or keep.

So where are we now?

location: Toronto
savings: $30,175
ETD: March 15, 2009 (or earlier)

(and it's time to start thinking happy thoughts for Adrian - his current contract finishes Oct 3 and he'll need a new one)

Picture perfect

It's the long weekend so I've been using the time to scan old pictures from the prehistoric days of film cameras and upload them to our flickr page. Feel free to have a poke around there. 

Thankfully (or not) there aren't as many photos from these earlier trips. I used to take photos as punctuation now I use them like narrative. Don't know if this new way is better. 

Just this week, I was having a conversation with a co-worker about people's facebook photos. Craig hates vacation photos. He says he prefers memories to pictures. I totally agree, especially when travelling. It's important to put the camera down and pick the brain up and remember to experience not just document. 

Unfortunately, I take pictures because I like taking pictures. A lot. So I'm constantly trying to keep the snap happy part of my brain contented while remembering to experience stuff. It's probably why I'm so torn about what camera to bring with me. I have a 4 year old point and shoot digital that has done me very well. It's been to Moscow, India, South East Asia, the UK, France, the US and Canada. However I know it's getting old. So before we go I will probably want to get a new one. So I get a fancy schmancy DSLR and try to take much better photos (snap happy says yes)? Or do I get a new and improved point and shoot digital? (traveller says please)?

When we get closer to leaving, I'm sure how much stuff we have will help make the decision. Adrian already wants to take his PSP. I just got a new 160GB iPod (free using my airmiles). And I'm also contemplating buying a laptop. So more gear seems kinda dumb at this point. 

Plus there's the money issue. All this stuff costs money and will we have it? 

So where are we now?

location: Toronto

savings: $12,200

ETD: November 15, 2008

Getting into the 5 figures feels good - we're officially more than 20% there.