Assembling the things I will take makes my trip more deliciously real. It seems I actually AM going to South East Asia. Yikes! What will I need? What will I want? What have I learned from last year’s tour of India?
Take my own scrunchilicious down pillow. I’m not a great sleeper so a little home comfort will help.
Check my luggage. I won’t have to carry it far once I’m on the tour: hotel to bus and back is about it. Besides, my liquids won’t fit into the small plastic bag allowance. I’m taking two GoToobs of sunblock and have been instructed by Road Scholar to bring insect repellent which together put me past the carry-on limit. GoToobs, available at my travel store on West Broadway and at Mountain Equipment Co-op, are a 21st century miracle. They do not leak, no matter what, and they are soft and squeezable unlike many travel containers.
Bring a hat. I am not a hat person and my thick crop of white sun-reflecting hair usually wards off sunstroke. But the forecast for Bangkok sent me scurrying to the Tilley store for a ruched hat that combines coverage with the least unattractive look once upon me.
Don’t skimp on camera technology. I am bringing a digital SLR with an 18-55 mm lens, a 70-300 mm lens (a Christmas gift from my older sister) and a polarizer for the telephoto lens (a gift from my younger sister). Is there a message here? Are my previous photos the pits? Ha ha, I hope! I am also bringing my little point-and-shoot camera for video, a technology I loved using in India.
Don’t skimp on computer technology. Travelpod provides an excellent free online blog site, but it is finicky. Adobe flash is required to insert photos into the text of the blog (rather than lining them up at the bottom) and the iPad doesn’t support Adobe flash. This time I am bringing my PC netbook as well as my iPad (which is superior for photo management) so I won’t have to prowl the halls of the hotel in search of a desktop computer in the middle of the night. What the heck, I’m not travelling light so I might as well REALLY not travel light!
Don’t be such a slob. Bring a few things to wear that are one or two degrees dressier than daytime touring clothes. I envied the clever people on my last tour who were able to dress up a tad for the evening. Yes, Carol and Val, I’m talking about you!
Tomorrow: Vancouver – Tokyo – Bangkok. 19 hours of flying with a quick one-hour layover in Narita Airport in Tokyo. Next post from Bangkok!
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