Today is official "pack up my crap" day at work. Not everyone knows of my departure, so I've gotten some interesting inquiries and looks. Yet, no one seems to want to ask the obvious question - after nearly 3 years, why have I chosen today to suddenly get my office surprisingly sparse? While we do make tracking software, we don't run a PI firm... obviously.

Passports still haven't arrived. Robin has resourcefully come up with some way to get himself back into Canada Wednesday morning, and it doesn't involve jumping from a plane or floating on a piece of driftwood. Get this - if he wants to get his passport traced, then it gets removed from the normal process and is delayed. Leave it to the Socialists to come up with that great scheme.

We made a monster pre-departure to do list this weekend. Robin is encouraging us to go as light as possible. Apparently, taking multiple hand bag and shoe combinations for every possible occasion is not going light. And, the mosquito net is going back to Sports Basement. He sanctioned my desire to take multiple changes of underwear - thankfully. When viewing our pictures, please don't look at our attire to distinguish one day from the next.

I bought a travel money belt this weekend. The average traveler must be very large because the waist on this belt fits around my waist twice, and that's not even in it's extended state. I've heard of one size fits all, but this is ridiculous.

Our last travel book, "The Rough Guide to Australia," arrived today, despite a target arrival date of the end of this week and beginning of next (yes, I cut it close). Perhaps the passport agency can learn a few things from Amazon.com. Despite our desire to travel light, we'll probably both bring along a book for pleasure reading and TP back-up. Any suggestions?

My passport has not arrived. I'm not particularly surprised. Robin's passport has not arrived either. At least we're in the same situation.

There was some risk of delaying the trip due to my work commitments. Looks like that won't be an issue any longer. However, we are starting to consider a "Plan B" given our missing passports, and I don't mean the Plan B used on the show "The Practice." By the way, our return date is set as Monday, December 23.

My left arm continues to feel weird as the Hep A vaccine courses through my body. I swallowed the Typhoid pill and didn't throw up! Jeff brought me some antimalarials left over from a trip he took. THANKS JEFF! The kind he used is for South American malaria. We'll bring them anyway to use as a treatment in case one of us gets malaria. As a second means of preventing malaria, I purchased a tent-type mosquito net. You put it over your bed or sleeping bag, and the fine mesh keeps the critters out. Robin doesn't seem sold on the idea, but I attract mosquitoes like crazy, so I may bring it along anyway. I also purchased this chemical that you spray onto clothes and sleepwear. Unlike DEET, the chemical repells insects for 2 weeks.

On a related note, in my recent trip to Yosemite's Camp 4 with Peter Howley, the man who introduced me to the fun of Washington DC rooftop Karaoke while inebriated, we got to chatting with a rock climbing couple from the South Bay. The "she" in the couple (so I can't remember her name, but I do remember the following series of facts) works in the camping department of the REI in Saratoga. She said that DEET works by burning the legs off of insects. They obviously don't care for that stinging feeling of their appendages evaporating, so they leave the DEET wearer alone. While it's fine and good to avoid insect bites, what is this stuff doing to my body when I wear it? Is my skin slowly burning away? She suggested slathering on sunscreen then DEET so the chemical isn't directly on the skin. I'm bringing along a 40% DEET solution, so if I return with no appendages, hopefully I will have also avoided malaria.

In terms of itinerary, the key decisions we have to make are whether to travel up to Chiang Mai in Thailand (it's quite a haul, and it seems that it's worth while only if doing a trek) and whether to go to Laos (we've heard mixed reviews of "awesome" to "not worth it at all"). If you've been to either of these places, please send me your thoughts. We also have to finalize when we're going to New Zealand and Australia. And, I have to try to fit in a side trip to see my good friends in the Philippines. It turns out that 11 weeks really isn't much time at all!

This morning, I visited the Adult Immunization Clinic on Grove and Polk. Go there for all of your immunization needs! Thank you to Mark Peters, a recent traveler to SE Asia and different from Mark Hinkle, the host of this site, for the tip. I called around to a handful of clinics and found Hep A shots ranged from $75 - $100. The clinic charged $42. Typhoid shots were $75 - $80 elsewhere. I got the oral Typhoid vaccine (5 years of protection versus 2 and protection against both strains of Typhoid versus 1) for $55. And, the nurse was nice. There was no $35 charge for a consultation. And my arm doesn't even hurt much. A top notch experience.

I told the nurse that my doctor (a.k.a. quack from here on out) laughed when I mentioned getting immunized for Typhoid. "Typhoid. No one gives a Typhoid immunization. I don't think the immunization is even available anymore. You don't need it." Well, it's alive and kicking in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. I decided on the oral version for the reasons mentioned above. Apparently, it causes nausea, so they recommend that you take it on an empty stomach before bed so you sleep through the nausea...or ruin my 400 thread count sheets?!?! In fact, they will replace one of the 4 pills if you throw it up. The trick for me will be to swallow it whole (I have issues, ok?) and to not eat for 3 hours. No food for 3 hours - the drug manufacturers must be crazy!

In other news, the departure date on the trip may be postponed due to a potential work obligation. I have requested a leave of absence, with my last day of work being Friday, October 4, 2002, just 2 days before my departure. It now turns out that there may be a meeting in New York on October 4. Of course, I'm being kept in the dark about the meeting, but this is what I hear. As part of the consideration of whether I may return to work upon my return to the country, I was told that I had to neatly wrap up everything, which explicitly included attending this meeting and incorporating any information gained from the meeting into the hand off documents. So, limited readership, in the inquisitive words of Big Audio Dynamite (it was them, wasn't it?), "Should I stay or should I go?"

Correction: Mark Hinkle, as opposed to Mark Peters or Mark Kadlec (Robin's climbing partner who did a similar trip last year), informed me that the lyrics are from a song performed by The Clash. Yet, he preserved my ego by informing me that the lead singer from The Clash left to start Big Audio Dynamite.

By the way, still no sign of my passport. Robin's is also MIA, though the Canadian government is to blame.

Mark has generously agreed to host this awesome site so I can share details of my upcoming adventures. THANK YOU MARK - YOU ROCK!

I will be leaving San Francisco on Sunday, October 6, 2002 for 11 weeks of travel in Southeast Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. I've spent my free time during the past few weeks researching immunizations, travel advisories, itineraries using United's saver awards, places to visit, things to do, items to bring... It's tough planning a trip of this length of time on a shoestring budget.

Thus far, I have yet to receive my passport back from the government. I just needed some pages added. It was full from all those trips between the Philippines and Hong Kong when I briefly lived in the region. You'd think it would be as easy as stapling in some sheets of scrap paper, but the US government has managed to make a mountain out of a mole hill, of course. I had listed my departure date as September 25, thinking that would light a fire under someone's ass. Instead, it probably pissed some guy off that I wanted my passport back in just a month's time, so who knows where it is at the moment? As long as I have it by October 5. There isn't anything I can do about it at this point, so I wait, impatiently.

As for other preparations, I need to get immunizations for Hep A, Hep B, and Typhoid. Of course, I'm supposed to get these at least a month before departing, and I have yet to get any of them. I've been trying to get insurance to pay, but it takes time for requests to be rejected. In the process, I did learn that my cholesterol is surprisingly low, given my dietary habits. I have "textbook perfect ear drums." That I mysteriously get light headed and am constantly hungry and have experienced odd weight fluctuations can be due to any number of things and was of no concern to the one doctor I found on Yahoo Yellow Pages who could see me prior to my departure. He also trivialized the risk of Typhoid, saying no one ever gives that immunization, despite the CDC warnings. He was unaware of doxycycline as an anti-malarial, and he was prepared to write me a prescription for an anti-malarial with significant hallucinogenic side effects that is no longer effective in Asia. Thankfully, I had researched my malaria meds ahead of time and was able to tell him what I wanted prescribed.

I've also been considering what to bring with me for this extended trip. I visited one of my favorite places - the North Face Outlet. Again, I was prepared with knowledge of certain backpacks I have been eyeing. I managed to impress the store manager who offered me a job upon my return.

As for the itinerary, United is probably tired of spending hours on the phone with me. Thus far, I have paid for tickets flying into Singapore and doing a stopover in Hong Kong on the way back. I have another reservation for the Bangkok to New Zealand to Sydney and back route that I have to pay for by the beginning of next week. Everyday on MUNI and every evening, I read more and more of the Lonely Planet book on Southeast Asia. I have the outline of an itinerary to run by Robin, who is in Oregon conquering various climbing problems. More details to come.

Thanks for reading my first entry!