Clearing Out & Going Away

I spent this weekend clearing out my bedroom, hauling most of my belongings to Goodwill and storing some of them at my dad's place.

I'm getting down to bare bones — check out this emptiness.

Since I sold my desk chair ($5, even though I originally dragged it off the street for free), I can compute in bed without feeling too lazy. : )

I'm very happy with the amount of stuff I've gotten rid of versus the amount of stuff I'm keeping. It was tough to part with some items at first, but as I sold and gave away more and more, the easier it became.

The key question was: What is replaceable?

Photos and letters from loved ones are not, and I've kept those neatly bundled together in a plastic storage bin. Clothes, furniture and random trinkets, on the other hand, hold no meaning for me, and someone else will find them much more useful if I pass them along.

I'm also happy with the money I've brought in from selling stuff to friends, to thrift stores and on Craigslist — more than $1,000!

• Furniture: $550
• Clothing: $164
• Miscellaneous: $305

Now I just have to finish cleaning up and clearing out of the townhouse today and tomorrow. I'll miss this place, but I'm also excited to move forward!

LAST HURRAH

I had a little going-away gathering Saturday night, which seemed to come out of nowhere. How did it get to be time for that??

First, my closest girlfriends put together a Mexican feast of tacos, rice, beans and Coronas. Delish.

I requested this just so my friend Gillian would make her amazing guacamole, and it totally worked.

Later, we met up with more friends and enjoyed more beers at a few bars in Fremont. It was a laid-back, low-key night, which was exactly what I wanted. 

I loved being able to catch up with — and, sniff, say goodbye to — some of my very favorite people.

The good times and goodbyes continued on Sunday with a visit to John Howie Steak in Bellevue. My friend Amy told me I must experience the happy hour burger and Beecher's mac and cheese before I leave, and I was all too happy to oblige.

It was incredible. I could happily drown in that mac and cheese.

There may have been some deep-fried bacon involved. It wasn't my idea, but I didn't fight it, either!

My only problem is that I have a bunch of food in my fridge, freezer and pantry that I need to use up, but people keep insisting on taking me out to delicious meals. Take Friday's lunch that I shared with Meg at Poquitos in Capitol Hill, for example.

Man, it's just such a tough dilemma. How will I ever manage? : )

THE FINAL WEEK

This week will be all about tying up loose ends. I need to:

• finish moving out and establish my place on the couch at my mom's house (which will also serve as my permanent address)
• cancel utilities accounts
• forward my mail
• sell my car (not looking forward to this — I have no clue who will buy a 1993 Dodge Grand Caravan with a cracked windshield and missing hubcap)
• cancel my car insurance
• obtain New Zealand currency
• pick up the last few items on my packing list
• test pack
• freak out
• actually pack
• LEAVE!

Did I miss anything? (I've already done my taxes and have a $2,100 return on its way — woo-hoo!)

Six days to go...

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9 Days To Go! Pre-Trip Odds & Ends

I'm one of those people who always feels extremely disorganized, yet ultimately manages to convert chaos into productivity.

I'll often write to-do lists and intend to focus on a few specific items each day, and then I'll ignore the list and instead randomly choose a task from the clusterfuck of Things That Must Get Done that lives inside my head. I'll put something off for weeks, and then suddenly become fixated on doing that one thing right away.

It's a weird way to operate, but it's my way. My own haphazard, neurotic way.

Now that you know a bit more about how strange I am, here's a round-up of Things That Must Get Done that I've recently done! I am, after all, just nine days away from my RTW departure. Eeeee!


I BOOKED MY FLIGHT TO AUSTRALIA

This is important because I need proof of onward travel arrangements in order to enter my first country: New Zealand. The Kiwis are more than happy to welcome U.S. residents without a visitor visa as long as:

• they plan to stay for three months or less
• they are actually going to leave and have proof of this
• they have enough money to support themselves while visiting (NZ $1000/month)

That means I'll need to have my passport, Australia flight confirmation and a recent bank statement in hand when I fly to Auckland.

I booked a Qantas flight from Christchurch to Sydney on March 5, which means I'll have 28 days to enjoy New Zealand before I hit Oz. This was the first time I ever redeemed frequent-flyer miles (American Airlines AAdvantage miles to Qantas via the oneworld alliance), so I was quite excited to just pay taxes rather than the full ticket price!


I SOLD ALL OF MY FURNITURE

...almost.

One of my roommates is staying in our townhouse, so she recruited new girls to replace the two of us who are leaving. The girl who is moving into my room conveniently needs furniture and is happy to buy almost all of mine! That means I don't have to move a bunch of heavy crap down two flights of stairs.

Look! An unwieldy dresser I don't have to deal with!

I've also got something of a Facebook scuffle going on over this couch. It's a really comfortable couch and I absolutely love it... but it needs to go. Luckily, I have several friends who would like to have it. Come and get it, someone!

I will certainly miss this couch's nap-ability. Ah, well — I'll always have the memories.


I COMPLETED MY VACCINATION BONANZA AND HACKED OFF MY HAIR

These two achievements are completely unrelated, yet nicely demonstrated in this one photo.

My final three travel shots were a piece of cake compared to the six I received during my first visit to the travel clinic, and I'm oh-so-happy to be done with them. Any fear of needles I used to have is long gone by now!

And I cut about six inches off my hair because I needed a change and haven't had my hair this short since junior high. I'm not bringing a blow dryer or straightener on my trip, so expect to see either crazy hair or ponytails in most of my travel photos!


I SCANNED, MADE COPIES OF AND BACKED UP MY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS

I'm bringing my passport, driver's license and immunization records on my trip, but I'll also bring backup copies of those documents in case the originals get lost or stolen.

Last night, it took me less than a half hour to scan my documents, save copies to my laptop and my email account, and print a few color copies of each to have on hand. I even laminated a copy of my passport and a copy of my driver's license with clear packing tape, just to be safe (and extra neurotic).

Side note: This whole process was made much more enjoyable by a few glasses of red wine.


I UNLOCKED MY SMARTPHONE

I know next to nothing about how cell phones really work, so bear with me if this explanation is fuzzy.

My Samsung Vibrant smartphone was locked, meaning that it would only work on T-Mobile's network, so I had to unlock it to be able to insert a prepaid SIM card and use the phone in other countries. My understanding is that one can buy a global SIM card that will work across many countries, or local SIM cards for each country one visits. Is that right? Kind of?

Anyway, I had to unlock my phone, and I found that it's impossible to get an actual human being on the phone when calling T-Mobile. I ended up live-chatting with a customer service rep on T-Mobile's Web site, and she was happy to forward my request to the T-Mobile SIM Unlock Team (yes, that's a real thing). The following day, I received an email with my unlock code and instructions on how to do the deed.

I had my tech-savvy friend do the actual unlocking, as the process required the use of a non-T-Mobile SIM card and I don't just have those lying around. He popped in his AT&T SIM card, entered the code and boom — it was done.

My phone still works just the same, as far as I can tell, but now I'll be able to connect to other networks once I'm on the road. Good stuff.


I BOUGHT A KINDLE

I've seen the Kindle Keyboard 3G top many bloggers' lists of travel must-haves. It's obviously a great source of entertainment for reading, but its automatic access to free global 3G is the real draw for travelers. It means that, even in the middle of nowhere (with some network limitations, of course), one can hop onto the Kindle's experimental Web browser to check email, update Facebook or send a tweet for free.

I'm not so Internet-crazy that I'd die without 24/7 access, but it's certainly nice to know that I can connect if I really need or want to, regardless of Wi-Fi availability (which is notoriously sketchy in New Zealand and Australia).

And check out Benny Lewis's story about how his Kindle 3G saved him big-time. I hope I never get into a similar situation, but who knows — crazy stuff happens.

I'm already a little obsessed with my Kindle. I used to be a big book-reader before I got so into blog-reading, and I look forward to catching up on books I've been meaning to read for years. I'm also thrilled that I can "check out" e-books for free using my Seattle Public Library card! Technology is so freakin' cool.

***

This weekend, I'll be busy selling more clothes, donating much more stuff to Goodwill, driving a few must-keep items to my dad's place and otherwise clearing out of my townhouse (I'll be staying at my mom's house for several days before I depart). Oh, and my going-away party is Saturday night!

I can't believe next weekend is the weekend. Time flies... but I'll be ready.

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My RTW Backpack, Round Two: Osprey Farpoint 55

Oh, hello there. Remember when I agonized between two travel backpacks, carefully weighing the pros and cons of each before finally choosing the Deuter ACT Lite 45+10 SL?

A funny thing happened. Last week, at 2 a.m., I bought a different pack online — sight unseen. It turned out to be friggin' awesome, and it's officially my new round-the-world backpack.

(I returned the Deuter pack to Second Ascent and bought a few different travel items with the store credit instead.)

Meet my best friend for the next year or so: the Osprey Farpoint 55.

After I first posted about choosing my backpack, a friend wrote on my Facebook wall recommending the Osprey Farpoint 55, which she used while traveling through Europe. I asked her for a link, checked it out and then promptly forgot about it for several weeks.

As I bought more and more travel gear, I realized how much I'd like to have a front-loading pack so I could easily organize and find all my stuff on the road. I also didn't feel great about the security of the top-loading Deuter pack, which featured a drawstring entry rather than lockable zippers.

I read several positive reviews of the Farpoint 55 (like this one) and decided to just place an order and see how I liked it. I'm so glad I took the plunge — it may very well be the perfect pack!

Here is a little photo tour of my favorite features.

The harness is very comfortable, with a padded back, hip belt and adjustable sternum strap. The hip belt does not have pockets, though, which was a feature I liked about the Deuter pack.

The Farpoint 55 more than makes up for that missing detail with this panel that can either be rolled and stowed under the pack or zipped up to conceal the harness and hip belt.

This is ideal if you want to check it at the airport, although I plan to go carry-on only throughout my trip. It's also convenient if you'd like to simply carry the bag (see the handle on the side?) and give your back a rest.

This little red zipper is one of the main reasons I bought this pack. It unzips...

...to release the detachable daypack! That makes one fewer item I have to worry about buying.

The daypack isn't some flimsy little thing, either. With its 15L capacity, it easily fits my 15" MacBook Pro and has great pockets for storage.

I'll be able to stow the main pack on planes and buses while keeping my new Kindle Keyboard 3G (yay!) and other important items nearby thanks to this daypack. And since it also has a padded harness, plus a sternum strap and hip belt, it'll comfortably accompany me on adventures that call for a lighter load.

Back on the main pack, lockable zippers meet to protect its single point of entry. (The daypack's zippers do not lock like this.)

And the whole pack opens wide to welcome a whole mess of travel gear. Mesh pockets on the inside front panel and compression straps on the back panel complete the simple interior.

The Osprey Farpoint 55 comes in two sizes: S/M and M/L. I went with the S/M, as I believe the size difference is in the height of the main pack. Both sizes come with the same 15L daypack.

Here are the stats (including the daypack) for both sizes:

S/M

• 52L
• 3 lb. 12 oz.

M/L

• 55L
• 3 lb. 15 oz.

And for the daypack alone:

• 15L
• 1 lb. 10 oz.

So my pack is actually 37L with a 15L daypack. 37L sounds small, but it looks like it'll hold everything just fine. Not that I've done a test pack yet, but that's coming up on my to-do list!

Forgive this explosion of information, but I was quite confused about the main pack capacity vs. daypack capacity as I researched this backpack, and good photos of the pack's features seem to be nonexistent on the Web. I hope this post will be helpful to others who are considering the Osprey Farpoint 55 for their travels.

I'm really excited to get this bag packed and see how it performs on the road. And I won't have long to wait — there are only 10 days to go until my departure!!

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The Real Costs of Travel Vaccinations (Brace Yourself)

Today is my last visit to the Hall Health Travel Clinic at UW for my final three travel shots. Woo-hoo!

My initial visit to the clinic included a wonderfully comprehensive consultation with a nurse practitioner, who answered all of my health-related travel questions and helped me decide which vaccinations to get. She also showed me the costs of each vaccination, which nearly made my eyeballs fall out of my head.

A representative from my insurance company had assured me over the phone that a number of the vaccinations would be covered, but I still held my breath every time an "explanation of benefits" letter showed up in the mail.

Luckily, the news was always good. Thank goodness for insurance! (I'm on my mom's plan.)

Check out the breakdown of costs without and with insurance:

First of all, none of my visits required a co-pay, so it seems like the $20 I'm responsible for is just a co-pay for my initial visit.

Second of all, HOLY HELL! Vaccinations are expensive. I am so, so lucky and thankful to have insurance that covers so many of them.

I feel the same way about my travel prescriptions, although the numbers aren't quite as dramatic:

I did a lot of frustrating back-and-forth with my pharmacy and insurance company to get my prescriptions filled — especially the malaria pills — but it was worth it in the end to get the full supplies and save $224. Whew.


THE SAFETY NET

I'm not posting all of these numbers to brag about what great insurance I have, but to show what a difference insurance has made in my pre-travel health costs.

The first thing I did when I decided to quit my job was ask my mom if I could hop onto her insurance plan. She checked and found that since my quitting was a "qualifying event" and I'm under 26, she could add me to her plan at no additional cost.

That is really what allowed me to quit my job at the end of November. If I hadn't been able to join my mom's plan, I would have stayed employed while preparing to travel. I would have been miserable for these past two months, but at least I wouldn't pay those huge out-of-pocket costs for travel vaccinations and prescriptions.

Then again, I like to play it safe. If you've prepared to travel without health insurance, I'd love to hear about how you did it!

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