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Well it’s coming up on two months to go and I’ve been going mad trying to organise all the loose ends. It seems surreal that our trip is almost upon us. We’ve been planning for two years; saving 1/3 of our salaries every month in order to afford to travel for two years. The consistent feeling of brokeness is going to be replaced by the joy of flying off to Honolulu.

Last night I booked a whole pile of stuff for the trip. Hotels, hostels, cars and campsites all turn into a blur of mush in my brain. On a world trip of this magnitude I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t have Tripit to keep track of all my bookings. I just got my mum onto it this weekend. Basically you set up an account and email all your random bookings and itineraries to plans@tripit.com. It sorts it out for you. What kind of genius is that?

On the weekend the monkey and I went shopping for the rest of our equipment. It’s true what they say about customer service; the only places we bought stuff were where the staff actually put some effort into helping us buy things. Even though I used to work in a camping store and know my stuff, it’s good to have someone to show you a pack, talk you through a tent. I got a very comfortable pack from macpac as well as a tent. I could not believe how difficult it was to find a simple 2 door tent that put up easily with two poles. Nobody wants a complicated tent! The less poles the better. The rest we bought from Mountain Designs after tramping through the whole of Kent St. We got some Zamberlan shoes (matching ones, how couple-y… eeek!). All on sale, of course. Sales are the best time to pick up your gear; mid-year and January are the best times. Never pay retail as my Dad says.

So there’s a little bit of apprehension about this whole thing, just the magnitude of what we need to do. My mushy brain applied for our ESTA visa waivers yesterday night (essential if you’re visiting the USA from Australia) and I did mine ok but when it came to his I wrote his name in as Michael (that’s his middle name)! And only realised after I’d paid for it when I couldn’t change anything. Duh. Time for a break after that – I went and watched beefy men beat each other up in the State of Origin.

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