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PRE-TRIP JOURNAL: MARCH,
1998
March 31, 1998: Do Your Homework
Well, I admit that I've been bad about writing, but working my schedule has not been conducive to doing much of anything besides work. Unfortunately, I find that the longer I wait to write, the less I have to say.
Much has happened in the last two months. David and I went to Baja California, Mexico for a week at the start of March. Much rest and relaxation and not much else there. We spent a weekend in Bishop CA with David's grandparents, taking in the sites of Mount Whitney and Mammoth Mountain. We spent a weekend in Nevada City CA with my father, eating out, getting to know the "family", and snow-shoeing up in the mountains. My father and his girlfriend, Martha, have graciously offered to give us the packs for our trip (from Eagle Creek) from Martha's wonderful store in Nevada City, JJ Jackson's.
We did get our first Hepatitis shots last month. I found that doing my own research at the CDC web site was very useful when it came time to talk to the doctor. He just assumed we needed Yellow Fever shots for Africa, without asking us which countries we're going to. We may indeed need them, but it really depends which country we go to and we haven't decided that yet.
I've started buying guidebooks, used and new, to
help with the planning process. For example, the South Pacific covers a
huge area with thousands of islands. Which will we go to? Which can we
afford? How will we get there?
Planning this trip is so much different than planning
a two week vacation. A package with round trip airfare and hotel is much
more economical and easier to book than a one way trip. We'd like a nice
romantic spot on an island to celebrate our third wedding anniversary and
kick off our journey. But will we be able to find a place we can afford?
How will this fit into our airfare package?
Yesterday we went to the LA Times Travel Show at the convention center. It was way too crowded and had too many people hawking their package tours. But, we did get a lot of information from the various foreign government offices. I think I have information overload.
Sometimes its difficult to explain to people what
we're doing. No one we talked to could understand why we wouldn't
want round-trip airfare! And just try to explain to a passport photo place
why you might need more than four photos. Discounts not available.
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