Vacation math

To be away for a 2,5 months long vacation trip means that I need to take a leave of absence, in other words unpaid vacation. The fewer days I need to do that - the better since it is affecting my overall budget for the trip. So now I need to do some clever math:

The total trip consists of 58 days working days.

When I checked with my companies HR department, I found - to my BIG surprise - that I have 47 days of vacation. That means I need to take only 11 days of unpaid vacation.

At the moment I’m working double: full time on a consultancy assignment and then I have to take care of “my” regions sales in the evenings. (I’m responsible for my company’s sales in the region from India to Japan and down to New Zeeland.) In average I’m working 1 hour extra per day with this, which means in total around 35 hours of extra work during the weeks before my trip. That adds up to another 4-5 days of paid leave and means that I can get down to 6-7 days unpaid vacation.

One of our customers requested today that we should run some workshops in California. It so happens that the workshops the customer required is “my” material. I have run this workshop many times before. The requested date was in the middle of July, exactly when I’m in California. This means that if I take on this assignment I will work 2 days on my vacation. So at the moment it looks like I will only need to take 4-5 days of unpaid vacation.

I think that is pretty good, since I from the beginning calculated with nearly 30 days of unpaid vacation. In other words: I will have more money for shopping in Hong Kong. :-) LOOKING GOOOOOOD!!!

Travel worries...

Today I suddenly realized – I’m not in good enough shape for my New Zeeland hike. SHIT!!!

The hike is graded C which stands for:

·         Up to 6 hours of physical activity per day (14 days)

·         Carrying a backpack of 5-6kgs (11-13 lbs)

·         Altitude gains of up to 600m (2000ft)

Normally this is absolutely no problem for me, since I usually exercise 4-5 times a week. But after I moved back to Sweden I haven’t been able to get into my normal exercise routine. Some weeks I have exercised 5-6 times, but other weeks I only managed 1 or 2 times. That is not a good preparation for the hike. I need to step it up the last weeks before I start the trip.

So today I went for a spinning class. Wednesday and Thursday I have other things to do, but on Friday I will go to another spinning class. And then I will run during the weekend. If I keep that up I should be fine…. I think…..I hate to be out of shape. That is not my normal “me”. The funny thing is that I usually lose weight when I’m not exercising – I eat a lot less. I haven’t been able to be in really good shape and not over weight at the same time - ever. ;-) But I still prefer to be in good shape. I love the feeling of a strong and healthy body.

I have another small worry: What if the volcano on Iceland will stop my trip?? I have only one possibility to start it, since I don’t think they will rebook a flight that is booked on free miles. Yeah by the way – Have I mentioned that???– My flight ticket is booked on free miles with Lufthansa. :-) There is a risk to make that kind of booking; you are last on the priority list when changes happen. But on the other hand I have only paid the airport taxes to get a flight around the world. Anyhow – it will be a test how well it works. I will let you know…..

Where to put what...

After a few days break from the trip preparations, I'm now back in the game again. I have entered the “sort and remove” state. This means that I put out all the things I want to pack in one room (the guest room), sort them in different piles and then remove all the things I think I can live without or buy later.

The ONE thing to consider when you are travelling with a back pack is where to put what. I don’t want to end up unpacking everything every time I’m looking for something. Each piece that I bring needs to have its’ special place. Like Feng shui for the back-pack. :-)

So the first thing I needed to decide is which bags to bring besides the back pack. Above you can see that I have chosen to bring: (of course) the big back pack, a small foldable (red) day pack, a small computer bag and finally a small purse. All the smaller bags can be put into the big one to simply carrying while travelling.

Then I need to decide where to put what in the back pack. A few years ago I bough a packing system, see above. It is GREAT!!! Everything gets its own "bag": hiking clothes, evening/travel clothes, underwear, hiking equipment, First Aid, valuables and so on. I don't know how I could live without it.

BUT I'm worried. The amount of things in my "packing room" is widely exceeding the space in my bags. And that is even before I have bought some of the stuff I need for my winter hike in New Zeeland. Btw - these things will be bought in California. I noticed that hiking clothes cost 40% less there. The only problem is that I probably end up buying too much. But I can always send some things home.:-)

Is there anyone who doesn't think I'm a bag/packing freak by now?? ;-)

Don't forget

To make a packing list is not my only preparation for the trip. There are plenty of other things I need to think about:

·         Shots – What kind of diseases exist in the countries I will visit. Luckily I have traveled so much so I didn’t need any new ones. I have already taken “everything”.

·         Passport – Lots of countries requires that your passport is valid at least 6 months after you enter the country. My passport was valid until January 2012. My trip ends 31^st of August 2011, so I needed to get a new passport.

·         Visas – I have checked and double checked and as far as I understand the only place I need a kind of Visa is USA. Luckily you can get it on-line, so I took care of it a couple of weeks ago.

·         If you travel more than 45 days – you need extra travel insurance. (The first 45 days are included in the home insurance in Sweden). It is not cheap – I had to pay SEK 1620 (around USD 260) for my trip.

·         Luggage rules – these keep changing. I called Lufthansa to check what I’m allowed on this trip. For me it is important to know how much I can bring from Hong Kong, my last stop on the trip, where I will be shopping A LOT!!! By the way – I’m allowed to bring 32 kg. :-)

But the main thing is of course to book the right “packages” of activities and hotels. Thanks to internet it is so much easier to find these nowadays. But I have a few “rules” when I look for the companies I want to use:

·         How do they describe the “normal” customer? I like companies that attract single travellers in the age of 30-50. I have ended up on trips with too many youngsters and not only do I have very little to talk about with them, but their constant partying – well, I’m just too old for it.

·         Since I like to exercise, I prefer companies that grade the level of physical activities on their packages. Of course I try to book the packages that demand the most. This time my New Zeeland hike is the tough one.

·         I prefer travel companies that are doing “responsible tourism”. This means supporting the local people more than the international hotels/travel companies and to use a lot of public transportation. Usually it also includes possibilities to “hang” with locals, not only other tourists.

OK – I think that is enough tips for one day. :-) It is time to check how to pack.

Hotels and Earthquakes....

My 4^th stop on the trip is New Zeeland. There my plan is to do a winter hike with start and finish in Christchurch. Since I wanted to make sure that I could get a good cheap hotel, close to the hiking tour pick-up place, I booked it already in November 2010.

Then the big earthquake hit Christchurch in February 2011 - A terrible catastrophe that killed nearly hundred people and destroyed a big part of the city. I understood that it might affect my trip, but I didn’t want to bother the hotel with any questions. I waited for them to get in touch with me.

After 2 months with no messages, I decided to get in touch with them anyway. I sent them an e-mail – it bounced. The recipient “didn’t exist”. I looked for their web site – it was gone. I was redirected to another hotel, without any information about “my” hotel. I got very confused and sent an e-mail to the company that arranges my hiking. They told me that “my” hotel was in the closed part of the city and didn’t operate. I do understand they are in a difficult position, but isn’t it strange that they didn’t put up any information about this on their web – just removed it?? And that they didn’t cancel all the bookings?? So I have a confirmed booking on a hotel that doesn’t exist. And the only reason that I know this is because I tried to get in touch with them. What about all the people with bookings that still think they are valid.

Anyhow – the hiking company has now booked me on another hotel for double the price. Not a lot I can do. I guess I have to cut back on some shopping….

My travel computer

Today I picked up my travel computer and as you can see; it is NOT an iPAD. Of course I would like to have one :-), but not on a trip where I'm travelling with very limited luggage and spending time on beaches, rainforests and glaciers. In other words – a far too tough environment for an expensive toy as the iPAD. Instead I focused on buying the smallest AND cheapest computer that I could find with reasonable evaluations from the experts. I ended up buying an ASUS Eee PC 1001 PX in white. :-) It weighs 1,1 kg and cost SEK 2000 (approximately USD 320).

It is kind of funny – this is my first own computer since 1988, when I bought my Macintosh SE. I have always had a computer from the office and never felt a need to have my own. I only have my private hard drive to store pictures and music. It feels kind of cool to finally have my own netbook.

I haven’t started to use my computer yet. It is still standing next me and saying “System is initiated”. But it has stated that for the last 20 min. Should I be worried?? I will give it a few more minutes. Btw – does a computer need a name?? I mean; people name their cars. It will be my company around the world. I probably need to name it. Any suggestions??

Final bookings

I booked most of the things for my trip already in October 2010, but when it comes to my stop in California nothing has been booked so far. Even though it will my longest stop on the whole trip around the world: one month.

Of course there is a reason for that: my sister lives in California, so I don't need to book a hotel. Most of the things I like to do when I'm in California don't need to be booked. BUT - even though I have been in California many, many times I have never been to Las Vegas. So yesterday I booked my Las Vegas trip.

My sister and I will go there for a 4 days stay, and I'm hoping that is enough. I have always been more of a nature girl than a big city girl, so usually I get bored after a few days in a big city. We are "spicing” the trip up with a one day tour to Grand Canyon. My sister is refusing to do any kind of physical activities because of the heat. I’m still debating with myself if I should do either a short hike or a tour on a bike. I still haven’t decided. Advices anyone?? AND we will see one show: Penn and Teller. Don’t ask me what it is – it is my sister’s choice. But I trust her judgment.

I’m really looking forward to my California stop. It is one of my other home countries. I have quite many: Sweden, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and California. All these places feel a bit or a lot like home.

Time to go to bed and dream about my trip. :-)

Packing issues

To pack for a trip around the world that includes warm beaches, city life and winter hiking is NOT easy. Things doesn't get simpler by the fact that the travel agencies come with recommendations like this "we recommend keeping the weight under 10kg".

To be quite honest I’m not totally sure of how to cope with all these restrictions. But I have some guide rules to follow:

·         OF COURSE – no suitcase. A normal suitcase weighs from 5-10 kg and is difficult to carry. Also – I’m going hiking so I need to use back pack.

·         No new clothes. If and when I buy something I should be able to throw something else away. Otherwise my luggage will grow and I can’t afford the weight. (In California I’m planning to shop and send it home).

·         Fast drying clothes, since I need to do a lot of laundry in a humid environments.

·         Multi-purpose clothes. For example my hiking pants will also be my shorts and sarongs will work as dress, beach towel and sheet.

Things that are important not to forget are:

·         Copies of all travel documents

·         The vaccination book (to proof yellow fever vaccination)

·         Tissues, both wet and dry. Replaces the lack of toilet paper and possibilities to wash the hands.

Unfortunately all my packing lists are in Swedish, so my English speaking friends have to ask for a translation if they are interested. Anyhow - This is how my packing list looks like at the moment:

Benämning	Antal	Med?	Benämning	Antal	Med?
Kläder:			Vandrarutrustning:
Varm jacka (fleece eller dun)	1 par		First Aid kitt inkl. skavsårsplåster	1 st
Vandrarkängor	1 par		Schweizer kniv	1 st
Vind/regn jacka+byxor+poncho	1 kitt		Tändstickor	2 st
Vandrarbyxor (gråa+gröna)	2 par		Vattenflaska	1 st
Fleecetröjor	2 st		Ficklampa, pannlampa + batterier	1 st
T-shirts (vandring, snorkling)	5 st		Kompass	1 st
Linnen (vandring)	2 st		Myggmedel	1 st
Vandrarstrumpor (varma)	4 par		Fotkräm	1 st
Underställ	2 set		Solglasögon	1 st.
Mössa, vantar, halsduk	1 kitt		Extra skosnören	1 st.
Sport BH	4 st.		Vandrargodis	Flertal
BH	2 st		Nagelkitt	1 st.
Trosor – vandring+vanliga	10 par		Pulsmätare och stegräknare	1 st.
Skjortor	1 st		Knäskydd	1 st
Badkläder + Sarong/beachkl	2 kitt.		Kikare	1 st
Klänning (lilla svarta)	1 st.		Vandrarstavar	1 par
Jeans	1 par		Solhatt	1 st
Pyjamas	1 st		Handukar, lättvikt	2 st
Flipflops, svarta	1 par		Vattenreningstabletter	1 paket
Finskor , Geox svarta	1 par		Reselakan	1 st
Fintop/tunika (för kväll/resa)	6 st		Packväska (lämna på hotell)	1 st
Gympaskor	1 par
Cykelbyxor	2 par
Tights, medium och lång	2 par
Benämning	Antal	Med?	Benämning	Antal	Med?
Toalettsaker:			Övrigt:
Tvål och duschkräm	Kitt		Kamera, laddare, kort, batteri	1 av varje
Schampo	1 st		iPhone + laddare	1 av varje
Tandborste och Tandkräm	1 av varje		Bok	1 st
Linser + Linsvätska + dosa	1 av varje		Sykitt	1 st
Glasögon	1 par		Dator och adapter	1 st
Smink och spegel	1 kitt		Tvättpåse+ tvättmedel+klänypor	1 st.
Ansiktskrämer och -vatten	1 st		Reseplånbok	1 st.
Lotion	1 st.		Paraply	1 st.
Deo och parfym	1 av varje		Smycken	Kitt
Savetter, normal + intim	2 paket		Penna	1 st
Pappersnäsdukar	10 pack		Vattenflaska för resa	1 st
Rakhyvel och rakkräm	Kitt		Solskydd, spf 15 och 30	2 st
Hårspray, saltvatten, vax, kam	Kitt		Cyklop och snorkel	1 av varje
Tamponger	1 pkt		USB med reseinfo	1 st
Benämning	Antal	Med?
Resesaker:			Vaccinationsbok
Pass och Visum	1 st		Kopior alla resehandlingar	Kitt
Reseförsäkring	1 st		Resebeskrivning	Kitt
Flygbiljetter och vouchers	Kitt		Fickpengar ($) + kreditkort	Kitt