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Pre-Trip Journal 

October 18, 1999

(A line in my journal…written after much wine)

We're going on a 6-month or more sabbatical around the world!!!

October 23, 1999

I wrote that on our 2 year anniversary after dinner at the Bistro. But it is true, I pray we make it true. Keith and I decided we want to go on a 6 month (or more) around the world trip. I have been reading books of husbands/wives/families/friends doing this, but it is Keith who plunged in and announced he thought we should really do this. I became so excited after he declared this at dinner and it felt so right. We are doing this for the right reasons: seeking new adventures, fulfilling many of our travel dreams, experiencing culture shock to learn more about the world and people. This is definitely a risk-leaving "the career track" and our established careers is scary, but we can do this. What an awesome adventure to begin.

November 1, 1999

This isn’t a totally off the cuff kind of decision. Keith and I are travel lovers and have always kept a list of places we want to see in our lives (see opening). The list has grown exponentially; we usually attempt to visit one to two places a year, but this only whets our appetites. Recently, I started reading several travel books about people’s adventures (Walk Across America, Across China, First We Quit our Jobs, A Year Off) and I would half jokingly suggest that Keith and I should "just take off". We had decided it was time for a change and a risk, but originally the planned change was that we would move overseas and continue our careers (which still may happen after the trip). Then, on our two-year anniversary, Keith looked into my eyes at dinner (at the Bistro) and said "I had an epiphany this weekend. We should take a sabbatical and travel around the world." For one second I was shocked and could not answer, but by the second I exclaimed, "yes!" I was so psyched that he had the guts to say it. Because why couldn’t we? Careers and houses would be always be here for us, there was no reason we could not forsake them for awhile. My anniversary gift was a globe and a start to an exciting new journey.

November 1999

The day after the decision I was searching the web for around the world travel sites, researching my dream places, and estimating costs. I was in all directions just gathering information. A few weeks after, Keith and I are still are reaching in all directions, but have established an objective: to research countries and initially narrow down our choices. From this list we will delve deeper and determine immunization requirements, and document visa and passport requirements.

The Internet has a multitude of resources available. The website that has been most helpful with country overviews and information is: www.lonelyplanet.com (our favorite-it contains 5-12 page summaries for every country). I have also found some great travel sites of people either currently on a RTW trip, or have recently completed a trip. Since we plan to document our trip on the Internet it is interesting to see how others have accomplished this. Originally we thought this was our unique idea, but were surprised to discover others already were documenting their trips. At first we were disappointed because we wanted to be the first, but soon found the benefit of having other sites to reference. These are my current favorites: www.pathlesstraveled (an around the world travelogue of a couple our age), www.2GoGlobal.com (another couple traveling around the world), www.wired2theworld.com (a couple who have completed their travel.) I have emailed the couples from the active sites.  I love these sites because they give great information about the countries, personal insights and lessons learned. We grow more excited for this journey by the day; as Keith says this decision "feels right."

In addition to the Internet we are discovering many other resources. I gave Keith an early Christmas gift-Been Where, Done What? by Roland Watson. Roland is a world traveler and this is a book of traveling tips and preparations from obtaining visas to adjusting to new cultures. He also includes a chapter on romance on the world…hopefully, Keith and I can keep our romantic spark burning despite being together 24 hours a day (probably often without showers) and not need that chapter's information. I have just read We're Outta Here! By David Wooten. This is a personal account of he and his wife, Susan's 14 month RTW that took them across America on bikes, through Australia, the Far East and Europe. Also, we have been religiously watching Lonely Planet episodes and reading National Geographic and Outside magazines. We are finding an abundance of information and the difficulty (and fun) is sifting through all of it.

Based on this very initial research we are interested in Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, New Zealand, Fiji, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Israel, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Norway, Scotland, Ireland, Poland and Hungary. These are the ones we are interested in and using for base planning purposes.

In addition to destination research, Keith has modified our 2000 and 2001 budgets on Quicken; basically the 2000 budget now contains reductions in travel and entertainment with an amounts allotted for gear and equipment. The 2001 budget has no income listed (we decided that our travel is 6-9 months and then we will need around 3 months to readjust) Other than that we need to determine costs for the mortgage, rental income, airplane costs, food, lodging, entertainment and everything else.

We also had passport pictures taken. Keith decided to get a new passport because he does not have a lot of room left for new stamps. I need one because mine does not have my married hyphenated name. We took extra photos because all sites recommend this in case we lose a passport during our travels.

I have ordered 5 yellow immunization booklets from the Center for Disease Control. I visited their website, www.cdc.com that provided tons of information about health risks and immunization requirements for all countries. We are learning about new and scary diseases we never thought about before….dengue fever, malaria, rabies…probably the biggest fear of traveling. Anyway, I the booklets I ordered are only $1 each. Now I am trying to locate a clinic for the shots. I have had some (yellow fever, polio, typhoid) shots completed when I was in the Navy and hope my medical record copy will get me out or redoing these shots.

After calling various medical clinics and doctors, I found that many do not give immunizations other than childhood vaccines. One nurse suggested I call Public Health. I looked the Public Health department up in the Yellow Pages and called. They do all immunization and specifically travel immunizations on Friday. I need to call on Friday when the travel immunization person can talk to me.

December 1999

We have started actually telling people our plans. This includes only family and close friends as we do not intend to tell AMS (where we both work) until the summer. It scares me to tell people because I have this fear that it will somehow "jinx" our plans. For the most part, reactions have been very positive. My friends, Dianne and Dana Lynn think it is fantastic and a great idea. My parents sounded supportive, but I was worried that my Dad believed we are trying to get away, rather than journeying for the experience. He has always been the adventurous type; in fact it was do to his tales of the Navy that I decided to join.  Dad said he has been bragging to people that his daughter and son in law are planning to trek around the world and how, adventure wise, I take after him.  And when I asked if he would take care of our finances in our absence, he said yes. My mom is very excited for us; now that Dad finally retired they are always traveling (albeit not by backpack!) and she loves it! Keith’s mom is also excited for us. I know she is somewhat sad because she believes she won’t see us for a year but we are hoping she and the others try to meet us at different places.  My brother Bryce also is excited for us and offered to check some of his contacts around the world. He runs an area of a company that spans England to China so hopefully he can get us some good deals. I have not talked to my brother Dave yet though Mom and Dad have. I am prepared for teasing at Christmas.  So lots of initial support which I admit, is emotionally great to have.

Keith and I sat down 2 weekends ago and formulated a schedule of planning. We also divvied up the research for the various countries specifically to include getting immunization requirements, visa information, danger zones, sites to see and weather. I need to get started on mine.

We have also begun getting our technology ready! One of my 28^th birthday presents was Microsoft FrontPage, software used to develop and publish web site. I have begun the tutorial. I also am taking a Web Development and Scripting course next semester for fun and work. Keith and I both work in the IT industry so classes I take to increase my technology skills are paid for by the company…it does not hurt that the class will be helpful on the trip!

January 2000

Okay, I have to admit I have encountered some fears lately. I started wondering where will we live when we return, how will we find jobs, what will it be like to not have the saving we do now. And lying in my beautiful bedroom on my favorite sleigh bed I realize how much I love this house. Leaving will not be easy because we have such good friends and really do enjoy our lives here. Despite all these thoughts, I look at the globe and watch Lonely Planet and my fears are overtaken by excitement. Besides, I always like to do things I fear in order to conquer them.

I completed the tutorial for FrontPage and am now developing the specifications for what we want to include on the web. Since I have been an IT analyst, I am following some of the procedures I use at work to develop requirements. I want to make this web page "different" than the current RTW websites out there, but still want to include the main aspects such as a journal, travel pictures and bios. We are thinking of having books I am reading, poems I am writing, recipes Keith discovers and music from the countries.

Keith has forged along and replaced both of our passports. His was almost out of date and mine did not have my married name on it. Additionally he ordered extra pages so we can get lots of stamps. They arrived the other day and it feels like we have taken a big step (even though it is a small task of many)

I encountered many problems attempting to set up the immunizations. 1) The yellow cards I ordered from the government were charged to our credit card and never arrived, 2) I finally contacted the Norfolk Public Health foreign travel nurse who said she would call back. After several days, I called again and she said the same thing. Basically we never "hooked" up. 3) After deciding she was not too responsive I tried several doctors and none do travel immunizations. Finally, I went on the web and discovered the Chesapeake Public Health Center (only 15 minutes away) does the immunizations. I called and she immediately went through what shots we would need and set up an appointment (the first of three) for February 2^nd.

February 2000

We started the immunizations-a substantial step.  Actually, the first series were not so bad. The nurse talked to us for an hour and went through all of the potential diseases, which have vaccines, and how affective they are. On the first trip, We took pictures of each other getting the shots with the digital camera. Because of my Navy shots I get less than Keith-yay! We learned that the cholera shot is very ineffective, makes you sick as a dog, and that cholera is very rare. The CDC does not recommend it so we decided against. Yellow fever is the only shot actually required to get into certain countries. We now have the official stamp on our certificates. 

On February 3, we visited the Chesapeake, VA Health Center.  Actually, the first series were not so bad. The nurse talked to us for an hour and discussed all of the potential diseases that we can get (there are a lot!), which have vaccines, and how effective the immunizations are. On the first trip, we took pictures of each other getting the shots with the digital camera. Because of the shots I received in the Navy,  I need less than Keith-yay! We learned that the cholera shot is very ineffective, makes you sick as a dog, and that cholera is very rare. The CDC does not recommend it so we decided against. Yellow fever is the only shot actually required to get into certain countries. We now have the official stamp on our certificates.  We returned for more shots on March 3, and anticipate at least three more visits!

 I finally got my act together and started working on our website. It is pretty fun to do, but as I thought before, it is difficult to think of something "different" I suppose our experiences make it different than everyone else’s but I still want it to look unique. Admittedly, it would be cool if this site helps hone our web skills to add to our careers in the year 2002. But I should not be thinking about that! I need to concentrate on the journey!!! For Valentines Day, I bought Keith a Lonely Planet guide to Thailand and a travel journal. I would love for him to write, because I think he has a lot to say, but never has the time to write it down. On the trip we will!

I told Dad I have been very happy at work lately and he asked if we were still set on the trip. I resounded with a quick "of course!" I do not want the idea of not going on this trip in my mind. It is now a part of me. I feel this will be such a changing and growing experience. I want to be able to look back and realize I did something really big, risky and life changing; I just feel this is such a chance. I wonder if I would have thought I could do this when I was in high school. Back then I hated the idea of "roughing it" I always knew I longed for adventure and travel, but I think I used to see luxurious hotels in mind. It was in college, trekking through Europe with Di and the going to different spots as a midshipman, that I realized how much I wanted to see the world. Being with Keith has given me the confidence that nothing is impossible.

We received our passports and they are cool (though I hate the picture)-48 pages each. So much needs to be filled in. We are keeping our old passport because books have recommended that you never give your passport to someone else, particularly in third world countries. This is often required at some hostels and such, so we are taking these "extras"

Keith and I returned to the Chesapeake Health Center on 3/2 for some more shots.  (See February for the first round of shots). For this batch we were able to go during regular immunization hours which saved us $11 each. I realized we have to return at least 3 more times for all the additional shots (in particular three sets of rabies).

I have been negligent in my preparation duties and Keith has taken the load. I am on a project at work that I am excited about and like! The only thing is I am traveling a majority of the time and working a lot. It is so great to be happy at what I am doing…I am on the first ever Siebel project for AMS, but I need to continue on the trip focus.  In the meantime, Keith has gone forth and purchased Lonely Planet books for most of the countries we plan to visit, and bought my backpack, an Eagle Creek Women’s Explorer. It feels pretty good and I actually could tell the difference between it and the men’s pack. Keith bought a day pack with a computer area, so the only "luggage" left is his pack. I want to load mine up and use it during my speed walks.  Keith thinks I will look strange if I do that, but I will probably look strange in many places on our trip so that would help my preparation even more!

Our location research is coming along. We have a good list of the countries we want to visit the $120 worth of Lonely Planet guides are worth the cost! We have some tentative itineraries for Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and Egypt. We do not want anything to be to set, but we also do not want to go to a country unprepared. I love reading these books! In addition, I received a quote for some around the world tickets-approximately $2600 per ticket. This is subject to change but it gave us a good idea for budget planning

I have been reading House Selling for Dummies to get us ready for that "little" task. We have an idea of how much we would like to receive for the house; getting the CMA to actually find out what our area homes have been selling for will be interesting. We have been told houses are selling quickly, but you never know. We want to put the house up in June and if it sells quickly we will need to find alternative places to stay until December. I love our house and have to tell myself it is just a material possession; but I will miss it! But that would be much better than getting to December and it not being sold.

April is flying by and I have been traveling most of the time for work. So Keith has gone forth and accomplished a lot; I feel guilty and need to get more done. He has gotten us a domain name and web service to publish our site. Our name is www.ourlifejourney.com and I can’t wait to let everyone read about our plans. Both of us have continued reading the Lonely Planets and we have some tentative itineraries for Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Israel and Egypt. We are batting around the Cambodia idea, and may not decide until we are in Thailand depending on the State department.

We have more people who seem interested in visiting us; Megan and Vinnie have said they are planning on it and I think I can convince Dianne and Jim. We know both parents plan on it. Of course, everyone seems to like Turkey and Greece and we need to get more to come and see us on the earlier part of the trip. I had a dream Mom came to India, but I think that is the last country I will get her to!

May 2000

Our site is looking pretty awesome; this may sound bragging, but we are proud of it.  The site took some long days with Keith and me at the kitchen table working on Front Page. We want it to be original and I believe it is. We have created our style with some cool pictures in the left border and different graphics. Keith is very anxious to get the site out, but I want it to be "perfect", or at least close to it. Much of this month has been spent working on the format of this site.  Keith and I had some very frustrating moments but are now pretty adept with FrontPage.  We worked on it all one weekend and then decided it looked too much like it was done in FrontPage. So we spent all this past weekend looking at the site on the web and using different backgrounds and such.  Now we are pretty satisfied...some tweaking and much content remains, but we are happy with the basis. 

Originally I thought time until the trip would creep by, but it is flying. I am so busy at work, which feels good, but has not left me time to write or work on the trip. I really need to focus on these areas, because although I am more interested in work than I ever have been, I still do not feel I have found my dream career. I believe there is more that I want to do, somehow combining more creative areas such a writing, with the technical, that is challenging and meaningful. I really hope the trip helps me find what that is. As with everything, my search is a journey.

I submitted our applications for international drivers licenses. To be honest that only took me about 10 minutes, but I feel as though I accomplished something. Additionally I scheduled a painter to give us an estimate done on painting our stair railing to get ready for the sale. He gave us an estimate and then set a time to actually start work. The painter was supposed to show up on May 20 but did not because of the rain. Hopefully, he calls back.

Keith has been researching scuba diving. We would like to become certified before the trip, but are learning that we have to buy personal dive gear to take lessons locally. Since we do not want to haul fins and such around the world we are in a bit of a quandary what to do. We have heard buying the mask is essential, but not sure about the other items.

Keith's Input

I've finished my last two 'classroom courses' and now focusing on my Master's Project.  There are two good things about that 1) I work at my pace, i.e. no class time and 2) I only have one class to worry about rather than the two per semester that I have taken over the past two years.  The timing works out well, since it is real crunch time for the trip preparation.  This month our biggest focus is on the house and getting it ready for sale . . . this isn't a huge job, but is definitely a big step.

June 2000

We are trying to stop concentrating on the site so much and get to work! This past month we scheduled a meeting with a realtor, but she was a no show so now she is nixed from the realtor list. Today (June 10) Virginia, from Nancy Chandler Realty, is scheduled to meet us. She sold us our house and we were impressed with her efficiency and responsiveness.  Keith worked on detailing our itinerary and has communicated with Dan from Air Treks about purchasing air tickets and routing. The estimate we have is $4100 each, which is in our range. I have been researching insurance and discovered we can continue our health insurance with AMS because of the COBRA act. I never realized COBRA was a law, I thought it was an insurance policy-live and learn. What I discovered is that we will need to pay what AMS pays for our insurance...the only thing is I am not sure how to find that cost. Aside from that, I plan to choose which company we will purchase our baggage and trip cancellation insurance from.  The biggest step this past week is that Keith told his boss about the trip. She was very understanding. He let her know we both would like to come back to AMS when the trip is complete.  AMS is worldwide company, so there are many cool places we could end up. 

The house sold! As long as everything goes through (e.g. loan for buyer, inspection, appraisal) then we move out on August 30. This means we need a 5 month apartment, but we are excited. We received a bid on June 30 for FULL PRICE, the day after we listed. Keith and I received a call from Virginia on our way to West Virginia for 2 nights of camping and white water rafting. The news made a great trip even better! In the next week, we received the inspection report. This was a bit less exciting-a new roof and a lot of little items are needed. Now we are responding to that and we will see what happens next.

We used our packs and I camped for the first time (other than Navy and "camp" experiences.) I loved it. However, I realized the amount I took for the weekend is about all I get to pack for a year.

We already are changing our itinerary due to rebel groups taking over the Fiji government. I am looking at Samoa and Tonga as potential replacements. Additionally, we have discovered we need to re-look at the weather. We think we have scheduled Vietnam and Thailand during the monsoon season and that would not be a good thing.

This month has flown by and we are now in "crunch zone"-time to kick in our preparation. We had the joy of dealing with everything that is now going wrong with our house (roof, ac, etc) before closing. So our house has been visited by a myriad of contractors. There are 4 days left and still work to do. Why did everything work so well until the past two months? As long as we close (and get the money!!) we will be good to go. I have moved more items to our apartment and everything else is almost packed.

Aside from packing, dealing with contractors, we also spent significant time getting SCUBA certified! Keith and I spent a weekend watching a scuba video, reading the book and doing the homework. The next weekend was our 15 hour classroom and pool training. Last weekend we completed 3 of our 5 required open water dives. Hopefully, by Sunday we will be certified.  I feel great as I am learning an equipment intensive sport that I once would have shied away from. 

Aside from all that, we took a week off drove to Michigan, spent 4 days with my folks where Dad beat me at Scrabble and I am recording this fact (see Dad!), celebrated Keith's 33rd birthday and listened to my Grandmother tell us about her trip across America from years ago. We then drove across Michigan to meet my brother Bryce, Erin, Drew, Blake and Trent for a day.  That was fantastic-we spent time walking on the St Joseph, MI beach. From there we met up with Mandi, Di and Karin at Mandi's cottage. All of us went to our 10th year reunion (with Mike, Jim and Keith) in South Bend, IN. We all dressed to the hilt and felt great as we walked in together, as friends. It was really strange, but fun. Everyone looked the same, sort of. It was great to see old friends like Dana Lynn (who might visit with Chris on the trip!), Cheryl, Becky, Heather, Todd and more.  I wish I had talked to some more people that I did not know as well, but in some ways the same groups still congregated together. I would go to the 20th...though I hope there is dancing at that one.

A couple of big accomplishments-we are scuba certified, we are no longer house owners and almost have our itinerary set (as set as it will be before it changes on the road)!  We completed our 5 dives with the last two in the Atlantic. The visibility was low and the water cold, but we did it!  We now have a lot of other preparation items to complete. I thought work would lessen for both of us by now, but it has increased so we are busy as anything pulling everything together and working. We have scheduled a visit to DC to get our India visa and plan to send for the Vietnam visa prior to that. Lastly, we visited good 'ole Chesapeake Health Department. Now we are immune to Hep B and typhoid.

Hard to believe we are in the 2 month zone. This month Keith has been in constant contact with multiple ticketers. Today, 10/28, we are reviewing the itinerary, times and airlines and plan to purchase on Monday. We also acquired our Indian visa this week - for work I was in DC so Keith came up and stayed with me for a night. He went to the Indian embassy and within a day got our visas. Next week I will send in for our Vietnam visa. I sent our health travel insurance a few weeks ago and received a letter back that they will not issue insurance more than 3 months prior. That annoyed me so I found another plan - Atlas Extra through MNUI. However, I will need to purchase separate trip interruption. Today we are planning to buy our laptop and a few other gear items. We both have most of our clothing, with exception of minor items. The major "to dos" remaining are setting up the safari, Nepal trek, on line payment schedule, move out of our apartment and complete the insurance items.  I still cannot believe that this journey begins so soon. It is so weird and exciting to think what day to day life will be like. I recently sent a survey to RTW travelers for an article I am writing about who RTW travelers are and why they embark on such journeys; the response has been great. Everyone is so open about their thoughts and all are positive. They are honest about the hard parts - missing family, living out of a pack, the language barrier, but all agree the rewards outweigh those. That is great to hear.

Our first stop - the Bahamas. Okay, technically this is not the first stop of our trip as we still have two months to go, but this was a practice run. We used our gear as a test. Through Grand Bahamas vacations, Keith and I purchased a three day, three night package to Grand Bahamas island. The trip (airfare and lodging) cost less than a $1000 and the primary purpose was to practice our scuba diving.

We arrived in Freeport on Grand Bahama island, late night on October 30. Our hotel, the Island Palm, had clean rooms (that is about the best I can say, but it was all we needed). The next morning we were set to go on our first dive. The first task was to get to the beach. This involved getting a taxi, as we discovered we were 15 minutes from the hotel. This set a precedent for the next two days - we would leave in the morning via taxi, return in early afternoon and then go back for dinner. We learned that on our trip we must figure out public transportation as this was quite expensive.

After gearing up, we went out on the Explorer 1 with about 10 others for our first dive. I was definitely nervous as this was our first dive without an instructor. But I did it and even enjoyed it. We went off the Lucayan port and dove about 50 feet. Our visibility was amazing, 80 ft (as opposed to 5 ft in VA) Colorful angelfish, parrotfish and many other variegated fish and coral were all around me. I had trouble with my mask fogging and a loose BC which I will have to fix in the future.  After this dive, we went to the private beach of the Lucayan resort - just walked through the hotel to it. and pretended we were guests. That evening we wanted to go someplace interesting for dinner and discovered the Grand Bahama island does not offer much other than the tourist beach area. The rest of the island (what we saw) did not have much in historical or natural significance. And there was no where to walk around and explore. (actually there may have been a few areas on the east end, but we did not get there) However, the island suited our purpose - a couple days of great diving and weather.

The second day we went on 2 dives and saw SHARKS! Our morning dive we went to 80 feet and followed a guide. Again, beautiful coral and fish, and then a shark swam by. I breathed very slowly because I did not want him (her?) to see my bubbles. There were others too! The shark dive, where the company feeds the sharks, was earlier in the morning which may be why they were in the area. I was scared, but it was cool. And I am glad I did not know they were there beforehand because I would have thought about it. The bad thing on this dive is that Keith and I were not vigilant about air monitoring, relying on the guide.  Lesson: Rely on ourselves and not on the guide. Our next dive, about 50, we were much better. Again we saw sharks!  I am surprised how beautiful the coral is - bright purples and oranges. On this dive, we say many schools of fish; it was pretty cool to be right in the middle as they swim by. I was disappointed we could not dive the last day (because we were flying home). The rest of the second day and third day, we lay at the beach. I enjoyed running along the crystal clear blue water.

November 2000

This month both Keith and I have suddenly realized how much we still need to do and how little time until we leave. Keith ordered the tickets through DIA and they are supposed to arrive on 11/28. We took off Israel from the itinerary and instead are visiting South Africa. He purchased all tickets except for the return to the States. With DIA, Keith paid a bit more but it will be much easier to change our tickets destinations and times if we feel like it. The reason he did not purchase the return ticket is that the only tickets which are difficult to exchange are those for leaving the States and returning. We are not sure exactly when we plan to return, so we will wait to purchase.  Keith's other big accomplishment was purchasing the lap top - a Dell Inspiron. We both did some research on the web and at stores, and determined buying a Sony Vaio which was 3.5 lbs (our original plan), was just too expensive. We decided that paying $1500 to save 2 lbs was too much. So Keith found a 5 lb which has all the memory, processing speed and software that we need. 

I arranged lodging in Bangkok, Phuket, Sukothai and Chiang Mai via the Internet and faxing. I also arranged a liveaboard dive tour with Scandanavian divers - we will go to the Similan islands and a three day Hill Tribe Tour. While on our Thanksgiving week vacation, Keith and I were told that our bank will start on line banking on 12/7 - hope so!  We also changed our auto insurance as we are leaving our cars at our folks.  I have emailed back and forth with Gametrackers about our African safari and will send a check to reserve this week.  Additionally, I picked up our malaria pills (luckily our health insurance paid for 1/3!) and we are almost complete with shots!  During Thanksgiving, we visited with Jenanne's parents (we were all at a lodge) and enjoyed their tales and pictures from Egypt, Vietnam and Thailand - definitely has excited us for the trip!  This week (last week of November) I will apply for health insurance, arrange our Nepal trek and begin setting up Vietnam. I plan to finish making the first aid kit.  Keith plans to research and procure what we need for connections and work on India accommodations.  We decided it is better to have lodging set up, and change if we feel like it.

A week later... a lot more completed and a lot more to go! We received the laptop and I am using it now. Also we received the air tickets and I ordered our health insurance. Keith ordered power plugs and phone adaptors for connecting while traveling. I reserved a couple Vietnam places (keeping that open) and have found an Annapurna trek I plan to reserve. The first aid kit is pretty much done except for some minor items.

December 2000

The last month! At this point the big ticket items are done. Keith and I received the rest of our gear (jackets and other clothing). I already took a few items out of my pack because there is too much! We received the power pack and phone connectors. Also set up are some Vietnam lodging, the Nepal trek and the Royal Chitwan Park visit. I picked up remaining prescriptions (eyes and such) and new contacts. None of these required a credit card to reserve, so if we change our plans there should not be a problem. Remaining items include 1) copying everything (eg passports, immunization cards, etc), 2) ensuring on line bill pay is working, 3) ordering trip cancellation insurance, 4) getting Keith's mom set up to send us packages and 5) getting my Dad set up to submit our taxes. Some smaller items remain (we take a CPR class next week), but we could leave now if we had to!

As excited I am, I also feel nervous and even a little sad. I will miss so many good friends in Norfolk - today I found out they are giving me a birthday party next week! And it will be strange leaving this area after 6 years. The next two weeks are filled with lunches and 'farewells.' Luckily there is the Internet to keep everyone close.

Work gave us a wonderful farewell (until next year) at the AMS All Hands and we both had several lunches. We will miss all but hope they follow us next year

December 22, 2000

I am writing this from Roanoke, VA where Keith and I are at his Mom's after moving from Norfolk. Next week we will be with my family in Michigan. This week was very hard as I learned on December 18, 2000 that my grandmother suffered a stroke. She died, at 93 years old, on December 20, 2000. Though 93, this surprised me as she was so strong. Until her last day she was playing scrabble, pinochle, doing the crossword, living in her own apartment every day. She was so excited about Keith's and my trip as she was all about learning more with each day. I believe she will be with us. Grandmom passed to me a great love of learning, how to be a strong independent woman and the importance of living each day to the fullest. Keith and I will deeply miss her, but we know she is watching over us.

January 3, 2001

Last pre trip journal entry...it is time! In two days we fly from Detroit to Chicago, Chicago to LA, LA to Tapei and Tapei to Bangkok. We are ready. After over a year of planning, both Keith and I are itching to get out there. The past two weeks have been wonderful visiting family and friends. Today we finish our remaining "to do" items - getting taxes and other financial info ready for my Dad, set up a few more items in Quicken and send a cashiers check to reserve our safari. This past week my RTW article appeared in Bootsnall and TravelMag so I am pretty excited. I am also a bit nervous about the next year - how hard it will be at times, how much I will miss my family, and what it will be like after. But being nervous means I am about to embark on something BIG, and that is what I love.

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