Getting ready to go

For the last week or so Gene and I have been careful not to snap at each other, knowing as we do that each of us is stressed and scatterbrained, and that as soon as we get on the plane all will be well. Meanwhile, we're totally nutso. There are lists everywhere, but they seem to multiply faster than we can cross items off of each one.

Last night a friend wondered if we had clean needles and syringes to take along in case we needed some emergency injection while in Laos or Cambodia...OHMIGOD. It's a measure of how out there we are that this seems perfectly reasonable, and I'm on the phone to our doctor's office bright and early this morning, apologizing for calling yet again, with another "just in case" request. (No problem: syringes and Vicodin, the other suggested goodie, are waiting for pickup).

Previous visits to Southeast Asia did not have us preparing for WW III, but somehow the combination of age(ours), distance(Asia), and third-worldedness (Laos and Cambodia) make this trip require wound kits, malaria prophylaxis, 100% DEET insect repellant, and god knows how many other things that we would have thumbed our noses at 25 years ago (and did, if I remember correctly). And in those days we would have stayed at guesthouses with mosquito nets instead of the 5 star boutique caravanseries we have booked this time.

We assume we'll settle down soon enough and that all the "stuff" we're carting around will be dumped along the way to make room for...what else...SHOPPING!
So for those of you who are wondering how this trip will go, drop in occasionally. We'll be posting as we go, and with any luck will have at least a few interesting things to write about. If I can figure out how to post photos we will have a few of those as well.

E-mail will reach us, and maybe I can figure out how to access comments on this blog, so keep in touch.