Packing for 9 months

Putting our packs together has been an experience in itself. It is hard to believe that we will be surviving out of these bags for 9 months with all of our possessions on our backs. Our goal is to keep the weight under 30lbs per bag and as of right now they need to start dieting. Our list is forever changing but this is what we have planned so far.

We are by no means experts on selecting a backpack. But we selected the Eagle Creek Grand Voyage for Jason and we don’t remember which one Jenny has. It was bigger than the Maiden Voyage but lighter. They are comfortable, had good reviews and have zippers that can be locked. There is a day pack that zips off the front of the bag. We are hoping that our eyes were not bigger than our backs when it comes to over packing.

There is a fine line between over packing and not packing enough when it comes to an extended trip over a few months. You don’t want to lug around your normal vacation attire nor do you want to look like an animal trainer every day. We choose lightweight, mostly synthetic materials with a few sheer cotton outfits as our main concern is obviously the weight but the time our items will take to dry after they have been washed as well.

A complete PACK LIST can be found here.

Weenies with that Vaccine?

We got our Hepatitis A and Thyphoid vaccines today. The Hep A is a 2 dose IM injection with the second dose given 6 months later and the Thypoid is 4 pills, one every other day. We researched the vaccines that are required / recommended for the countries we will be visiting and had our primary physician write the scripts. We then dropped them off at the pharmacy and got them a couple days later. We used the CDC travel website to look up vaccines by country. This website also lists clinics that specialize in travel medicine as well as a rough list for a first aid kit.

We already have our Hepatitis B, Diptheria, and Tetanus. Japanese Encephalitis was recommended, but we decided not to get it. As the trip comes closer we will get our Malaria medication, mostly likely a mix between different pills along with some antibiotics to ward off bad juju from Montezuma’s Revenge, Dehli Belly, and the likes.

This is our First Aid Kit:

1. Bandaids
2. Moleskin
3. Tweezers
4. Scissors
5. Steri Strips
6. Ace Bandage
7. Gauze pads and wrap
8. Tape
9. Thermometer
10. Hand sanitizer
11. Sun Screen
12. Bug Spray
13. After Bite
14. Antiseptic Cream
15. Hydrocortisone Cream – rash relief
16. Benadryl - Allergies / sleep aid
17. Dramamine - Motion Sickness
18. Sudafed PE – Decongestant, cough suppressant
19. Tylenol – Pain and Fever
20. Pepto Bismol - antidiarrheal medication
21. Ciprofloxacin - for Traveler’s Diarrhea, but also treats lower respiratory tract infections (such as pneumonia and acute bronchitis), and Urinary tract infections.
22. Azithromycin - For Traveler’s Diarrhea especially in South Asia, but also middle ear infections, tonsillitis, throat infections, and sinusitis.

Where are we going?

Our dream is finally starting to come true; we are backpacking around the world for a little over nine months. Our departure date is set for July 13, 2009 with a return of April 10, 2010.

We will hit all of the continents except for South America and Antarctica and potentially travel around 22 countries depending on our overland route in Africa. We will be taking planes, trains, buses, ferries, and who knows what else. Here is our rough itinerary:

DATE	DEPARTING	ARRIVING
7/13/09	USA	Germany
7/16/09	Germany	France
7/18/09	France	Germany
7/29/09	Germany	Italy
8/10/09	Italy	Greece
8/13/09	Greece	Egypt
8/25/09	Egypt	South Africa
9/20/09	South Africa	India
10/2/09	India	Indonesia
10/12/09	Indonesia	Malaysia
10/27/09	Malaysia	Indonesia
11/2/09	Indonesia	Australia
11/14/09	Australia	New Zealand
12/4/09	New Zealand	Australia
12/17/09	Australia	Vietnam
1/5/10	Vietnam	Cambodia
1/12/10	Cambodia	Thailand
1/26/10	Thailand	Laos
2/6/10	Laos	Thailand
2/21/10	Thailand	China
3/20/10	China	Japan
4/10/10	Japan	USA

Hello World!!

Hello World, here we come! So as avid travelers we had always daydreamed about just quitting our jobs and sailing around the world since we started dating. But, seeing as how neither of us owned a boat or really knew how to sail for that matter, we opted for backpacking instead, despite some bubble popping from the realist. Thinking of all the places in the world we would potentially never see or the people we would never meet if we didn’t go on an adventure like this sparked the beginning of our trip. It all started with looking at the pretty pictures online of far off places that we had always hoped to see one day or reading about experiences of fellow travelers. But as we became more and more serious we started to develop an itinerary, which has changed more times than we care to ever mention…..EVER! We have been working OT shifts and saving money, eating at home (with the rare occasional outing), renting from the $1 DVD box instead of going to the movies, keeping our heat and A/C off or to a minimum and not making purchases unless it was for the trip. Preparing for the trip has become the next priority, researching plane tickets, vaccines, insurance, visas and the loose ends we will have to take care of before we leave. We have begun telling our family and friends that we were planning the trip.

These are some websites that helped inspire us during our planning:

www.wikitravel.com

www.lonelyplanet.com

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa

www.travelblog.org

We also found several other people that have backpacked the world, but we were most impressed with www.twinf.com , www.Thirteenmonths.com , www.gobackpacking.com/blog, and www.travelfish.org