MADE OUR LIST WILL NEED TO PACK TWICE

Trip Start Dec 09, 2005
1
4
25
Trip End Jan 01, 2006


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Flag of United States  , Georgia,
Friday, December 2, 2005

December 1, 2005: Next week this time Michael and I will be in New York (burrrrrr!!) eagerly anticipating our departure to Cairo, Egypt. One more week, and we're terribly excited. This week we did a "practice pack"-gathered everything we think we'll need for our trip and crammed it into our luggage. Yes, it all fit, but it was tight. Needless to say, we need to scale down on the clothing (and I on the shoes) and go at it again.

We've been instructed to pack what we think we'll need and then take half of that. Hmmmm, I'm not sure we need to go that far, but we'll work on getting our luggage to a manageable weight, especially since we'll be "lugging" it from Atlanta to New York to Cairo, then onto another airplane from Cairo to Aswan, onto a small ship to cruise the Nile to Luxor, then from Luxor back to Cairo for Christmas Eve and Christmas, then to Amman and Petra, Jordan, then a flight back to Cairo, back to New York for New Year's Eve then back to Atlanta. Wow, that's a lot of movement. Can't have our luggage too heavy.

We've made our list and checked it twice to ensure we have all the bases covered as far as toiletries and other essentials such as flashlights (for those dark temples), lip balm, TheraFlu (not planning to get sick, but you never know), Tylenol (headache, cramps, etc.), sunscreen (might not be really hot, but ...), antibacterial gel, BandAids (again, you never know), mini calculator (to quickly figure the exchange rate), pocket tissue packets (I hear the public toilets are nothing more than a hole in the ground!), and a bunch of other stuff. If we don't have it by now, I guess we'll have to get it when we arrive in Egypt.

We have four pieces of luggage. Michael is still deciding whether to bring his laptop. I have opted to eliminate all technology from this trip (laptop, cell phone, etc.). I just don't want to worry about keeping up with the stuff, nor do I want the added weight of my laptop (about 7 lbs.). I'll just go with the old-fashioned spiral note pad and pen for my notes, observations and impromptu interviews as I develop story angles to pitch to publications when I return. But he just can't stand the thought of being without his own computer, even though we've found several Internet cafes in the areas we'll be visiting. Any advice from you seasoned international travelers out there?

So with tickets in hand and excitement in our hearts, we have one week to departure on our trip of a lifetime. We'll keep you posted!
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