Prep. Work

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Trip Start Sep 01, 2005 Trip End Ongoing Next
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  Denver, United States
Thursday, September 1, 2005

When I first started telling people that I wanted to take a long trip, something really memorable, something far out, beyond the pale, they mainly just smiled. They gave me nice looks and said nice things. Then they asked just where we would be going.
"Around the world. Starting in Eastern Europe, then heading into Turkey. From there we will fly to Egypt, then to Ethiopia, then make our way down the Eastern coast of Africa..."
That covered as much information as most people would want or could handle for the time.
Then, with expressions ranging from excitement to bafflement, "how long will you be gone?"
"At least a year, maybe more, and hopefully not less. It depends on how long our money holds out."

Erin and I moved in together and began conspiring. The intent was to be able to move out a year later. Instead of paying rent where she was living, we put the same money into a joint savings account- our trip fund. We figured that in roughly a year we would have enough to at least buy a few long plane trips somewhere far away from Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Several ideas ran across the drawing board, and our excitement rose.
Ideas and plans came and went. I'm sure that the guys at work grew tired about where I would be in 10 months, then in 8 months, then 6,5,4,3,2,1. Always supportive, but wearisome nonetheless. First it was a grand trip around the world touching at least four continents. Then for several months it was a move to Vietnam where we would teach English and travel extensively through parts of Asia. Then it was an opportunity in Costa Rica where I would have the chance to help build a company that could grow throughout Central and South America, while we built our own house in the spare time. Then, while sitting in limbo on a chair at Copper mountain about 12 hours after our plans for Costa Rica fell through, Erin says "I know what we should do, we should go around the world." I thought about it for about 60 seconds found neither an objection nor a better plan, so I conceded, "I don't see why not."
I don't think that the world has ever been as small as it is now, and travelling has never been as simple. With an active imagination and a library one can circle the globe. With enough money in your pocket and ambition in the heart, you can actually walk it as well. We had found our focus.

It began with a world map and large scale view. We worked 10,11,12 hours a day for money, then another 2-4 hours a day on the previously abandoned houses that I had just purchased. If only we could save enough, repair and replace enough, and maintain our gumption we could do it. We kept saying that rest would come later, and an hour of hard work now would mean a day of rest in Thailand, or India, or Tanzania,or Vietnam.
We began to streamline our needs. The thing that we could both look back on and certainly know is that we did not want a heavy bag. A bag that towers over the head making you top heavy, that hurts your shoulder and hips to carry, and that taking on and off requires a squat thrust and a power lift. Riding with them in a crowded subway makes you a teetering hazard, and I hate the way that hotel managers look at you to ask their price, then tell them that you are going to walk around a bit to check out other rates. With a sixty pound bag on your back they know that you don't really want to, and that you probably won't make it very far anyway. The double bag is another big inconvenience that we really wanted to do without. As if it is not enough to carry a terribly tall, bulky and awkward bag on your back, to have an auxiliary on your front at the same time not only severely limits your mobility, but it also marks you as someone who has a lot. The more that you have, the bigger the score when it is stolen.
So, instead of the expedition size bags in which we pack our house, home, kitchen, food, water, kite, Frisbee and sandals when we go camping in the Rocky Mountain back country, we downsized to a medium sized pack that would limit our... well, it limited just about everything that we would take. Being borderline neurotic when it comes to details and features, I knew just what I wanted. Everything had to be as close to perfect as I could get. Good frame and fit, great access, detachable bag, sturdy construction, lockable zippers, smart compression straps. God is in the details, and these details would be our house and home for the next year.
Happily, we both found almost exactly what we wanted, and the one that I chose just so happened to be the same brand and make of bag that I had for the past four years. The same features, just half as big. We wondered if it was our "hopeless romantic" sides that made us choose these "mini's," but we both knew that in choosing smaller mid sized bags we would commit ourselves to travelling light. Hopefully we would not end up doing the double pack, quadruple strap shuffle.
Now that the limit was determined, we began to see just what we could take with us. Among the vitals were a first aid kit, shoes, a toothbrush, and... well I suppose that those are the vitals. As for clothing, we tried to restrict ourselves to lightweight clothing that would dry quickly. We would probably be doing a fair amount of our laundry in a sink and be on our way soon thereafter. Wrinkle resistant, UV protectant, zippered pockets and antimicrobial material were bonuses that weighed in our choices as well. We narrowed is down as much as we felt that we needed sacrificing neither cleanliness nor taking on extra weight: Two pair convertible pants that could be unzipped at the knee to make shorts. four T-shirts that could easily be thrown out, replaced, or converted into rags or towels as need be, two button up short sleeve shirts with pockets, two long sleeve shirts, four pair of underwear, four pair of socks, a very versatile sarong, a pair of scrub bottoms for sleeping, one lightweight fleece, one mid weight fleece, one pair of khakis for stylish Western Europe, and a pair of swimming trunks. All of the clothing could fit into one compression sack and smashed down to the size (and almost density) of a bowling ball. Looking at the package I had to laugh and think that no matter what the label said, I doubt that anything could be that wrinkle resistant.
We would also carry a rain jacket, a pack cover and a decent sized rain poncho that could cover us and the pack... or be used as a sleeping shelter or even a floating devise. One pair of hiking shoes, one pair of athletic sandals and one pair of flip-flops completed any outfit that we had.
The rest of the bag was devoted to our entertainment. I brought an old portable CD player and 12 discs, several books (that we would be leaving and trading along the way), one bound journal, a digital camera, an adapter/converter kit, a set of watercolor paints with brushes, two watercolor pads, a hat, a harmonica, a flashlight, a utility tool, a small canister of mace, pens, and after persuasion from a friend in Texas, a small video camera.
Then, finally, it all stopped. All of work, all of the planning, The rooves, the plumbing, the heating, the cleaning, the adding and subtracting, the trimming, the painting, the tile, the drywall. The nail and screws, the knives and the blades. The lumber and the caulk, then finally the keys in the lock. Finally it all stopped. A year after we moved in together we were able to leave it behind. September first came and as we were moving out, our friends were moving in. September second we left Denver. Erin headed towards Pennyslvania where she would spend a couple of weeks seeing family and friends. I drove South along the Eastern slope foothills of the Rockies, then took a left in Raton and clipped the NW corner of New Mexico. I had two weeks to spend in Texas to make sure that all of the loose ends were tied up and to visit with my family and friends there.
September 16th we met in Philadelphia, then two days later on the 18th we flew out, bound for our first stop Rosrath, Germany.

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