It’s Monday night and guess who’s blogging when, uh, they’re heading out to the airport once again on Thursday night? It’s time for my big annual trip – this one being back to SE Asia again. I’m really horrible about packing and just as horrible about unpacking. I procrastinate, throw things all over my room in search of certain items and always, always overpack! Believe it or not, I started packing last Thursday. That means my suitcase got dragged out of my bedroom, into the entryway and a pair of socks and some shorts went into it. To fill the remainder of the suitcase, laundry had to be done first! My weekend was spent doing 3 loads of laundry and hand washing about 15 things. Now my shorts, tops, dresses, underoos, bathing suits and gifts are packed. I still need a couple of T-shirts and a pair of sweat pants for (possibly) working out, as well as a pair of jeans for whatever-may-come. Oh yeah, and lest I forget, I have some brand new kids’ clothes from The Gap to donate to an orphanage in Bali. My toiletries and tripod now go in the big suitcase, which adds considerably to the weight. I’m going to take a small duffle bag to put the gifts and donations in, just in case they might put the big suitcase over its limit. There’s also my rolling laptop bag. As has probably been mentioned before, if my DSLR fit into my laptop bag as well, everything would be perfect. It’s not that easy, though. My DSLR does NOT quite fit into the rolling laptop bag, requiring me to bring a large “purse.” That adds up to 4 bags – 2 to check and 2 to carry on. That’s MY version of light packing!!! One thing is certain, though… I’m prepared for EVERY situation on my travels!
There’s a huge wad of foreign currency on my nightstand – Indonesian rupiah, Vietnamese dong, Thai baht, Euros, Canadian dollars, French francs, Malaysian ringgit and Dutch guilders. Somewhere, buried in my armoire, Italian lira can still be found. I need to grab the Thai baht and the Indonesian rupiah and place it in my wallet before it slips my mind.
What’s keeping me from finishing up tonight is the misplacement of my “telephoto” lens, my aversion to packing jewelry (too many decisions) and not being able to pack all the toiletries as they still need to be used. Therefore, I could be productive and take my Heinie-enhanced hinie to the gym. Yeah, well, that happened 4 out of the last 5 nights, in ADDITION to doing some exercises at home. You know what? I’m damn tired now. The chance of a romantic encounter on this trip is minimal at best. If something WERE to happen, it would most likely be with someone I’m already familiar with (i.e. they’ve already seen me in the buff and vice versa, so no surprises there). I look fine for “maybe” getting lucky. Now, if it were assured with someone new or that I’m really, really trying to impress, then I’d drag my okole to the gym right now, but… that ain’t gonna’ happen.
Mentally, I’m ready for this trip. As far as Girl Scout preparedness, nope, I ain’t ready yet! Tomorrow’s another day.