So this is our first post. From this here blog, we will update you about what we're doing and where we are.
Side note to thieves: We have friends staying at our apartment and we've taken out all of our valuables anyway, so nothing to see here, moving right along.
Back to the trip.
Rony and I will be leaving on Monday, November 1, 2010 for an almost-4-month long trip. We start in Thailand for 3 weeks, then 2 weeks in New Caledonia (a magical island by Fiji), a month in Australia, a few days in Hong Kong, then Beijing and Shanghai, and finally an entire month in Japan.
It all started out with a trip to New Caledonia that Rony had been tentatively planning, to see a friend of his who lives there. The following is an exact replica of the conversation we had back in March (more or less):
Rony: Would you like to take a long trip? Like 2 or 3 months long?
Me: Yes
Rony: Really?
So we started out looking for a flight to New Caledonia. Of course, nobody in Israel has ever heard of New Caledonia. So we figured we need to take a flight to Australia and then go to New Caledonia, since New Caledonia is near Australia. We found this awesome deal to Sydney with Royal Jordanian, with a stop by Bangkok on the way to Sydney and a stop in Hong Kong on the way back.
And come on, we're not going to stop there just to visit the airports. We want to see those places, too! So now it started becoming a long trip, and we knew we'd need to leave our jobs to be able to take it. Or at least ask for a leave without pay for 2.5 months. Thankfully, both of us had jobs that wanted us back after the trip.
So then we thought, Hong Kong is so close to mainland China, won't we see it? Plus we both have a friend there who we used to work with. And it's all so close to Rony's dream destination Japan, why not add it, too?
So now it's a 4-month trip to 5 countries (6 if we count Hong Kong as a separate country from China), tropical weather as well as freezing winter, and so many different cultures. A once in a lifetime journey. And so much to prepare!
Mainly, deciding what to bring is a big issue, especially since it will be lodged on our backs for most of the trip. Over the past 2 weeks, we have been furiously preparing everything we (think we) will need for the trip. Here is what we are taking: A week or so of summer clothes, 3 pairs of pants, a toothbrush, soap (just enough for the first few days), my hair cream, thermal shirt and pants for me, and one warm jacket or sweater for the snowy winter...until we buy a heavy coat in China or Hong Kong. We really don't want to schlep a winter coat through summery Thailand and Australia.
Oh! And our passports and tickets of course!
Today we packed our bags, just to test what can fit in and that we don't pack too much.
And then we unpacked them - we're only leaving in 2 days!
But we did need to make room in the closets for our friends' stuff, and make sure our bags didn't weigh too much. I was positive I would fall backwards once that bag was on my back! (I didn't, or we would have taken a picture).
We are the epitome of nerves and excitement with respect to our upcoming trip. We assume that once we land in Bangkok, we will lose the nerve part and just have the excitement left. I am personally hoping not to talk Rony's ear off the whole way there :-)
To be precise, he's probably the one hoping I don't talk his ear off...
Fortunately, he knew me for years before we started dating, it's not like he can get mad about something he knew about before. I mean, hey - you can't get angry that the sky is blue! It can't help it!
The day we fly, we will post our basic itinerary, in case any of you decide to join us during the trip (looks like we have company for 1 week in Japan already!) and let you know what kind of money-saving opportunities we've decided to take advantage of, which lead to our ability to extend our vacation by an entire month.
Talk to y'all soon!
