The World in a Bag (...or Four)

We are almost finished packing, and let me tell you -- 4 months amenities makes a standard backpacking rig begin to seem pretty small.



Somehow I managed to shoehorn hiking boots, two pairs of running shoes, flip-flops, a bike helmet, random hygiene stuff (laundry soap, people soap, shaving cream, sunscreen, contact cleaner, DEET) into my big orange pack; along with 7 changes of clothes, a towel, 2 spare duffel bags, a cutting board, all the sharps, rain gear, some rope, and a couple Rick Steve's books.

Wish us luck getting it all tetris'ed in there the second time...

Getting Ready

We are spending the 3 day weekend getting ready for our big trip. Here is a map of where we are going.


We bottled our Pinot Gris today. We used a yeast similar to champagne yeast, so it is a little bit sparkling. For our first try, it's pretty darned good! In this picture is also our Syrah which we will bottle in October.


We also are going through the process of preparing our clothes for our trip by treating them with this lovely chemical called Promethean. Although toxic to people when applied and wet, once it's dry it's no longer toxic to people and animals, only to mosquito's, when they touch it they immediately die. Sounds like a good way to avoid malaria to me!

Where in the World are Sean and Margaret? We will be posting a blog with pictures from our trip beginning June 1st. First Stop is Kyoto Japan!

Go Lonely Planet

For your next trip, if you are taking a laptop or blackberry, or iphone, then skip the travel book! Lonely planet is now selling by chapter ($4 - $2) in pdf. I can't wait to splurge tomorrow and only get the chapters I care about rather than a $30 book.