Medical Emergency 14 days from Departure

My last full week in the lead up to my trip has not been the most well planned.  It was totally out of my control in my defence but if your interested in the medical week from hell read on as it will give you a good laugh if nothing else.  I can now see the funny side as I am hopefully out of the woods but this is the my last week in review.

I had my going away party last week and a great night was had by all.  Lynda and I stumbled home at 5.23am – not much memory of the taxi ride home or getting to bed – but that has been the usual Saturday / Sunday morning routine for the last 3 months.  We woke at around 10am and I had 3 spots on my cheek and they were itchy as hell.  So I assumed that I had been bitten by a mozzie in my sleep.

Monday the itch turned into a rash.  No big deal – I don’t get sick and I normally don’t get allergic reactions – so was happy to run the course of my ‘mozzie’ bites.  People were asking me what I had been bitten by and was a topic that people in shops were happy to ask me about.  In the meantime I had also been to the dentist twice for a barnacle clean and 3 fillings. I also had to drop my passport to the Chinese Consulate and the finalizing my trip continued.

Tuesday the rash started to swell.  Still no pain at this stage, but it was starting to look a little ‘unusual’.  Back to the dentist for another 2 fillings ( yes it has been a while between visits ).  Even the dentist mentioned it looked like a spiders bite and I should get it seen too.  I still had people offering advice and asking me what had attacked my face.  A visit to work and seeing their faces drop when I walked in the door told me that I was staring to look a little ‘kooky’.  There were 2 theories we had for the bite.  One was that getting home on Sunday morning I had walked into a spiders web and was attacked.  The other which is totally not to my liking is that a spider sat on my face and had a nibble while I was in my drunk induced sleep.  Need less to say I was sticking to part one of the theory.

Wednesday was the first official day I looked like elephant woman.  My face felt like it was the size of a balloon and it was quite obvious that I needed to see a doctor.  I got an appointment in the afternoon and at this point we were still dealing with a bite, which we had deduced was a spider.  The doctor was quite nice and gave me some drugs that I was expecting miracles from and thought that I would be back to normal as soon as I started to take them. Oh how I wish that was true.

Thursday morning when I opened my eyes I just knew that things were no better.  I had to head into the city to pick up my passport and do a few other things and not one person asked me about the ‘bite’ on my face, as It had gone past the point of people asking what had happened as you could see in their faces that they did not know if it was heriditaty, a disease or an abusive husband.  Back to work for lunch and the 4 hours I was there it just degenerated so much I headed upstairs to another doctor.  It was getting to sheer desperation.  I needed this thing to start clearing up as the first portion of my trip was starting to look shakey.  This doctor was really nice and this was the first time that shingles was mentioned.  Shingles is a viral disease produced by the chicken pox virus. It is characterised by pain and a blistering rash that occurs along the nerves that have housed the dormant chicken pox virus since its last effects on an individual ( I was 10 when I had chicken pox ) When an individual's immune system can no longer fight the chicken pox virus, they develop shingles.  As we didn’t know which one I actually had, we decided to continue treating me for a spider bite and now also shingles.

Friday for me was the most confronting.  I woke and my face looked like something from a horror movie. This is no exageration.  Today was quite upsetting with the realisation that I would probably have to cancel my Trans Mongolian portion of my trip, as my face had not only NOT improved was getting worse as the days wore on.  I had Zoe’s school cross country that I promised I would go to, but my face would have just scared all the kiddies the way it was.  Luckily when I was at the chemist I bought an eye patch, so I decided to don this and head down to the oval to watch my oldest god-daughter run her little heart out – and it was definetly worth looking like Blackbeard for the morning.  I made my third appointment at the doctors for the third day in a row.  I just wanted to make sure there was nothing else I could be doing over the week-end to help in my recovery.  This male doctor was not only hot but also really nice and also said he thinks it is shingles.  With all the medication I was on there was really not much more they could do for me.  If shingles is not diagnosed within the first 72 hours then you have to run the whole course of the infection – which is where I found myself.

Saturday and Sunday I found the mornings were the worst times with the swelling, but the drugs started to kick in and by mid morning – lunch time I was starting to resemble the old Bernie once again.  This was a massive releif for me and to know I had turned the corner and was coming through the otherside was something I won’t forget.  I am glad I persisted with the doctors and paid the money for the drugs and the visits ( all $400 worth ) to make sure I was in the best condition possible for the start of my trip.

The upside – as there is always one is that I had an alcohol free week for the first time since before christmas.  So we are talking quite a few weeks in total and it made a nice change to wake up on a Sunday morning refreshed and not hung over and feeling like I had swallowed a hairball and drunk 50 litres of vodka.

So that was my medical emergency the leading up to my last week.  I am hoping that I have got all my ailments done and dusted BEFORE I go and will now have a medical free trip!

Shingles or Spider Bite?
We will never know!!!!! 

Days Are - Tick – Tick - Ticking

I really am not sure where the time has gone. 

The only way I know how many days I have left is from the countdown clock I have added to my blog.  I remember telling my best friend when I was nearly into double digit days that that’s when the real countdown would start.  The timing from 101 days to 22 has been, to say the least, a whirlwind.  My week-ends since Christmas have been manic ( my liver is silently agreeing of this point ) and the reality of the ‘no home’, ‘no job’ and ‘no familiar faces’ starts to set in.

Well with only 22 days till I leave ( according to my countdown clock ) it is still hard to believe that I am so close.  The ‘real’ countdown is now on. 

My second last Saturday that I will have to work

My last staff meeting on Monday

14 walking days

8 working days  

3 more weekends

3 more episodes of Farmer Wants a Wife and My Kitchen Rules

2 more visits to The Caxton

2 more pay days and the list goes on…………….

I know it may sound insignificant – but the familiarity will also disappear in 22 days.  Don’t get me wrong – I can’t wait to meet new and ‘different’ people, discover cultures, experience other countries and taste different food – but I will miss the familiarity.

So what goes into the last few weeks’ preparation of a long travel Odyssey?

Arranging money matters for 12 months – this is not as such a mammoth task as it sounds – Travelex is my friend.  With internet banking and BPay – it really is just a matter of being organized – and if you hadn’t guessed – I have no trouble in that department.

Power of Attorney – this is a pretty important one. As I now am husbandless, aside from the financial matters, who will look after my affairs ( touchwood ) should something go wrong.  It is a reality, and I have appointed the most important person in my world for this job.  It comes right down to if I’m in an accident and on life support – what to do, to know whether I would like to donate my organs, and down to being buried or cremated.  Trip or no trip, these things should be discussed with loved ones anyway.

Personal belongings – this has been partially taken care of when I moved out of the family home 5 months ago.  I am now down to the nitty gritty of where personal documents go, family jewelry to be stored and my basic day to day life will need to be boxed and stored until my return.

Working out what will actually come with me on my trip - I have dedicated a post to this already, so you know what is involved.  But doing a pre-pack 4 weeks ago, to actually deciding what will make the cut and what will be culled makes the decision more of a reality. I know that what ever I decide to take / leave something will be the wrong thing – good old Murphy’s Law!

Last and probably the most important is the preparation and the starting of ‘the final’ good-byes.  I hate them at the best of times and just this week I have started to say the ‘G’ word to people whom I won’t see again for at least 12-14 months.   

I hate to think what I will be like at the airport – I can see it now, I will be a blubbering mess – you know the people you see at the international airport – crying like babies – and waving all the way down the escalators and they are still waving as they pass the liquids bag inspection and boarding pass check before heading into customs.  I guess you never really think too much about those people as you generally are only gone for 2 weeks or so, so what is the big deal and tears for?  Well I apologize now – because that will be ME.  So next time you see some-one crying at the airport, have a bit of compassion in your eyes as it is a pretty BIG transition with all those happy and sad feelings running around all at the same time.

Days Are - Tick – Tick - Ticking

 

**SOS** I’m Looking For Some Ideas** HELP**

Im looking for some unique ideas on how I can document my trip.  I’m not talking about collecting stuff, money, stamps, magents etc,  I do that anyway.  I want something that can be done in each city and / or country.  More along the lines of photographic or something that can be captured on video.

Have you heard of Matt Harding? He is an American also known as Dancing Matt for his viral videos that show him dancing in front of landmarks and street scenes in various international locations.  Harding was known by his friends for a particular dance, and while video recording each other in Vietnam, his travel companion suggested he add the dance. The videos were uploaded to his website for friends and family to enjoy. Later, Harding edited together 15 dance scenes, all with him center frame.  The video was passed around by e-mail and eventually became viral, with his server getting 20,000 or more hits a day as it was discovered.  

http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

What about Andrew Günsberg.  He did a photoshoot called "365 Days". A Challenge to Shoot a Self-Portrait every day for a year. To push himself to be creative. A reason to get the camera out of the bag every day. To document a year in his life.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewgunsberg/3708092010/in/set-72157619664755998/

The ideas we have come up with to date aren’t as grandios as the above two but see what you think about these:

• As I am travelling to so many counties a photo of breakfast or dinner everyday.  I am sure there maybe some ‘unusual’ foods that will be seen.  But the downside is I may not make breakfast everyday.
• A photo of my hotel room / tent / accommodations and or the view from them.
• A photo of the toilets used on the trip.  I think this could be interesting and disgusting all at the same time.
• Photos of famous landmark ‘shadows’ – I have seen a lonley planet book solely on that, but maybe weather bound
• A picture of a local from every country ( with permission of course )
• The good old mascot photo.  I have always taken a mini Elmo on all my holidays – but he has been MIA on the last few trips.  He is now on the packing list for this one.
• Vegemite reactions.  Get locals to taste some vegemite and take a photo of their reactions.  This would possibly be quite a funny one to do.
• Making what number day I am up to of my trip out of local products of the country I am in.  So everyday would be spelt out in shells or tea or coconuts for example……
• The last one I have was to do with the song ‘I’ve Been Everywhere Man’ and substituting the places of that song with the places that I am going to as I visit them, so it would be an on going thing.  I think that would be pretty cool!

Anyway that is all we have come up with so far.  If anyone has an idea they want to share

PLEASE DO – I’d love to hear from you. 

I would just hate to hear a great idea half way through my trip and missed all the countries I had already been to.

**SOS** I’m Looking For Some Ideas** HELP**

Meet My Bloggie

Well since I have started a blog – it is only fair that I introduce you to my new gadget that I received at Christmas from the Elkin Family – my BLOGGIE.

It is basically a high definition video camera the size of a small mobile phone.  Okay so I won’t make Steven Spielberg quality movies from the Bloggie, but it is small enough and good enough for the budding videographer that I hope to become on my trip. 

I have had a video camera before – it was bought with all good intentions of regularly  using it 8 years ago, especially on holidays.  But as you maybe aware, I love to take a lot of photos and found that I always had to choose between the photo shot or the video piece, with the camera winning every time and found that the video camera just wouldn’t even make it out of  it’s bag.  With the obvious bulkiness as another downside it was used once on a trip to the USA and it has never see the light of day again.

So why will it be different with the BLOGGIE? 

• Well the size of the Bloggie is the first plus.  At the size of 5.1cm wide, 1.5cm depth and 10.7cm long it truly is the size of a mobile phone.  That thing will fit in your pocket, bag, bra, where-ever you normally keep a phone this thing will sit right in there as-well
• The Bloggie doesn’t come with any cords or chargers.  This can be a plus or a downside.  It has a built in USB that flicks out and connects directly to your computer and this is also how it charges.  For me this is a plus.  Less cords to take on my trip – I just have to be organized.
• No memory cards required.  It has an 8GB memory.  Another plus or downside I hear you say – but do you realize how much video can fit on 8GB?  Trust me – that is a lot of footage.
• The 3inch touch screen also makes it cool to play with – so for only that reason it will come out and get some ‘play’ time.  It is AWESOME! 

Quite fitting that it is called a Bloggie and I will be using it for my Blog.  I hope to not only share all my gazillion photos but maybe a little footage aswell to give a true feel of what is being experienced.  I am just thankful that as it is a ‘precious’ item meaning it will not be getting any video footage of drunken escapades or drinking nights ( the thought of losing my Bloggie while drunk scares me ) and to be honest I think what the normal camera captures is more than enough information when sharing ‘those’ particular experiences – that is scary enough in the still format.

So I hope that you will get as much pleasure at seeing some video footage from our beautiful world that I will be lucky enough to experience first hand. 

Stay tuned and look out Ron Howard there’s a new kid on the block!

**How Much Money Will I Need**

As a travel agent this is one of the most asked questions I get. 

"How much spending money will I need for my trip"

It is a bit of a crystal ball question:

Do you drink heaps?

Do you buy a lot of knick knack stuff?

Do you send packages / post cards home?

Do you eat out at fancy restaurants all the time?

The list can go on………………………………………………

I have had a rule right from the very start of my first overseas trip – like **cough cough** – well a few years ago now.  My rule is to budget $100 a day for each day that I am away.  My trips usually consist of a tour and I would have already prepaid that before I leave Australia.  So the $100 is purely spending money, food money, crap money and more importantly drinking money.  I find this rule works well – as some days are travel days and you are lucky to spend more than $20 depending on where you are in the world and some days you may have a BIG night out and spend more than you were supposed to. 

People ask me what about the currency exchange?  My $100 bucks goes a long way in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Asia in general and then when you get to places like the Cayman Islands, Iceland, Norway, Tahiti and countries that are generally well-to-do and have their own, very strong currencies – it kicks our Aussie dollar right in to next week. But this is all part of the travelling experience and I will generally stick to the rule – no matter where I am in the world.

In saying that I do have a secret stash of money, so if I see a piece of jewellery, want to do that balloon ride over the Serengeti or the helicopter ride over New York, I can dip into that and not feel too bad that I have upset the ‘budget apple cart’ to much.  Some experiences you just have to do – it would be crazy to pass up, as you just may not get back to certain countries again.  Some things are just worth blowing the budget for.

I’m hoping I will be able to re-coup some of the budget money in Africa, Madagascar and on my French River Cruise to name a few tours.  This will in turn give me some extra money in the kitty for ‘other things’ or maybe even be able to extend my time away if I am super good.  I mean how much money can you spend on an African Safari or in Madagascar – a country known for Lemurs and the export of Vanilla – how could I possibly blow my budget there?

So this rule will hopefully hold me in good stead on my round world trip for 14 months.  That’s 461 days people – you do the math’s and let’s just see how close I come to keeping my own rule.

$100.00 a day for each day I am away!!!  

What Would You Miss In Twelve Months?

Generally when I travel – most of my trips are 2-3 weeks maximum.  I have done a few 4 weekers and 2 eight week trips over my travelling history.

So it is not a great deal of time away from home right?

So why, when you are on holidays do you get these unexplainable urges for something back home?  Whether it be a juicy steak from the Brekky Creek ( when you are in India of all places ) a packet of twisties ( there are eqivilants but it’s just not the same ), craving for your favourite chinese food that just no-one else can emulate, carrot cake from the bakery across from your work, your best friends advice or your god-daughters laughter….

I am sure I am not on my own.  There must be other people out there – whether you travel for 4 days, 4 weeks or 4 months – there must be something that you miss from home while on the road?

I was thinking about this the other day and as corny as the saying sounds

“you never know what you had till it’s no longer there"

or something to that effect - you get my drift. 

So what will I miss most about being away for 12 months?

*A place to call home – I think that is going to be my biggest ‘miss’

*My psudeo family – you guys know who you are

*My friends–I know I will make new ones–but nothing beats people who know the real you

*My God-daughters unconditional love and their 5 and 3 year old aspects on life

*Work – that sounds sucky – but my workplace is awesome.  Maybe it is the people rather than the ‘work’ side of things I will miss?

*Johnny’s ceasar salads – yes I know you can get ceasar’s all over the world but not like Johnny’s.

*Driving my own car

*Knowing where I am and where I am going

*The Caxton – sad but true

*Clothing options – you try and live in a backpack with the same clothes for 12 months

*Speaking to people on the phone - my world will totally become electronic

*Cadbury chocolate and Smith’s and Samboy Chips

*Chris’ hot chips with seasoning salt – no really it is the best salt ever… oh and his fish stips… d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s

*Red Rooster chicken – no one cooks chicken like Red Rooster

*Race Days with the girls and our crazy hats that we wear

*Christmas day and waking up to the sounds of excited children

They may seem like small things – but these are what makes your life a home and as much as I am looking forward to all the new places and experiences I think I am entitled to miss some things from home…………

What Would You Miss In Twelve Months?

Photography Preparation for a Photoholic

Okay so those of you who know me know that I take a lot of photos. 

A LOT! 

I like to call myself a Photoholic or a Pathological Photographer. 

Either way I ♥ love taking pictures.  People, places, scenery, food, signs – you name it I photograph it.

I am guilty of being a point and shoot kind of gal – and all my camera’s have always been of the point and shoot variety.  I decided maybe it was time to upgrade my camera ( without going crazy – as I have to carry the stuff ) and I have gone and purchased a Pentax X90 superzoom with 26x optical zoom lens and all the abilities of a SLR camera but just not as big.  Don’t get me wrong my point and shoots will still be coming along for the ride ( both of them – I’ll explain further later ) but I really wanted to make sure I was going to capture the type of photos I hope to get out of my trip.  Like the Gorilla’s in Uganda and Rwanda, the stunning untouched beaches of the Seychelles, a close up of lions and giraffes in Africa, the iceburgs and penguins in Antarctica etc……...  Okay you get my drift.  We know what comes along with a camera with more capabilities – a BIG arse manual on how to work the thing.  And then they start talking ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure, bracketing etc ….  What the hell?  It opens up a whole new world of photography.  Maybe I should just stick with my point and shoots!!!

Well I’m always up for a challenge.  I have bought 2 travel photography books and the one that I am getting amazing information from is Lonely Planets Guide to Travel Photography.  It is like a photography guide for dummies and I am gleaning so much information from it.  I have started the ‘Bernie Course 101’ on how to use my camera to the best of it’s abilities and how to get more professional shots.

 

“Travel is an exciting experience and your photography should reflect it”

So how may camera’s is too many?  Don’t ask me as a have a load of them.  But I will be taking on my trip 3 camera’s and they will all be serving a purpose.

Beside being back-ups if one breaks or is stolen the use for each one is:

◙ My Canon IXUS 105 aka also known as the ‘drinking camera’.  It is an awesome little camera and is the one if I was on a night out and had too many sherberts then it is not the end of the world if I lost it.

◙ My Samsung TL225 is my pocket camera.  This camera is super awesome for such a little guy and will be the main camera I will be using from day to day – especially when it will not be practical / advisable to have the larger camera with me.  I love this camera though and a lot of editing can be done on this one.  Best functions is black and white and the ‘beautify’ function – not that I need that for myself right?

◙ The last camera is my Pentax X90 – which I am still learning to use.  I am really excited on the photos I will be able to capture on this one, with the additional zoom and the ability to change light, shutter speed etc is a whole new world to me and I think this will out weigh the downside of the bulky size.

So being such a HUGE photographer ( I loosely use the term photographer ) - I am now working out the best way to take, store and publish all my pictures on my trip.  It will be a massive job – to be honest I think at the end of 461 days I will have, at a guess 45,000 pictures!  Imagine the slide show I will have when I get home!  Who’s got a spare 10 hours to look at my photos upon my return?  Yawn yawn yawn I hear you say – I wouldn’t do that to you all anyways – would I????

My biggest fear is losing photos.  Whether from some-one stealing my camera, stealing my bag with my memory cards, my computer stuffing it, Facebook going down ( heaven forbid ), heat, x-ray etc…. the list goes on…..  So I have an over cautious plan but I want you to remember it is better to be safe than sorry when you read what my back-up plans are.

I will have a memory card for each ‘trip’ I have booked – okay maybe 2….

At the end of each day the photos will be saved to the hard drive of my notebook.

I will then also save them to an external hard drive ( still yet to buy )

I will then also save them onto 64GB USB sticks

…and finally when I get internet access I will also load them onto Facebook

Over cautious I hear you say – tough.  I lost my camera in Sydney once at a travel function and I felt like I had left a piece of me somewhere – it was a terrible feeling .  I had a picture of me and Larry Emder on that camera.  Imagine how I would feel if I lost more important photos than Larry!!!!  So I am certainly not taking the risk of losing those pictures of Lemurs in Madagascar, party nights in Ibiza, or riding a camel in Morrocco – you get my drift – irreplaceable…… Over cautious – tough……..

Hope you can join me on looking through my lens to a window of the world we live in.