Grand Adventure Part 1 Under Way!

So the whirlwind of the last few weeks has finally come to a blissful halt. My schedule was quite full and my lists of things to do kept spinning in my head. I had a lovely day Saturday working the Railroad Days fair in Colfax with Beth and Audrey. We handed out brochures and got people to sign up for a free massage drawing. I had the opportunity to help set up books for a little while with the Friends of the Library and of course ended up leaving with almost as many books as I dropped off. A little last minute packing and then it was time to go dancing!

Balboa Junction was a ton of fun with all the friends we have made wishing us a good time in Hawaii. The theme was "Back to School" so I dressed in a plaid skirt and white shirt with knee high white socks and patent leather Mary Janes. Kim went in full "geek" regalia with his plaid shirt buttoned all the way up, a pocket protector and the big thick black glasses complete with band-aid around the bridge. He looked adorable! I was smitten all over like the schoolgirl I was dressing up as. We danced until 11 and then drove to Marin where we slept a few hours at my folks.

Sunday they drove us into the city and we were able to re-live the bliss that is "Wonderfoot". After that we had a delicious Chinese dinner at Eliza's on California (thanks Akiko!) with  Mom, Dad and Lydia and Tim.

After a nice night at the  Burlingame Marriott we headed for the Airport and a mere 12 hours later we arrived at the Napili Surf Condos. I wish Kim and I had brought the camera cable but let's just say it is without a doubt paradise here!

2 weeks to Maui!

I am so looking forward to this first leg of our big journey! We are off to Maui on the 29th of this month. I had originally tried to get the family timeshare condo for early September. But lucky us there was time for us in early October instead.  That puts us back to back with Camp 

Swing and India so we will be covering some serious miles in October!

After all the preparations for this extended journey I am so grateful that I will have a little time to catch up on sleep, read a little, swim, sun and cycle. If I tried to keep up this busy pace, and then immediately go off on our 3 week whirlwind tour of India,  it would have been tough to really enjoy the sights through the sleep deprived as well as jet lagged brain.

I am so pleased with my frugal trip as I think it is going to be the cheapest trip to Hawaii ever. We used miles to fly. Staying at the family condos. We can take the bus when we get off the plane and avoid having to get a rental car and buy gas altogether! Safeway is just a few minutes walk and the farmer's market is also just down the road. And best of all is this guy I found on craigslist-Lahaina who fixes and sells bikes. Turns out his most expensive one is $85 dollars so our transportation needs will be covered!

If I close my eyes and think real hard I can almost imagine the sounds of the waves and the salty humid breeze from the ocean.  Sigh....I think I will go pack!

To Jab or not to Jab

One of the least pleasant parts of getting ready to go to India is all the shots. Turns out this is a big deterrents to travel in that part of the world for many of the people I've talked to.

Our tour guide did not make it mandatory for us to get them but even my holistic acupuncturist said "do the Typhoid one!" I was on the fence for a while and then I decided it was all or nothing.  After talking to the Travel Doc and a few others I decided to just go ahead and get it over with. Yes, hearing about a friend's Aunt coming back with Polio did light a little fire under me.  Most of them are good for life and the ones that are only good for a few years are for the super nasty bugs you really want to be protected from. 

Turns out I haven't had a valid Tetanus, Polio or Measles Mumps Rubella. I remember drinking some green potion as a child and I guess that wasn't really as good as it should be. The one I was dreading was the Tetanus. I actually remember the size/bore and pain of the shot I got years ago. I also remember not being able to use my arm for a day or two. Thinking that wouldn't be good for my massage abilities I was leery. Turns out they have improved the whole thing with a smaller needle, less vaccine and yes you are sore but not like it used to be.

Week one we did Polio, Hep A&B combo shot, and Tetanus. Took the Typhoid pills every other day for a week (pills last 5 years vs the shot which lasts 3 at the same cost)

Week two we did HepA&B combo shot #2 and Measles-Mumps-Rubella

And now we are coming up on week 4 so we go back for our last HepA/B and if our travel doc has been lucky we will get the first in a 3 shot series for Japanese Encephalitis.  We almost got away with not having to do this one but the Doc said "You don't need this one really...unless you are going to be in the very north of India near the Himalayas." Great, since all our travel is in the north and we are doing a Fishing/Camping trip at the foot of the Himalayas I guess it is more shots for us, yippee!

Ironically we are doing all this prevention and not taking Malarial meds. Turns out the best way to deal with Malaria is to take a particular anti-biotic for a month before, during and for at least 3 weeks after a trip to an area with Malaria. Since I happen to be extremely allergic to the particular recommended anti-biotic, this tactic is right out! I will "dip" some clothes, wear deet and keep covered as much as possible. 

I truly feel that in this case ignorance was bliss. I traveled through Asia 3 times before without even knowing this was recommended  and of course never had a problem. But now that I know what's out there I guess it would have been tempting fate not to do what I could to avoid contracting any of these diseases. 

Until we decide to journey to Africa, where the yellow fever monster lives,  I think I am just about all jabbed up.

How to make Getting Visa's Fun!

Turns out in order to travel to India, you must get a visa to enter the country. There are only two ways to do this. The first way is to go online and fill out the forms and then send them, along with your passports, photographs and around $75 to the visa outsourcing office in San Francisco (or the city nearest you with an Indian Consulate.) This seemed like a possibility and I imagine if I didn't live so close to the consulate I would have to do this. But, the idea of trusting my passport to the mail so close to when I depart was a bit too scary for me. I chose option 2. I took the day off work and went in person. 

Luckily Kim and I were already down in the Bay Area. As the visa place was closed Monday we went in Tuesday morning. Getting everything together was a little hectic as we hadn't done the "passport" sized photos or gotten a money order until we were on our way in to the city. A stop at Longs for the money order and a stop at Kinkos for the photos and we were just barely able to make it into the office for our appointment time. Turns out we could have paid in any form visa, cash etc. and hadn't needed the extra stop. Once we got there the line was out the door. All the signs said "You must turn in all your paperwork by 11am to receive your passport and visa back the same day!" They were nice enough to let us slide as by the time we got to the counter it was after 11:30.  

With the hectic part of the procedure done it was time for some serious breakfast. The mini bear claw I'd eaten hours before had worn off and Kim had the brilliant idea to go get Dim Sum. So up Geary we went into the outer avenues. Ton Kiang never disappoints and is without a doubt my favorite spot for asian food...Dim Sum in particular. If you ever go it is on Geary Boulevard at 24th Ave and I highly recommend the rice porridge and fruit salad for breakfast-like fare and the egg custard tarts, mango pudding and soybean "pancakes" for dessert. I won't even go on about all the varieties of steamed, fried, baked, stuffed items to have as a middle course as there isn't enough room in this post for all that.

After successfully eating enough for all meals of the day we drove a few blocks further on into the Outer Richmond. I was able to reminisce about my high school days by spending a few hours at Simple Pleasures Cafe on Balboa. This is the spot where I spent most of my years of high school wasting time. Granted this time I didn't sit around drinking tall hot chocolates getting jacked up on caffeine while playing backgammon and smoking too many cigarettes. In those days  I was part delinquent loser and yet still on honor roll and 16th in my class of 800. I think back now and realize if I hadn't been so keen on goofing off and partying I could have been valedictorian or something. 

It wasn't quite the same without all the smoke and "too cool-leather clad-vespa riding" boys. Then again I don't think I would be all that impressed by them now ;)

After a few hours of free internet surfing,  where I tried to get some logistics of our India trip nailed down, it was time to either feed the parking meter or move on. 

With still several hours to kill Kim and I tried to go to my old place of employment. The first job I had as a massage therapist was at Sunset Sauna and Massage. Well it is no longer, which is a sad passing of an era for me. And sad for us as we really were hoping to get massages. 

Google search to the rescue....I put in "foot massage san francisco" and the first listing was for "WonderFoot" a foot reflexology/massage spot just a few blocks from the Ton Kiang restaurant. So back across the park we went to 27th and Geary/Anza. 

The nice British/Chinese lady running the place set us up in the "Family Room" where there were 3 large reclining chairs with ottomans. They soaked our feet and then gave us head/scalp/arm/hand/ massages for about 10 minutes and then nearly 40 minutes on our feet! Just when I thought they were finished they had us turn over and massaged our shoulders and backs through our clothes (the recliners went fully horizontal). I was blown away! I could learn more than a thing or two from the guy who gave me a session. Steven was really good at his job and from the occasional snork next to me I think Kevin was putting Kim in blissland. 

We floated out of there and at $35 dollars each I am trying to think of excuses to go back in the city. We just had time to go back downtown before 6pm and I let Kim run in to get our passports back while I circled the block. 

Overall I would say that I went from dreading the chore of getting a travel visa to wishing everywhere we went needed one just so I could repeat this fabulous day!

Getting Ready to Go-What it Takes!

I never thought getting ready to go away on vacation was so much work. I guess I'd never planned a trip quite this extensive. I am becoming the queen of "lists". Mostly because if I don't write it down, in the chaos I keep forgetting to do things.

Luckily I am still working too, so for each session of massage I get a reprieve from the overwhelmed feeling and get an hour of grounded focus on someone else. Thank goodness for that or I would be a wreck!

What does it take to get ready to go on a Sabbatical that begins with a vacation to Hawaii, Thailand, India and Hong Kong? 

Well, first of all you have to be ready for your whole life to change. At the moment the nervous anticipation of that is stronger than the excitement over the trip of a lifetime. I am hoping that once the plane takes off the excitement and giddy enjoyment will prevail.

Some of the big things on the to-do list....plane tickets, country entry visas, winterizing the house, setting bills up in advance and figuring out what to do with your plants/pets/mail while you are gone.

Next installment: How to make getting a visa an awesome experience!