6 days to go!

Hi Mom!  Have I told you lately that I love you?  Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for coming up today and helping us pack.  You are a master packer!  The apartment is a shambles, but our nerves are much calmer after making such great headway today.  Domo arigato! (Practicing my Japanese…)

Well, we’re into single digits until D-Day…we depart on Wednesday and fly direct into Tokyo (thank you Amex points!).  The last 2 weeks since our last WFM blog post have been spent getting visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, confirming the movers, last minute errands and shopping.  (I still need the perfect, wrinkle-free LBD!)  We’ve also been doing the NY Farewell Tour…we had a great get-together last week with a bunch of our pals here in the city.  It was a crappy, rainy night, yet, still, so many people came out to wish us well.  It was such a fun night.  We also went upstate and spent a lovely few days with John’s family.  We wished them all a Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Easter, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, et cetera.  Got it covered for the next year!

John did a great Q&A on the last post, but we got a few more follow up questions from folks, so I thought I’d answer them now:

Do you have an exact itinerary for the year or are you flying by the seat of your pants?

Somewhere in the middle.  We know the general order of countries/continents we want to visit and generally how long we want to stay, but we want to have the flexibility to stay longer if we’re really enjoying a country (or leave sooner if not!).  We’ll end up planning our flights/hotels one or two countries in advance, if that makes sense.  We did book our first 4 flights already because of entry requirements/visa restrictions.  So we know we’ll start in Japan for 4 weeks (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, et al), then South Korea for 2 weeks (flying into and out of Seoul).  Then it’s off to Beijing to see the Great Wall.  (I’m so excited to go back…when I was there 5 years ago it was really cloudy/foggy.  Still amazing, but I’m hoping for a sunny day for John’s first visit.)  We’re in mainland China for 5 days then fly out to Taiwan.  We arrive in Taipei on November 11th.  And that’s what we know so far.  After that, it’s Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.  I think we’ll be in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving and SE Asia for Christmas & New Year’s.  It’s gonna be awesome!

How do you pack for a year?

Well, the travel blogs say to pack for a week and do a lot of laundry.  We’re probably packing for 2 weeks.  (Well, maybe I’m packing a little bit more…)  The good news is: Whatever we don’t have, we can buy.  The hard part for me is shoes.  I know I’ll bring too many pairs.  But we can always send stuff home with the folks that visit us along the way.  And toiletries…they say don’t pack full size shampoos and stuff.  Just buy cheap stuff when you arrive in country.  Otherwise, it can throw your luggage over-weight.  We’ll definitely post pictures of our luggage on Monday night (the movers come on Tuesday).

What is Amy going to do about her gray roots?

I have gotten this question more than you would think!  I’m getting my hair done for the last time in the States tomorrow.  My colorist is going to write down the “recipe” so I can bring it to any salon around the world and they can duplicate it.  If I can’t get salon recommendations from locals, I’ll just find the nearest mall or, worst case scenario, 5 star hotel.  Hopefully, you will not see pictures of my gray roots for the next year!

Let me know if there are any other burning questions…happy to answer them!

Don’t forget to Skype me tomorrow so you can practice before we leave.  We love you!  And, we’ll be fine, Mom!

John’s gear for one year. Insanely small!