Three Little Needles

Voila! It's done! I got my vaccines against most of the really bad diseases which could attack me in the far corners of the globe.

The Traveler's Clinic, it was an excellente idea. With the list of the countries I wish to visit, they looked at all the diseases I could get. The future tourist, me, can than choose if he accepts or not the vaccines recommended. Because some of them are really expensive.

Meanwhile, the nurse gave me a lot of flyers on what to do and what not to do to prevent myself from getting infected by anything. Diphtheria, tetanos, whooping cough, hepatitis, typhoid, yellow fever, etc. could all be combined in three vaccines.

Very expensive, the rabies vaccine can prevent you from getting a sort of blood transfusion you might not want to get in some countries that are less developped. You need three injections, the last one being 28 days after the first one.

Once I got my vaccines, I saw a doctor who gave me a flyer for each country I want to visit. Each one describes the risks for malaria, for example. The doctor filled a list of prescriptions to renew the medicine I already am taking.

They include Imodium, Cipro and Zithromac against diarrhea, Malarone to prevent me from getting malaria, and gastrolyte. They recommend to bring Benadryl againt allergies and pristine, a pouder to treat water to make it drinkable. Don't forget the spray against mosquitos, Gravols, sunscreen and Polysporin.

Tip
For prevention, you can bring syringes. If you need an injection, you could demand that the doctors use your clean and sterilized syringes. It is better if you can get a letter from your doctor which confirms you are allowed to transport syringes.

Earthquake for Christmas

I don't know who chose the date for Christmas this year, but I'm not sure I agree with it yet. Ok for the holiday, the sleep you can get, but stopping to plan my trip... never.

My passport finally arrived at home. That is an important thing to start asking for visas. And to buy plane tickets. Because some companies want to know your passport number to sell you a ticket online.

So, my first destinations are chosen and have been put on the calendar. Hard to backtrack once the price of the tickets have been billed on the credit card. I will let you think a little more about where I'm going while I confirm I'll fly on the wings of United and Air Pacific. Oh yes!

I put my own advices to work, searching the best price on several websites. Discounts were not where I thought I would find them. But one thing that is logical is that crossing the Pacific Ocean brings you to your destination... two days after take off. Getting old very fast. The impression we're losing so much time. Eventually, coming back, I will get that time back. I'll get younger.

I now know where I'll be at the end of February. And I realize it will be difficult not to stay longer than what I planned at the start. I'm already "late" on my schedule. The beauty of it is that the schedule can go to hell. We'll see if I end up there too.

I also have my visa for a very friendly country that let you get it really easily on their website. No pictures, no questions about your income, your job, the age of your dog or your neighbour, or your favorite pizza brand. Just a big yes and big open arms (that reach directly in your wallet).

Hints
I started shopping for my trip. The hint of the day : find a cheap wallet. It can be useful if you get mugged. You can carry it with a couple of notes inside and it would probably convince robbers that you don't have anything more to offer. Haven't tried it yet but read it somewhere.

For all of those who are still wondering where I'll land later, let me tell you my heart broke, and I was a little stressed, when I read rumors about damages in Christchurch's airport after an earthquake.

My God you're lucky!

First reaction : "My God you're lucky!" That is at least the message I received the most since I announced that I would be leaving for a trip around the world.

Let's set things clear right now : chance has nothing to do with my decision to leave. A long trip, on paper, is extraordinary. Like having Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Kris Letang and Jeff Skinner in your hockey pool at the job. On paper, it's perfect. But in reality, it's not that clear.

I didn't win at the lotery. Nobody offered me for free to discover exotic places. I made a decision. And it would be hard to leave without having thought it throught. The list of tasks to do is huge. But the secret, actually, is to make lists and to check or cross stuff as you go.

Vaccines
I managed to make an appointment to get my shots. The Traveler's Clinic is amazing : an appointment two weeks after the phone call. They promise to update my vaccines and they'll suggest everything I need according to the countries I will visit. They analyzed my itinerary. They will renew my prescriptions. But the bill could be hard to pay. 

Cats
I also found a place where my cats would be fed and taken care of while I'm gone. And I won't need to separate them. I realized that while you stress for things like that, you ignore that a lot of people would agree to take care of your animals for a temporary time while you're gone. Less responsabilty for them than if they had to adopt.

ATM
Leaving your home to fly to a different country can pose some problems on the budget or trying to get some foreign currencies. Joy! Technologies are helping. ATM saves you a lot of headhaches. You can usually withdraw some money as soon as you get in a new country.

But one needs to know there is two types of debit cards : Plus and Cirrus. A symbol behind your card tells you what system your card is compatible with. Some will tell you that you need a four digits PIN in some countries. Not with the Plus system. That one will recognize automatically your five digits PIN. My bank told me so.

International driver's licence
Other thing to do : get the international driver's licence. That's a traveling document that gives your details in several languages. It doesn't replace the original driver's licence, but makes it easy to read for the authorities. It costs around 30 $ in Quebec and it's good for one year. I don't know yet if I plan to drive abroad, but I don't want to take chances.

Be careful. Some countries won't let you drive, even with the international driver's licence. It is the case in Cambodia, where it is not advised to drive. Note that it could be a good idea to study the signs also, since they may be different from the ones you see at home.

Flags
To conclude, to challenge you a little bit, I added a section on my blog where I will put the flag of the country I will be visiting. You'll see, without cheating, if you can guess where I am.

When it's time to go

What about a good share of resilience to start the sprint of preparation? No choice, when the clock does tic-tic, you need to move forward. And to accept that all will not go as planned. What a training!

First things first : passport. It's one thing to say that paying more will get you your passport one day before you take the plane. But if you have time, why not trying to save yourself from some stressful moments. Lots of occasions to be « last minute » are waiting around the corner anyway.

When I got my latest passport, everything seemed easy. Valid until 2015. Lots of empty pages... No! When you look at what you need to get some visas, you realize you often need one or two empty pages to be granted the right to visit a country.

Used the calculator. Fast! To find out, for example, that if all the custom officers were nice enough to use all the room available in a page to put their stamp, I should be okay. Probably! But there is always one who chooses to use a full empty page to put his stamp right in the middle.

So! No choice, needed a return trip to Montreal to make things easy. The form fully filled, ugly pictures of myself in my pocket, and the « old » passport... The « old » passport! Where is it? Disappeared? Sweating! Flash (McQueen)! Lost for a moment on the sidewalk downtown Montreal. Good start! As long as it doesn't happen downtown Tokyo...

While I was there, why not ask for a 48 pages passport, thicker of course, but at least it would keep me from trying to get a new one in the middle of Jordan or Cambodia. And there would be enough room in there to heal the blues of being back, if I need to. Skeptical, the passport agent, but everything seemed okay. Only need to wait now.

Next time : getting some vaccines. The only thing is that it is impossible to get an appointment between the doctor's voice mail that sends you back to the web site where the appointment form looks like it disappeared. Tic, tac!

Confirmed: I'm going

It is confirmed!

My seven montss off work have been granted and placed on the calendar. I cannot go back. In about two and a half months, I'll quit my job, my bag on my shoulders, to jump into an exciting and scarry adventure that a round-the-world trip has to offer. Millions of things to plan are left. Still have problems to solve, knots to untie, but I will make it.

This post is the fist of a long serie that, I hope, will be interesting.

From the top of my fear of heights, I start the countdown.