79 days and counting…

Today we are going to R.E.I.  79 days to lift off and its time to invest in some technical fabrics; some of those pants that zipper-convert to shorts, loose trail shirts and washable underwear.  The reality of our trip is setting in as we went to the MGH Travel and Immunization Clinic last week to begin our shot regimen.  The kids only need 5.  Dana needs 9.  Somehow I need 11.  Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Rabies, Polio…and we need to carry 1,000 malaria pills for the family at a cost that would cover our mortgage for several months.

As we gather and purchase stuff for departure, the feeling is kind of like we are planning and procuring for a year-long backpacking trip.  Even though our itinerary has us in nice hotels and the occasional nice tent, we are putting a high value on weight, mass and general portability.  This is particularly challenging for electronics. The kids will each get a netbook primarily to run their Rosetta Stone language courses (Spanish, Latin and Mandarin Chinese) and read e-books, an iPod Touch for each kid, two Kindles for Dana and me, a Macbook for video and photo work, an external hard drive, an external DVD drive, two iPhones, a satellite phone, three digital cameras, an HD video camera and a Flip video camera.  That’s TWENTY-ONE individual items.  All with chargers, 110/220 volt adapters, etc.  The plan is to literally shorten power cords and try to multi-plex as much as possible, then have each kid lug their own little cache of product.  We’ll see.  We’ll see.