Logistics!
I’ve spent the last nine months working into the wee hours almost every night, researching potential destinations, developing an itinerary, and working on a seemingly endless number of transportation and hotel arrangements.
The process has been a learning experience.
After all, I’ve never done anything like this before. The extent of my international experience has been shopping at Ikea. And it’s not like I’m dipping a toe into the water. I’m diving head first into the deep end.
Fortunately, Holland America will get me halfway around the world. Figuring out how to get from Singapore back home to Florida, however, required some creativity, perseverance and luck.
Planning a trip of this scope starts out as a very abstract concept. But as it gets closer to actually happening, the game changes. The to-do list starts filling up with dozens of tiny little details, things that need to be done so you can leave and not stress over them when you’re 18,000 miles from home.
Who will watch my cats?
Pills. I take two prescription medications every day. How do I get a 90-day supply?
Underwear? Twelve too many? Six not enough? Hanes? Boxers? Briefs?
Cell phone. AT&T charges a lot for international roaming. Should I go with T-Mobile where it’s included, along with 8 GBs of data, free texting and emails?
Vaccinations. I’m going to some places where, at the very least, malaria and dysentery are rampant. What shots do I need? And where do I get them? (I ended up getting vaccinated for everything from Japanese Encephalitis to Yellow Fever. What is in a tetanus shot that burns like hell?)
Payables. I spent an entire week online setting up auto-pay for everything, from electricity and water to credit cards.
Home security system?
A physical. A dental check-up. Glasses! I need my eyes checked. Back-up pair of glasses?
Does American Express need to know when I’ll be in Kuala Lumpur?
The refrigerator. I’m going to be gone more than three months. I’m guessing the mayo probably won’t survive.
You get the idea.
But there hasn’t been a bigger challenge than figuring out what I’m going to pack, what I’m packing it in, and how to still “travel light.”
We’re talking 94 days, folks, and a wide variety of climates.
I’ll be dealing with cold, wet, upper 40s in Ireland and frolicking in Central America’s equatorial tropics. I’ll be on the Arabian Peninsula, deep in the desert, searching for the Lost City of Petra. I will venture to the top of Mt. Etna in Sicily, dealing with harsh winds and biting cold. Lounging on the beach in India and Cabo San Lucas.
And, I’ll be on a few cruise ships where my tuxedo will be the required uniform for at least 18 of my 94 nights away from home.
News Flash: It won’t all fit in a carry-on.
So, a few months back, I began researching options. I came across LuggageForward, a company out of Boston. They’ll literally come to my house and pick up my “big” bag on September 1, have it waiting in my stateroom on the MS Ryndam in Harwich, England on September 12, pick it up again at my hotel in Singapore on November 2, and have it at the front desk when I check in at the Wyndham in San Diego on November 18.
If you own a standard set of soft side luggage, the kind with wheels and a collapsible handle, made by American Tourister or Samsonite or whomever, you probably own one of these big bags. And, if you’re like me, you’ve never taken a trip that requires it. My “big” bag is roughly 29 inches high, 19 inches wide.
It holds a ton of…stuff. But LuggageForward limits me to 50 lbs. Last Sunday, I actually dragged that monster down to Publix and threw it on the big-ass scale they have just as you walk in the front door. (Why would a supermarket want you to weigh yourself before you buy groceries?)
Clearly I’m not the first person to have this brainstorm. There was a big sign on the scale begging people not to park in the fire lane while weighing their luggage!
Anyway, the bag weighed in at 51-1/2 pounds. I dragged it back home and managed to shed a few pounds. Which meant I then had to revise my packing list.
For overseas deliveries, LuggageDirect requires you to provide them with a fairly detailed packing list for customs, as well as a copy of the first page of your passport. There is also a lengthy list of items that are banned, like my 90-day supply of prescription meds, anything with a lithium ion battery, pornography, firearms, explosives, illegal drugs, and food.
That stuff will end up in my smaller carry-on-size bag. I also have an even smaller “boarding bag” that nests on the handle of my carry-on-size bag. That one is for camera equipment, assorted electronics and my binder. Now almost two inches thick, the binder is my travel bible, containing hard copies of every transfer, tour, hotel and airline confirmation, maps of my destinations, calendars, itinerary, etc.
Clearly, I’m not traveling light. But I’m not exactly going away for the weekend, either.
The cost for LuggageForward to provide me with this convenience doesn’t come cheap. But hauling a 50 lbs. suitcase, carry-on and a technology bag around Dublin and London, Singapore, Bali and across Australia, then to Honolulu and San Diego? They’d find me dead of a coronary. And if you added up the cost to check that one 50 lbs. bag on nine different flights, you’re talkin’ small fortune. And that’s assuming the airlines would carry the bag. I’m taking Air Asia to Bali and then to Perth and the big bag exceeds their weight and size limits. Given the overall safety record of airlines that fly in and out of Malaysia and Indonesia, any limits they have in regards to luggage is fine with me.
Quite honestly, booking the transportation and lodging for this trip was the easy part. And really, a lot of fun. But when you get down to the nitty-gritty leaving-home-for-three-months stuff, it’s also a lot of work.
Did I remember to call the cable company to shut me off for three months while I’m away? That’ll save me almost $500…