SE Asia Trip Countdown: Minus 2 days & counting..

Idyllwild, CA

Sometime in the early part of last year, while we were still in France, we came across a wonderful-sounding Road Scholar trip to Southeast Asia. It was a month-long adventure, mostly on a small ship, that would venture to Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Myanmar.  After having an in-depth, protracted discussion about whether we should do it for about 4 minutes, we said to each other, “This sounds like a great trip.  Let’s do it to celebrate our 25<sup>th</sup> Anniversary.”  And so, we signed up – knowing that we didn’t have to pay the serious part of the money until November 2014 – at which point, we’d be back in the US and could decide if we really and truly wanted to go.  Of course, if you know us, you already know the answer to that one.  Of course, we wanted to go!  Definitely!  So, we plunked down our money and said, “Yep, that’s for us!” And now we’ve been back home for 4 months and it’s already time to embark on this trip.  Ah, well.  It’s about that time to hit the road again.  We have many, many lists of things to do before we go, things to pack, things to remember.  We will depart from San Francisco International Airport at just after midnight on Friday, February 13.  And we’ll return, approximately one month later, on March 14<sup>th</sup>.  What’s the plan to get from Idyllwild up to San Francisco?  We plan to leave Idyllwild on Wednesday (Feb 11) morning with the pups and about 2 tons of dog paraphernalia in our van.  We’ll drive the six hours up to Fresno to Aunt Jane’s, where Louie and Rosie are going to reside while we’re gone.  Aunt Jane’s dogs Annie and Scully are very excited about this; her cat Petey, less so. Of course, the hard part now is packing.  The recommendation is that you pack light.  But the detailed list suggests 3 pair wrinkle-free pants or skirts and 3 blouses or shirts.  Are you kidding me?   For a 30 day trip?  I don’t think so. The good news is that it’s going to be HOT (like 80-90F during the days and only down to 70F or so at night).  That means all the clothes can be (and should be) incredibly light weight, so that means more of them will fit in the suitcase.  And, of course, no heavy jackets and no multiple pairs of jeans.  What to take?  What to leave behind?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Today is decision day… But first, a walk to the park with the dogs.