Off to the travel doctor we go...

This week saw us go and have a consultation with a doctor who specializes in travel medicine. He spent well over 1.5 hours going over what countries we plan to visit and then trying to figure out the risk of us contracting some of the deadliest diseases these areas have to offer. He considers things like time of year, length of stay, weather conditions, accommodation options and the destinations we plan to visit.


A flood of information came pouring out of the doctors mouth and Alain and I struggled to absorb as much of it as we could. We had a crash course in what to do in the event of getting a dog bite or monkey scratch, how to sterilize water, and what we should do if we develop a fever in a Malaria zone. We were also given a copy of Dr Deborah Mills' book - Travelling Well, which is sort of like the travellers medical guide equivalent to the bible.

In the end, we decided to each get a Hepatitis A vaccination, and Alain and I also got a Diphtheria/Tetanus/Pertussis booster.

Poor Mia spotted the needles whilst the nurse was preparing the shots and kinda lost the plot, so no guesses as to who was first up to get their vaccinations! She calmed down pretty quickly once she was given a lolly to munch on though... Dallas on the other hand, didn't have a clue as to what was going on until it was all over and Alain and I... Well, we managed to survive!

Impressionnant ce docteur specialise en voyages autour du monde, il connait tout sur tous les pays, les differentes regions de chaque pays avec les differentes saisons et les risques de chopper tel ou tel virus avec les meilleurs moyens de s'en proteger, il nous a file un bouquin de 500 pages: "comment voyager en bonne sante..." et nous a recommende une liste de 15 vaccins chacun! le tout pour seulement 2000 euros! et j'ai dit "Certainement, et vous allez payer nos billets d'avions!!!". J'exagere un peu mais bref, on a decide de se prendre 4 vaccins chacun (hepatite A, et 3 autres...) et on a retenu des tonnes d'informations pour rester en bonnes sante c'etait donc tres utile.
Apres les mots, l'action: les vaccins, des que Mia a apercu les aiguilles, c'etait foutu pour elle donc pleurs et pleurs... Par contre pour Dallas, les garcons etant toujours un peu plus lents, le temps qu'il comprenne ce qui se passe, c'etait deja finis!

How long till we leave?

10 weeks and 6 days - (semaines et jours)

Or

76 days (jours)

Or

1824 hours (heures)

Or

109 440 minutes (minutes)

Or

6 566 400 seconds (secondes)

But really.... Who's counting? (Mais vraiment... Qui compte?)

Finally!

We did it... We finally did it! We've booked our RTW tickets!! We'll be travelling over 46,494 km (28,890 miles) and we'll visit 14 countries...

C'est maintenant une affaire classee, nous avons reserve nos billets d'avion, nous visiterons 14 pays sur une distance de plus de 46494 km, l'excitation est a son comble...

Stuff, stuff, stuff.... and more stuff!

As you can see, we've been buying 'stuff'. You never really think about how much 'stuff' you need on a RTW trip, until you decided that you want to do one for yourself. And boy, oh boy... do you need quite a bit of 'stuff'.

Comme vous pouvez le voir, on a achete plein de trucs, c'est quand on commence a y penser serieusement que l'on realise combien de trucs on a besoin...

In the past few weeks we've bought a compass, a LED headlamp, a money pouch, a LED torch, a universal sink plug, a travellers clothesline, a multi country power adaptor, two combination cable locks, 2 Light My Fire sporks, a travel size sewing kit, 4 combination pad locks, 2 Eagle Creek Koala toiletry bags, 4 Sea to Summit DryLite micro fibre towels, a Eagle Creek Maiden Voyage backpack for me, and an Eagle Creek Grand Voyage for Alain.

Recemment, on a achete une boussole, une lampe de front a LED, un portefeuille ceinture, une petite torche a LED, un bouchon d'evier universel, un corde a linge de voyage, une prise electrique universelle, 2 cables antivol, 2 sporks Light My Fire (cuillere-fourchette), une boite a couture de voyage , 4 cadenas de voyage, 2 sacs toilette de voyage Eagle Creek Koala,, 4 serviettes de bain Sea to Summit DryLite (sechage rapide style peau de chamois), un sac a dos pour dame Eagle Creek Maiden Voyage et un pour monsieur Eagle Creek Grand Voyage.

For sure, the best deal that I've happened to stumble across was purchasing our backpacks, micro fibre towels and toiletry bags from a great New Zealand company called Bivouca Outdoors. Not only were the bags nearly 45% cheaper than the exact same ones here in Australia, but with the exchange rate they were even cheaper, plus Bivouca offers free international shipping with orders over NZ$200.
I placed my order on a Thursday evening and my package was delivered on Tuesday afternoon... I was super impressed and highly recommend them.

Alain went to Harvey Norman for a 'look' the other day and came home with an Acer Aspire One micro laptop. It was on sale and he couldn't resist buying it. It will be perfect for our trip as it's super small and super light.

I also have been eyeing up a Crumpler Sinking Barge laptop/DSLR camera bag. Hopefully, we'll be able to pick one up on sale because I don't really want to pay full price for this bag. But, oh I do love it and would love to get my grubby little hands on one!

Nous sommes tres contents de nos grand sacs a dos, etant la piece majeure a acheter, Nicola a trouve une super qualite pour un prix tres raisonable en les commandant sur internet dans un magasin en Nouvelle Zelande. Et pour le sac a dos plus leger mais tres costaud pour tous les jours, Nicola a trouve ce qui se fait de mieux dans cette categorie : le Crumpler Sinking Barge, qui est capable de contenir en toute securite notre ordinateur portable, le Acer Aspire One (22,6cm) et notre appareil photo, le Canon 450D avec un zoom Tamron 18-270mm, et accessoires.

Thats it... We're doing it!

I never in my wildest dreams would have though that we'd be doing this Round the World (RTW) trip this early. We always thought we'd do it when the kids were perhaps 10 and 8 years old, certainly not 3 and 5! But, certain events happen in life that make you realize that life really is too darn short to be sitting around waiting to do something. So we are 'biting the bullet' and 'taking the bull by the horns', so to speak and are off on our whirlwind adventure!

So far, April 28th 2009 has been penciled in as our departure date from Australia.

Our rough itinerary is Australia - New Zealand - USA - France - Spain - Turkey - Syria - Jordan - Israel - Egypt - India - Vietnam - Cambodia - Thailand - Laos - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore - Australia.

We've got alot to orgazine still (immunistations, visa's, money... etc), but I'm sure we'll manage. We've got a little over 5 months to get everything sorted, but the count down is certainly on!!

Cette idee de tour du monde en sac a dos a toujours ete presente dans nos esprit, mais la concretiser est une toute autre histoire, et puis dans la vie, des choses se passent et les jours defilent a une vitesse impressionnante, ce qui nous a fait realiser, pourquoi attendre que les enfants aient 8 et 10 ans? Pourquoi pas maintenant? Mia et Dallas n'ont que 5 et 3 ans, et alors? Il y a de ca 2 mois, juste avant de partir au boulot, en 5 minutes, la decision etait prise, faisons le maintenant...

Le 28 avril 2009 sera notre depart...

En partant d'Australie, nous irons en Nouvelle Zelande, USA, France, Espagne, Turquie, Syrie, Jordannie, Israel, Egypte, Indes, Thailande, Vietnam, Cambodge, Laos, Thailande, Malaisie, Singapore et de retour en Australie, le tout en 9 mois et demi.

Nous avons encore pas mal de choses a organiser comme des visas, des vaccins, des cartes bancaires... mais on en viendra a bout avant que le compte a rebours s'arrete.