As I predicted, today, the day of the new moon, my reliable Chinese travel agent called to tell me my passport with essential visa had made it back from the Chinese Embassy. The one hurdle that causes the most anxiety is negotiated. Now it's all administrative and housekeeping...travel insurance, register with Department of State (a good idea for travelers should one require assistance from one's own embassy abroad), collect travelling cash, get a haircut, shop for necessities, pack.
Decisions. The big bag or the small one? The digital SLR with two lenses or the pocket Casio? Video camera or just a notebook? I lean to small and I have never regretted it. (The opposite of buying memory for devices: no one ever complains of having too much memory.)
Again I envy the kolea...they just take off and arrive. They must be settling into their nesting areas now, have overcome jet stream lag, are engaged in family planning activities. I am not the only one who wonders about these birds and their mysterious magnificent migrations.
9 years ago
5 comments:
Is this a Taoist retreat by any chance?
Either way look forward to reading about your journey when you return.
Mais oui! I traveled with this particular leader last year (and previously on more intensive Taoist meditation retreats); this focuses more on qigong, and culture. Wish you were joining us, you would fit right in.
Leaning to small sounds right to me. I envy the kolea, too.
I always try to lean towards small, and then pack 5 different pairs of shoes for one night. Always. It's a sickness.
So when are you leaving, exactly?
@Sybil--As I understand it, you have a bit of a shoe fetish.
@Suze--Thanks for reading. I'm pretty sure small is it. Being encumbered is not what the trip is about. And anyway, when my small bag was too small last year, I just bought a bigger one in Beijing to bring home the accumulated excess.
I leave Monday, 5/9, so hope you will all be patient; blog updates may be sporadic or completely absent, depending on wifi access (with iPad) in China. Last year my own blog was blocked by the Great Firewall.
What a great looking/thinking group of women in this blog comment section: fellow travelers, you all look like you should be going with me.
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