Lists and gear and money and visas (or, in other words, it will all work out)
That is what my brain has been full of this past weekend – lists and gear and money and visas.
Now, don’t get me wrong — i love a good list as much as the next type-A-control-freak-who-is-not-all-that-organized, but currently I have about 10 lists all over the place. The other day, I found one in my car. Huh, a lot of good that one was doing for me. Good thing I had most of the stuff written down somewhere else (most items seemed to be cross-referenced on about 75% of the lists).
But, let me give you a perspective on my day (yes, this day in which I had nothing really to do – except, you know, tackle THE LIST(s) — which, is coincidentally, just about the only day in the next two and half weeks when I did not have something else to do):
-wake-up; go exercise (while thinking about either the to-do list or what gear to bring with me or what I should do when I am in Vietnam); come home – get ready for my day; drink coffee while thinking about getting to my to-do list; spend two hours looking at gear online that I still need to get; make another list of gear to purchase; check online account; add up budget (AGAIN) – think about how much below budget I am – count up hours working this summer – do the math (again); read lonely planet (start with nepal, move to patagonia, then back to nepal, then to bolivia, then vietnam, back to nepal); and repeat (well, except for the wake-up part).
yes — you might notice that there is a lot of thinking and list making and more lists — but not a whole lotta action happening… yeah, in fact — if you saw my room right now, you would not really believe that i am moving out in 16 days (I mean, how long does it really take to pack up everything?).
Two and half weeks… at which point I will be out of my apartment and head to Maine for a 3 week OB course. then back here for a week before I leave. crazytown….
but tomorrow — tomorrow is going to be a new day. I have promised myself that I am gong to make all my important (read: scary) calls this week (insurance, loans, and more insurance). I will mail out my passport for my Nepal visa (since I just got it back with my India visa). I will get boxes to pack my stuff. and, in the process, will learn to let go of all my lists…. that is my mantra these days – it will all work out….
oh, and just for the record….. it is hard to come up with a gear list when you are going from trekking in the Himalayas to traveling through India to lounging on the beaches of vietnam to trekking and climbing in the Andes and Patagonia….. you try it – think about that gear list for a moment – it isn’t small.
Yup, here are all the clothes I am bringing. Some of you might think this is not a lot, but this spread seems a lot bigger than my list seemed…. hmm…. guess I don’t need much more!
