Prep and Packing for Round the World 2011

For months everything gets laid out in spare bedroom

Planning started a year ago and all the decisions like where to go and why are first to be addressed.  First stop is easy as Cousin Kent and Susan live in Singapore and have for years.  They picked the next port of call, Sri Lanka and he is booking that trip.  Then on to China and we are in the capable hands of our friend, Gary Nightingale.  Anyone who needs to do business in China, he is the Man.  He arranged for us to see Shanghai and Hangzhou. He will also be there with his fluent Mandarin to help along.  We have to return the favor with a trip to Italy.  Not a bad deal.  After that it was a matter of a few places we had not been and some experiences we wanted to enjoy.  Now after a year of thought and reservations and emails we are off.
The key to this trip is a special program offered by most airlines called "the around the world ticket"  We use American as it is our home carrier and it has great partner airlines.  You can book on line but calling the Round the World desk at American is much easier as they know all the complicated rules.  Direct number is 1-800-247-3247.  Because the cost of a ticket to all the places we are going is equivalent to the cost of a round trip to first stop, we enjoy this trip in first class.  We learned on our last trip that this is essential to feeling well rested and enjoying the journey as well as the destination.  Plus you can hold flights for months on end while fiddling with the itinerary.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=9&category=1

All the rest of the planning is done online, with travel books and just talking to people who have been.

Now the one thing I get more questions about than any other.  How do you pack for this sort of trip?
VERY VERY LIGHTLY!   Everything needs to be carefully analyzed to see if it is needed.  This one is very challenging as we are going to two places that require malaria meds and mosquito prevention.  That means treating the clothes with Premetherin and lots of Deet.  Also long sleeves and long pants.  We buy special clothes that are easy to wash and dry in a minute.  These are made by Ex Offico (online) and Columbia and Magellan (buy at Academy, way cheaper).  Jeans are not an option as they are too heavy and take too long to dry hanging in the shower. We also need clothes for China where the high will be about 50.  That means one sweater, one jacket, cheap mittens and a scarf I will buy there.  One pair of warm pants and tights to wear under the lightweight pants we have.  After we leave China and cold weather they will be a present for the maids.  We will also need something sort of resort like for about three weeks of the trip so a few t-shirts and whatever fun jewelry I buy on the way to dress it up.  Belts, jewelry and scarves are great to bring back. We do not obsess about what we take.  Anything can be bought anywhere. 

type of shirt for safari

Medical...yes we need shots but we are so up to date on shots the only thing we needed was tetanus.  We keep the yellow international immunization card with our passports just in case when traveling.  The Dallas County Center for Disease Control on Stemmons is our source of knowledge.  We grab our card and head down there with a list of where we are going and they shoot us up.
We also take a few prescriptions of Cipro, prescription strength Lomotil,
Ambien, Benadryl and Neosporin.  Alcohol wipes.  Always take 2 pair of glasses.  When we get home we take the prescriptions back to the pharmacy.  Never throw away because that is how they get in the drinking water.