Saturday, March 31, 2007

One more day!

In progress....

Well to earmark this occasion i decided it would be a good time to finally shave my "mane". I said i would shave my head for the trip and i did. One might say it is my cheapness coming through so i don't need to get a haircut overseas, but it is more of an experiment on how long it takes for my hair to grow. So come wedding time we know at what point my hair goes from ok to a disaster. We have loaded up our cars and will be driving down to Laguna Beach around 3p to meet up with family.

The cleanup crew

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

4 days and counting!

So tonight we decided we may want to double check and make absolutely sure that we did not forget anything. So Me and Megan took all the stuff out of our bags and took inventory. I wrote her stuff down and she wrote my stuff down. Some may be interested on what exactly one packs for a 2 month trip so we took the liberty to give you a list of all that is packed.

Megan packed:

BACKPACK
Clothes

Tan Cargo Pants
Navy Cargo Pants
Pair of Jeans
Jean Shorts
Brown Shorts
Black knit pants
Pink Tube top
Green Button down shirt
Teal Short Sleeve shirt
Navy Long Sleeve shirt
White Long Sleeve shirt
Orange Long sleeve
Brown Long Sleeve
Green Zip up hoodie short sleeve
Grey Hoodie short sleeve
Black Hoodie
Green Printed shirt
Blue Printed shirt
Black Tank top
(2) Brown Tank tops
Green Tank top
White Tank top
Army Hoodie
Green Jacket
Deep Green Pajamas with matching jacket
Black Puffy vest
Brown Sweatshirt
Navy Bathing suit
(7) pairs of socks

(10) pairs of underwear and one travel pair (thanks greg and christine!)

Shoes
Timberland low shoes
Black Flats
Brown Flip Flops
Hiking Boots

Misc

(1) Travel Liner (like a sleeping bag sheet)
(1) Pair of Gloves
(1) Brown hat
(1) Orange Beanie
Emergency Poncho
Various Jewelry (Basic stuff, some earrings, necklace)
Pink Scouts Knife

Cosmetics
Panteene Shampoo & Conditioner

Caress Body Wash
Clinique Face Wash
Clinique Clarifying Lotion
Venus Razor
Q-Tips
Mini Luffa Sponge
Lotion
Hand Sanitizer
Medicated Lip Balm
Colgate Toothpaste
Liiiiiiiiitle toothbrush (She said it like that)
Liiiiitle Contact Solution (Yep)
Extra Set of contacts (left AND right!)
Serious Baby wipes (yes they are!)
Lemon Eucalyptus Repel
Bite MD
Insect repellent
Tide to go!
Hair Ties

Carry-On
Journal
Sun Burned Country by Bill Bryson
Travel Plans
Travelers Checks
Passport
International Drivers License
Headlamp
Earplugs
Eye Mask
Inflatable Neck Pillow
Wallet
Sunglasses
Contact Stuff
Digital Camera
Cliff Bar
Power Bar
Marathon Energy Bar


Matt's Stuff

BACKPACK
Shoes
Keen Hiking boots
Starbury Gray shoes
Life is good Flip flops

Clothes
Black pants
Green pants
Camo pants
Camo shorts
Black shorts
Jeans
Long sleeve dress shirt
Gray long sleeve
Gray thermal long sleeve
Black long sleeve
Brown t-shirt
(2) Black t-shirts
Gray t-shirt
Tan t-shirt
White t-shirt
Dark gray t-shirt
Tan vest (I have never seen matt in a vest..this should be great!)
Black jacket
Mountain Biking Jersey
Swim trunks
(7) underwear
(7) pairs of socks
pajamas
gray beanie
one fisherman's hat (I had to see it to believe it for myself!!)
one pair of gloves

Miscellaneous
Head lamp
Travel liner (thank you Robert...great idea!!)
Portable clothes line
Camelbak
Emergency pancho
Emergency Kit
Insect repellent
Toothpaste
Lotion
Sunblock
Moist wipes (flushable!!)
One mini lofa
Pantene Shampoo and Conditioner
Dove body wash

Carry-On (Gasmask bag from Canada..needless to say it has not been used)
A smashed fruit and grain (thank you Maury and Chuck)
Cliff bar
Balance Bar
Fruit snacks (with a shark on the outside)
IPOD and accessories
Inflatable neck pillow
Journal
Money belt
Eye mask
Ear plugs (he better not get too carried away with when he uses these)
Digital Camera HPR717 (get ready matt is prepared to document all our adventures!!)
(2) 1 gig memory cards
2 gig memory card
(4) batteries
SD card reader
Quick charger
Mini tripod
Persol Sunglasses model number 2754-S
Passport
International drivers license
Sleeping pills (thank heavens!!!)
Tums
Toothpaste
Toothbrush
Deodorant


So there you have it, this is what we hope will last us the whole two months and i am sure we forgot something, but i am pretty sure they have stores...we hope.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Packed up and ready to go...just a bit early





So being this is going to be the first time i have ever been out of the country. I really don't know what to expect. But one thing is for sure, I better have it all in this damn backpack! So our bags have been packed for 4 days now. We still remember small things to put in but for now this is it. We each are carrying one backpack and one carry on bag. Very minimal travel but for the hostels i think it is a good thing to bring. Also we picked up our journals (sketchbook for me) to document our adventures. The black leather one is mine with the cool pattern and Megan has the earthy one. I fought buying it due to how expensive it is ($30!), but Megan convinced me otherwise (it IS a once in a lifetime trip!). So here it is....10 days and counting and we are ready to go!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

First post...11 days until leaving!

Well we are very excited/nervous how fast the date is approaching. After over a year of anticipation, planning leaving jobs the date is almost here.

We are leaving April 1st at 9:30 pm from LAX airport. From there we will be heading to Auckland, New Zealand arriving at 5:30 am April 3rd! We will have a 1 hr lay over then another flight from Auckland to Christchurch arriving at 8am. From there we will figure out where our hostel (Point Break Backpackers Hostel) is from our airport. They say 12 min, but who knows how long it will really take. We are both getting very anxious and I (Matt) has so much work before we leave that he shouldn't even spend time doing this right now...so expect a few more right before we leave!