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Mom's
WORLD JOURNAL Freedom at last! We’re off to explore the world! As we sit on the plane waiting to leave for Brussels, the events of the last six months roll through my head like an old time motion picture. We have all spent so much time preparing and now we begin our journey hand in hand. Our first destination is Amsterdam via Brussels. We caught a
one-way flight on an airline called “Citybird” from Miami. What’s
the matter…never heard of it…well, neither have I. It appears that
Citybird is one of the few airlines that offer one-way flights to Europe
from Miami. They have a limited flight pattern from Miami to Brussels and
back again. I feel that the limited flight destinations will prevent the
pilot from getting lost, however, Mark was impressed with the $269
tickets. Pretty cool, Huh? Prior to our trip to Miami, we went to San Francisco to my
sister Laura’s wedding. It was so thoughtful of her to schedule the big
event prior to our world trip. On
our way to San Francisco Max said “I’m Bored” after 20 minutes in to
the 5-hour flight. And I thought the only thing a mother can think, ”Oh
Shit”, what have we done! San Francisco is about 2600 air miles from
North Carolina. Our flight from Auckland to Rome scheduled in spring 2001
is over 11,000 air miles! Not only that, but we have a lovely 7 hour lay
over in India on our flight from Egypt to Nepal. And now, 20 minutes in to
the flight he is already bored! YIKES! Max eventually settled in. As an only child he is very good
at entertaining himself. He played Game Boy (what would we do without it),
daydreamed, thumb wrestled, listened to music and had a nice long nap. He
is an easy child and a joy to travel with! We packed light for our twelve-month journey around the
world. I packed Max and I in my backpack, and Mark shared his backpack
with his new electronic toys...a laptop with DVD, small video recorder,
digital camera, and electronic translator.
Mark has done a fabulous job planning our trip. He has done so much
research via the Internet and the Chapel Hill Library. By the way, Mark
discovered that the local library allows you to check out a maximum of 40
books at one time. No doubt Mark was the first to actually do it.
If I were a jealous woman, I would think that he was having an
affair via the laptop. He has spent the better part of six months focused
on research. But, as smart as that thing is…I know it can’t do
everything! We bought a ton from Eagle Creek. We bought three backpacks
with detachable daypacks, one each (Max’s is filled with toys), packing
cubes, and a small day pack/fanny pack.
I have become a packing cube addict. They are about 2” tall, made
of canvas with a mesh top and zip around the top. They make full cubes and
half cubes. You just roll up your clothes and lay them inside, perfect! It
is really easy to sort your clothes and use the small cubes for undies and
socks. I now own seven cubes and think they are great! At the last minute,
we realized that we forgot to pack Max’s books so we also carry a canvas
book bag for books and the medical kit. In addition to our backpacks and stuff, we also brought a
very large suitcase with us to San Francisco, which we will leave behind
in Miami. I packed way more for the trip to San Francisco than Mark, Max
and I did for our world trip. I realized that you have to pack a lot if
you care what people think…a practice I will leave behind in Miami. A
bit of a clotheshorse, my friends would have bet their soul that I could
not pack Max and I in one backpack for a whole year! But they would bet
their life that I would leave my blow dryer behind which I did in Miami!
Bon voyage coiffed hair and welcome “au natural”! Freedom at last! Prior to our departure, we received some excellent advice
from our wonderful and caring, (yet paranoid) family and friends. Here are
a few of my favorites: 1)
“You may feel a little different if you drink the local
water in foreign countries so be careful when you fart not to give it that
extra little push if you are wearing white shorts”. (My personal
favorite from my Dad, Harvey) 2)
“Bring toilet paper everywhere!! And don’t forget to
bring a strap to hold the roll of toilet paper around your neck so it
doesn’t fall into the hole”. 3)
“Never, Never, Never bring food in your daypack! If you do
you can be followed by wild animals, get mauled and die. If you ARE
followed, don’t turn and run. Maintain eye contact and simply back
away”. (Yeah, right! Me, Maintain eye contact with a bear...NOT!)
Thanks! Julie 4)
Be careful in Turkey! Most of the people there wake up in the
morning, have a great cappuccino, and decide which tourist bus they are
going to bomb that day! (Marc…what a gem!) 5)
My Mom said to be VERY careful in Turkey! A friend of a
friend of a friend told her that she read about a girl that was rolled up
in a carpet and hauled off by Turks! They NEVER saw her again! I made my
Mom PROMISE if I were hauled off in a carpet…I hope it is a nice soft
wool…that she would make sure that she included it in my obituary. It
would go something like this; “Our dear Julie left this earth
rolled in a beautiful plush Turkish rug, one we know that she would have
purchased for herself” 6)
Pack only black clothes for the entire year that way you will
be sure to match! What am I, daft!?! Certainly there may be other colors that
go with black! 7)
IMODIUM, IMODIUM, IMODIUM!! 8)
Don’t drink ANY alcohol on long airplane rides or you will
blow up beyond recognition! Your feet will swell up until they resemble
large, clubfeet. Well, let’s see. We are just leaving for Brussels on
the first leg of our dream tour. Us? Drink alcohol? Celebrate? Or act
responsibly…NOT! 9)
Max had the best advice regarding Jessie, our prized mutt! He
said “ Mom, don’t worry about Jessie! We can just put out 365 bowls of
dog food for her and leave her in the house! So I asked him “What about
the poop? And he replied “Ooops!” 10)
This is great advice from Mark’s cousin Kenny who is a
world traveler. He says, “ Only bring one outfit, wear it, wash it…and
wear it again because who wants to carry dirty clothes! What we packed…the details! JULIE”S BACKPACK: And
for Max: MARK’S BACKPACK: MAX”S BACK PACK: GETTING READY: 1)
Panic 2)
Delegate all trip planning to husband…God! I love
management! 3)
Panic 4)
Rent house (Furnished if possible) 5)
Discuss how you will have sex with an 8 year old in your room
for 12 months! 6)
Create website with friends…choose only talented
friends…hi Jean and Brian! 7)
Quit job! Whew! 8)
Purchase airline tickets ( $2300 each) 9)
Shop, Pack, Return items purchased, try again, pack, return
items purchased… 10)
Cancel credit cards, newspaper, junk mail (I bet you didn,t
know you could do that!) 11)
Figure out a way to get money while traveling and pay bills 12)
Buy the latest technology…laptop, MP3 player, digital
camera and video camera 13)
Download 400 songs for trip Maxism #1: While boarding the plane to Brussels on our way to Amsterdam, Max said, “ I can’t wait to go on the airplane because I heard that the seats go all the way flat to make a bed! Plus you don’t have any bedtime on the plane and I can stay up as late as I want!” I replied, “ I don’t think that the seats go back and make a bed! But Max was certain that they did because he saw it in a magazine. Well, I knew that there would be a few disappointments…better to get them out of the way early! Maxism #2: On our plane trip to Brussels Max said, ”I am going to ask the clown
for a balloon dog!” And I said, “What clown?” Max said “ there’s
a clown on the plane. I heard the pilot say so. Do you think I should get
a balloon dog or a sword?” I didn’t think there was a clown on the
plane but verified it with the attendant…no clown. But Max refused to
believe it and said, “ Well, I think there is still a clown on the plane
and I am getting a dog!” I guess if you can believe in Santa Claus (fat
man, red suit, delivering toys to ALL the boys and girls around the world
in just one night) you can believe anything!
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Julie's
journal entries by country (get comfortable):
Amsterdam
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