I am writing this post from my desk in my airport hotel room in Sydney, about eleven hours before my flight for Bangkok departs.  About an hour ago I said goodbye to the kids via Skype and headed downstairs to the hotel restaurant for my First Meal of the Wanderlustful Adventure.  I had chicken.  And the glass of white wine I ordered did wonders for the jittery tummy I have been carrying around with me for the last few days and is the reason I can sit here now, quite calmly, and type.

(Does this mean I have a problem with alcohol?)

Even though I carefully packed and re-packed and checked and re-checked everything, I was still so nervous about leaving my passport at home that I looked for it in my bag three times in the ten minutes before leaving the house.  It has been in my bag since early May. International travel brings out the obsessive-complusiveness in me.

I think my particular fear is not of actually leaving the passport behind, but of the FEELING I will get in my heart and stomach at that very moment when I realise that I have left it behind.  The feeling of OH F*CK.  The aftermath I can deal with (“Hi, PJ? How do you feel about driving up to Sydney tonight?”) but that moment of realisation, where every single fear I have ever had about myself is confirmed in a single, irrefutable thought: You. Are. An. Idiot.

It’s only 9.30pm but I am ready for bed.  A quick shower, into my pyjamas, then into what looks to be a perfectly reasonable hotel bed.  I have to be downstairs at 0700 to catch the shuttle bus to the International Terminal for my flight at 1000.  Yes, I’ll have nearly three hours to kill at the airport but at least I’ll BE at the airport and not still in bed, snoring contentedly to myself, completely unaware that I am about to re-enact the opening scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral.

My next post will be from Bangkok.  Seeya!

Two separate eggs, two separate sperm.  Fra. Ter. Nal.

This post unearthed a long-forgotten memory from one of my lectures:

Lecturer: Oh, wow, you’re twins?

Girl Twin: Yes.

Lecturer:  So are you identical?

(entire lecture theatre full of students chokes back laughter)

Boy Twin: Yeah, except my penis is much larger than hers.

(entire lecture theatre full of students collectively loses it)

In the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Australia here in Canberra, there’s an installation that is only visible between the hours of 12pm and 2pm.  It’s the mist.

I didn’t realise that my kids had never seen it.

We went there yesterday to get out of the house and Do Something for Fathers’ Day.

It was a big hit with both the girls.

Here’s my favourite shot:

What a great location for some wedding photos!

]]> http://eatshootblog.com/?feed=rss2&p=4625 0 http://eatshootblog.com/?p=4636 http://eatshootblog.com/?p=4636#comments Sun, 05 Sep 2010 21:00:14 +0000 Trish http://eatshootblog.com/?p=4636 Like the Queen Mother, she’s as old as the years…

Ella turns 10 today. I hope she’ll always feel this young and free and silly.

Happy Birthday, Ella Bella!

• He has copied all the emails in my inbox and folders (including the crucial “Bangkok/Oslo Stuff” folder) into Outlook on the notebook.
• He has copied all my documents from the hard-drive onto the notebook, so if I suddenly figure out how to rewrite chapter 14 of my 2009 NaNoWriMo novel I can open it up and start writing.
• He has done something clever so that all the log-ins and passwords I need to log-in to sites like Flickr and WordPress are accessible to me (but to nobody else)
• He has imported all my favourites and bookmarked sites on my web browser so I can find all the ‘places of interest’ I’ve been collecting
• He has loaded Skype so I can say goodnight to the kids every night.  And goodnight to him
• He has set it up so that, when I connect the camera to the notebook it automatically copies all the pictures across
• He has set it up so that, when I connect my backup hard drive to the notebook it automatically copies everything across
• He has set it up so that, when I connect my iPhone to the notebook it automatically connects the notebook to the internet

If I had to try and figure out how to do any of these things my brain would explode.  Tell me, how do normal people manage without a Help Desk living with them?

The backpack has my camera and gear, my notebook (computer), and all the stuff that usually resides in my purse/handbag.  If I was allowed a third item of carry-on luggage, it would be some manner of purse/handbag with a long shoulder strap so I could wear it across my body.

The wheeled cabin bag contains all my clothes for the entire trip.  I am planning to buy two or three items in Bangkok to take to Oslo, namely another pair of long pants (I’m thinking something like this or maybe this) and a couple of long sleeve t-shirts for layering.  I am all about the layering.

My original packing list included a skirt.  I thought it would be nice to have a skirt to wear in Bangkok (30 C)  that I could also wear in Oslo (10 C).  In Oslo, I would need to wear tights with the skirt.  And some shoes that would look OK.  But I don’t think there is a pair of shoes in existence that you could seriously rely on for hiking comfortably through the Norwegian forests AND for looking cute and dainty with a pretty skirt.  I only want to take two pairs of shoes with me in my bag: sandals for Bangkok, walking shoes for Norway.  The walking shoes are more useful to me if they’re comfortable, rather than dainty.

So I ditched the skirt, and with it went the tights and the now-superfluous shoes.  Here’s what I’m taking:

To wear on every flight:

dark denim jeans

white t-shirt

blue fine wool cardigan

taupe tailored, cropped blazer

Scarf/Wrap (multicoloured, can look greenish or redish depending on which side is facing out)

Black slip-on shoes with slight heel

* My ‘flying outfit’ is comfortable yet neat and a bit styish. I’m conscious of the fact that I am representing the airline when I travel and I want to look good in the airport lounge, on the plane and when I check into my hotel(s).  Plus, I’m gunning for an upgrade.  They don’t upgrade you if you look too scruffy, or so I’m told.

Clothes for Bangkok:

dark grey cropped pants (hand-washable and quick-drying)

three blue/grey/white t-shirts (made from fabric designed for tropical climates)

pair of wide-leg, long black linen pants

red/white rayon top (to wear to posh restaurant with black pants + flying shoes)

black sandals for walking miles in

I am going to send all of these things home in a box, none of them are coming with me to Oslo.

Clothes for Oslo:

+ jeans, scarf/wrap, jacket and cardigan from flying outfit

+ the new pants I’m planning to buy in Bangkok

+ layering t-shirts

green fine wool cardigan

red textured wool jacket (this is what I wear in winter when I go out to dinner or the movies in Canberra in winter… can be dressed up or down)

two black long sleeve thermal tops

long sleeve grey cotton t-shirt

navy blue rainproof jacket

gloves (wool)

walking shoes

In Oslo, I’m basically going to wear a pair of jeans with a long sleeve tshirt and a cardigan, my scarf around my neck and my rain jacket if it starts to rain or is really cold.  This is comfortable, practical, neat, colourful, warm, and not too scruffy.  I am not taking a heavy winter coat, but I don’t think I’ll need one.  The average temperature in Oslo at this time of year is 10 degrees celcius.  If I wear enough layers I should be OK.  If I happen to stumble across a great trench coat in Bangkok for not too much money I might get myself one and send the flying jacket home.  I have a short trench coat which I love but the navy rainproof jacket is more practical because it fits easily in my backpack on days when the weather is fine.  A long trench would be OK because it would either be worn or hanging in the cupboard in my hotel room; I would never have to try to get it into my carry-on.

Did you spot that? I just talked myself into buying a trench coat in Bangkok.

For my own amusement, I’ll take an iPhone photograph hotel bathroom self portrait each morning to record which clothes I wore during the trip, so that I can fine-tune my packing list for next time.  And see if I got scruffier as the trip went on.

Ella: You’ve got your saliva.

Everyone is asking me where they can read the blogging that I’ll be doing for the Airline.  I don’t have the URL just yet… I hope to have it before I go, but if not, PJ will post a link in a prominent place on my homepage as soon as he has it.

OK, it’s Saturday I leave on Tuesday and I’m starting to feel very excited.  I need to do another trial-pack.  I’m getting nervous about the lack of space in my carry-on bags. I might have to make some tough decisions about how much shampoo I need to take (ie do I need to even take some? Anne would tell me “no, the hotel will have it”).  And I’m really worried about all those bargains I will not be able to snap up in Bangkok because of my limited luggage space.

I’ll just have to go back sometime, with a bigger bag.

Oh, speaking of my hair, I got it all chopped off.  I asked Rory for the haircut on the model second from left in the Burberry advertisement a few pages into this month’s Harper’s BAZAAR, the one with Elle MacPherson on the cover.  This morning it took me about a minute to dry and style it and I didn’t need to use a brush.  Perfect Travelling Hair.  Even better than a ponytail.

Right.  Packing.

So when I say “seven sleeps until Bangkok” what I really mean is “seven lousy nights’ sleep until Bangkok.”

New here?  Welcome!  Please read this… the explanation as to who I am and why I get to go to Bangkok next week.  And Olso after that.