My departure date of 30th October is approaching rapidly.

I have decided to travel light! Though I want to take a sleeping bag, I don’t intend to camp, and I would like to be able (if necessary) to do sightseeing with all my luggage with me. Also I’d like to be able to sit on a bus with my backpack between my knees. I thought my Karrimor “Good Earth” would be far too small for a 7+ month trip (it’s only really a large “day” backpack) but I’ve found that with some effort I can squish my sleeping bag into the base of it such that it takes up less than 25% of the space.

After several iterations I have settled on an equipment list. By being brutally frugal about what I take, and figuring that I will do clothes washing very frequently, I’m convinced that I can put everything in the Karrimor pack. I will take a small “essentials” backpack that will fit in the top of the Karrimor, and can be quickly removed for when the Karrimor goes separately on a bus trip. This will contain guide book, map, camera, emergency food, etc.

In order to be able to receive mail while I am travelling, I will need to use the Poste Restante service, which is universally available. The idea is that friends will send to (for example) “Malcolm Greig, Poste Restante, Auckland, New Zealand” and then when I reach Auckland I will go to the main post office and there should be mail for me. I have written some instructions (to distribute to friends and family) with the latest posting dates to each of the main cities, so that there is no chance of me passing through before the mail arrives. A prize has been promised to the person who gets the most letters to me!

I’ve spend some stressful hours trying to make sure that my finances will take care of themselves while I’m away, and arranging for money and traveller’s cheques to be sent out to me in Sydney and Singapore.

The car I have been driving around in the last few weeks is the Mini Clubman that my ex girlfriend and I had bought for our use, and I’ve agreed to sell it before my departure. An ad in the local paper resulted in a buyer turning up today and offering £400 for it which I accepted. He will pick it up in 2 days time, the day before departure. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute.

Apart from that, I think I’m ready to roll….