Five Weeks Before Departure

It has been a crazy past month where I have found myself busy during every single minute of everyday. Only during a couple of outings with friends have I found a few hours of total relaxation. My mom just came from Argentina and is staying with me at the moment. I’m also writing this from Toronto, Canada, where I have been for work for the past week.

For the most part though, the main cause of stress have been the number pre-departure tasks I have left to the last minute.

I have made a list of people I wanted I see before departure by separating them into groups because I like smaller and more intimate gatherings instead of one big one with 30 people or so where I would not have enough time to spend with each person. I’m in the process of scheduling time for each group.

The biggest challenge however have been trying to nail down my packing list. As of this moment, I’m leaning towards using an older model of the REI Vagabond 40 (40-liter) backpack borrowed from my sister. I have also made a ton of purchases lately. There have been packages delivered to my door almost every day.

Before I got into photography, 40 liters would have been more than enough, but now that I’m bringing a DSLR with 3 lenses and another accessories, it has become a challenge to try to fit everything in it. Since I’m also starting my trip in the South American Andes, I will be bringing camping/hiking equipment as well. My old Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 1 tent has been the achilles heel of my ultralight set up for a long time. While lightweight compared to most other tents, at a total of 47 ounces (1.3 kg) it took up a big portion of my total backpack weight on past trips. I was looking for something much lighter that would pack really small and didn’t require hiking poles to set up (since my poles are of fixed length). I found what I was looking for in the Sea To Summit Specialist Solo. I got it a week ago and, at first sight, I love it.

Just a couple of hours ago I placed an order online for an Sony Vaio Pro 13 ultrabook that will replace my half-dead 4-year laptop. I will write about this and my other purchases in a upcoming post. Coming to a decision on each of these items have been time consuming because I have the need to always do a ton of research before I buy something, especially in this case with things I will have to carry with me all the time for years.

The to-do list has shrunk a lot recently although there are still a lot of tasks like selling my car and motorcycle for example. Among the tasks for this coming week is to go to a travel clinic and get my travel vaccines.