travel preparations

just in case my less-than-frequent blogging of late has left you wondering or worrying about what i've been up to (or worse still, suspecting that i've already flown off without warning.. ), here i am! still around in sunny (er.. occasionally gloomy and stormy) singapore!! just started on my official leave (woo hoo!! :)) today and have been busy running around since this morning making the necessary preparations for my trip starting this Sat morning - heading first for London (aka my favourite city in the world), stopping for a day, before flying off on my second flight leg to Rio de Janeiro via Lisbon.

though i'm used to packing for backpacking trips, and the actual tossing of stuff into my rucksack for a two to three-week holiday sometimes takes no more than two to three hours (not including obtaining travel visas from embassies that sometimes appear like they don't actually like tourists, changing of foreign currencies, learning of foreign languages etc), i have to admit that preparation for a trip of this length did take quite a bit of planning and time, with more and more of "i wonder if i need that too" and "umm, that might make the trip more comfortable" cropping in the more i looked over my usual travel checklist... some last-minute "wow, why didn't i think of that earlier on!" couldn't have been planned for, of course :p, but i'm glad i got the more important stuff like the travel visa, insurance, air tickets, medication, jabs (ouch!) etc out-of-the-way early enough and the fun bit of trip packing and shopping is all that appears to be left now - and of course meeting up with some good friends before i fly off..:)

made a round of my usual key stops for travel shopping - peninsular plaza for film and other camera stuff (spent more than $400 here!!) as well as for backpacking stuff (which the store on the second floor has - stuff like compasses, etc - bought a fleece jacket for a little over $100! really nice and warm and will be handy for other trips! :) and new bulbs for my trusty Maglite, as well as warm socks and gloves), then swung by watsons for all the toiletries and medication stuff that i need (thank God for Watsons!).. and a final stop at the neighbourhood shop for stuff like duct tape, superglue, ziplock bags etc and to photocopy key documents like passport, tickets etc.

with that, a large part of the travel shopping is actually done and i'm left with organising the stuff into my backpack into some logical order so i can find stuff easily, and other odds and ends for the next couple of days.. phew! :) keep you updated!