Preparations

I've never had so much to get organized before. There's a lot to prepare for almost two solid months of travel, and a semester abroad.

For Liisa and my trip I've reserved a climbing tour, made arrangements to stay in St. Louis with some friends and be ferried to and from the airport by others - we're going to Skype tomorrow and figure out plans for Orlando and Horseback riding. We're leaving a lot to chance and the future - that's part of the freedom of a road trip, but it still makes me nervous!

Allan and I have planned the UK trip pretty well. We've traded off paying deposits, so Lucia owes us each a little bundle of money. ;) We booked hostels all across the Great Glen Way and in Oban, bought tickets for cultural events in Edinburgh, etc. Just today I got an email from Palak saying that she can't host Lucia and I in London after all, so I'll have to work around that... :( But otherwise we're all set.

The trip to Spain is as settled as it can be, but we're still going to have to play the details by ear! We have our flights into Spain, a hostel in Pamplona, a bus to Valencia, a hostel in Valencia, and a bus to Pamplona. We need to find a place to stay in Pamplona maybe - I haven't quite ironed out my apartment plans yes. :S And Tomatina is stressful but nothing can be done ahead of time.

As far as next semester goes, I've tried to find an apartment. One of the responses seemed very promising, and I was about ready to agree - but now they haven't replied to my second email despite a week and a reminder. :S So probably this evening I need to start sending emails to other listings.

I've signed up for the welcoming events, which look good, and I've tried to sign up for the mentoring program, but after filling in all of my information carefully, there was no submit button. Of course, I emailed tech support, and of course, they didn't reply yet, and it's been a week. So I might not get a mentor - I'll live if that's the case.

As I posted, I got good walking sandals and good boots should be on the way to arrive very soon. I just hope they fit, and that they arrive before I head Northwest. They should - we'll see. I still need to buy a jacket - that was going to happen yesterday, and then it was going to happen today, but things come up. Tomorrow perhaps.

Update: The boots arrived and fit quite well. They're not super hardcore hiking boots, but comfortable, sort of like good tennis shoes plus ankle support and waterproofing, which will definitely do for now. And they look nice. Today I also got the Northface Resolve Jacket. I rather like it although it is a bit big on me, even the XS. The extra room in the torso's nice for layering, but the arms are a bit too puffy - ah well. :)

As for other material things, it seems my new laptop battery has been set to ship at last. It will be shipped on July 21st, they estimate, which means I have a good but not certain shot at getting it before I leave. Since I leave on a Sunday, it will probably show up in Monday's mail. I'm considering ordering/buying another one, which will for sure arrive before I leave for Europe, but even then may not arrive for my upcoming trip, unless I make arrangements to have it shipped to a friend in St. Louis... And then, when the other one arrives, I'll have 2, and I'm trying to figure out if that would be useful. On one hand, spare batteries are nice - on the other, these batteries last like 11 hours anyway, and the powercord is smaller than a spare battery to carry. :S

My awesome tripod hasn't arrived yet, which may be fine, it could arrive any day - except the website doesn't look super official or anything, and when I called the number to check my order, I just got an answering machine with no information but the phone number... and my emails haven't been replied to... so I'm getting a bit nervous and wondering about the protocol to follow if you order something online which never comes.

Update: They called me back. The item has been discontinued and I get a refund. Wonder what would have happened if I hadn't called? :P After a long time searching, I found the next best one (20$ more expensive and better in a few points, worse in a few. Nice.) and had it shipped to a friend in Missouri since I'll probably be there before it would arrive - also a spare battery for my camera.

I've also decided to go for the waterproof/lifeproof Canon Powershot. When I go for the jacket I'm going to stop by Best Buy and see if I'm lucky enough to have them have it in stock. I'd ideally like to try before I buy, and also have it in my hands immediately, instead of trusting the mail, given all my other rotten luck.

I'm mostly done with packing for Spain. I still need to make some last decisions about which tops to bring, buy some socks (I want two brand new packages - one white, one black, so that I dont have to get stressed out about that at least over there). I also need some little items that are compact and intensely American to give to friends, etc while abroad - I can pick these up on my road trip probably, or else in Florida Giftshops if I procrastinate too much!