And the packing continues...

Well, the last two weeks has flown by. It’s kind of been like we’ve been in training to be astronauts…slung around continuously at breakneck speeds. In terms of pace, it’s like we have been living the movie “The Right Stuff”, except that we don’t anticipate being violated like the two characters who found themselves waddling down a hallway with an object shoved in an uncomfortable place…at least until we reach international airport security in L.A. Nonetheless, over the last two weeks we’ve both been scrambling at our jobs to tie up loose ends and make sure our respective organizations are left in a good place. This means, in part, cleaning up and organizing things at work that have probably needed it for over three years. It’s a little like finally getting around to organizing that kitchen “junk drawer.” You all know what I’m talking about…

In any event, no matter how hard you try to prepare things in advance, you always seem to be running around like a squirrel that found a tasty little white rock in a public park until the last minute. Despite the best laid plans and preparations that really started over 5 weeks ago, it is absolutely true that no matter how hard you try you will never be completely done. It’s like an asymptotic curve...you keep halving the distance, but never completely get there. But at least one of these things we got out of the way 5 days early! Or at least we thought we did…

Miracle of miracles, we managed to get everything that we need…or at least we thought we needed…packed into our 160 pound allotment with at least 3.5 ounces to spare! Of course, it was not without serious contemplation about what really constitutes a “necessity.” Someone, who shall remain nameless, finally decided that since we can actually buy shampoo in Fiji, that it might not be necessary to bring the 4 pound bottle of shampoo she was originally planning to bring. For my part, I took out a pair of heavy cotton dress slacks on the recommendation of a Peace Corp volunteer in-country who recommended not bringing them despite Peace Corp’s suggestion. It turns out that the warm, wet climate and high concentration of mold can turn your khaki Chinos into a pair of furry, green disasters in short order. My guess is furry green slacks may be appropriate for a pimp, but not a Peace Corps volunteer. In any event, we got things pared down to a “manageable” level into something that resembles “necessities.”

Then one of the in-country volunteers informed us that the 160 pound Peace Corps limit is not enforced and that in reality you are only limited by the airline restrictions, which is 50 pounds per bag…annndddd the packing process starts all over again… Michelle immediately says “Woohoo! That means I’ve got 40 more pounds to work with!” Notice that I’m not even given the option of reconsidering repacking underwear as my weight allotment simply defaulted to my wife. Michelle was also careful to point out that the metric conversion of Air Pacific allowed for 50.7 pounds, because that additional 0.7 pounds is important. Of course, we discovered this only 3 days before we were planning to leave to go visit friends in L.A. (Cue the Dukes of Hazzard banjo music and speed up the film 4x…)

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about international travel, it’s that you can never anticipate everything you might need. The other thing I’ve learned is that even though you can’t anticipate it, no matter how hard you try to anticipate what you need, you will bring something that will prove itself utterly useless in time. Thus, it becomes important to intently consider every item by honestly asking questions about each item you pack such as “does it make sense to pack a coat?” or “should I bring monkey repellent?” If you ask these questions honestly, you can’t help but acknowledge that: (A) unless you were raised on the surface of the sun you couldn’t possibly find any season in Fiji cool enough to need a coat; and (B) there are no monkeys in Fiji. Bat repellent on the other hand, may be a consideration…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabat

Needless to say, we now have 4 checked bags that are within 0.2 pounds of the limit that are filled to almost bursting with…um…necessities… Then we have our carry-on’s, too, which are at least 20 pounds apiece. You can’t really call it “carrying” when you have 6 bags that total 240 pounds. It’s more like “mounding and dragging.” I’m pretty certain that I’m going to have scoliosis by the time I get to our duty station in Fiji. As it is, I’m already starting to hunch over and drag one foot like Quasimodo...

Nonetheless, it’s still hard to feel “excited” at this point, as the reality hasn’t sunken in yet about what we’re actually doing. Maybe once we’re on the plane…