Preparations

Bobby and I will be on a plane- ok, actually, several planes- in a hair over a week from now, heading to Jordan for this trip and then to Egypt for this trip. We'll be in Jordan February 2nd-7th, and then *another* plane will take us to Cairo on the 7th, where we will stay until we get on *another* plane to come home the morning of the 16th. I know all the blogging "rules" about not letting people know when you'll be out of town. But we are taking both of our cameras and our laptops with us, as well as pertinent I.D.'s like passports and driver's licenses, so literally that leaves an apartment filled with possessions purchased second hand from thrift stores that total, not kidding at all here, less than $200. So, if anyone out there in the world wants to come steal our 1950's orange flower loveseats that we bought for $5 a pop, have at it.

Bobby and I took care of the most pertinent preparations back in December when we ordered our visas. But we have been doing other things to prepare. First and foremost, I've been working on my fear of flying. I'm working on this in three ways. One, I'm reading "The Culture of Fear", an excellent book that conveniently is on Jenna's book club this month. I've owned the book for about a year now, and I've skimmed it, reading certain chapters, but I never read it cover to cover. I started with the fear of flying chapter, then started at the beginning and will read all the way through, re-reading the fear of flying chapter again. Another step I am taking is going through this free online course. I started it at the beginning of the week, and I hope to get through it three total times before we leave. I would highly suggest it if you have a fear of flying, or if you are a nervous flyer. And "enrolling" is literally just clicking on what you fear and then beginning. You don't have to give them any info, not even an e-mail address. I'm really enjoying it so far. The third and final way I'm dealing with my fear is by writing about it here, and being honest about it, even if it kind of embarrasses me and makes me feel ignorant and ridiculous. I'm also writing about it in a personal journal.

The second big preparation underway before we leave is educating ourselves on the countries we will be visiting. Bobby's parents sent us a lecture series on Egypt that is 48 lectures long, at 30 minutes a piece. It is just a professor standing at a lectern talking about Egypt, but it is riveting. I am learning so much about Egypt and its history that is blowing my mind. I wish we had something similar for Jordan, but since we don't I've been researching for good videos and websites of information. I'm also reading National Geographic's Egypt book for travelers. It covers some history, which reinforces the lectures, but in addition it is giving me a detailed understanding of the geography and the specific cities in Egypt. Speaking of National Geographic, we received our itinerary at the end of last week, along with baggage tags, name tags, and some rather dorky hats that I made Bobby promise not to wear...

This weekend and next week will be filled with finishing up the lecture series and my fear of flying course, as well as packing. I've never gone anywhere on vacation for as long as two weeks, and I hope to pack outfits for a week- that can be mixed and matched- and then just wash them somewhere halfway through the trip. I love to travel light so this is by no means a sacrifice, I prefer it. If anyone out there wants to send me some good thoughts for anxiety free flights they will be enthusiastically and gratefully received!