I’ll blame all my laziness on Facebook; it’s so much easier to post with my thumbs on the Crackberry while slouched on the train bored out of my mind.
But I have too much to talk about to limit it to so few characters!
So. Depending on your worldview, Mr. Farmer and I…
(A) are going on a crazy freakin’ trip around the world
(B) are leaving the city behind because green acres is the place to be
(C) are completely nuts
(D) all of the above
M.F.’s last day of work is tomorrow (assuming he can clean out his Inbox, which currently has 6,000 e-mails, by the end of the day). My last day is September 25. At which point we’re hiring big-shouldered dudes to pack up a U-Haul, which we will drive to Kansas in the last few days of September. (Heather and I were just reminiscing tonight about the reverse trip we made in 2003.)
We’ve gotten quite a few questions since we broke the news. Here are the ones most frequently asked:
1. Where are you going on your trip?
What started as a one-month trip to New Zealand and Australia has turned into a 3-month gallop around the world, literally. We’re flying out of Wichita on October 14, and staying in each of these places (number of days in parens):
Hong Kong (3)
Vietnam (10)
Bali (6)
New Zealand (14)
Australia (15)
South Africa (5)
Tanzania (13)
Cairo (3) — ironically we’ll be here for Christmas
Athens (4)
Italy (9)
Austria/Germany (7)
2. How do you pack for a trip like that?
Very lightly. We’re each taking a decent-sized backpack weighing 25-30 pounds. We’re not afraid to smell bad.
(As an aside, Mr. Farmer is in charge of fashion for the trip, which explains why I now own two pairs of hiking pants, an L.L. Bean raincoat, and some hiking boots. The other day I actually got an e-mail from Saks saying plaid flannel is the hot thing for the fall, and I told him I would be sporting with bug-eye sunglasses with some of his plaid shirts. Here was his reply: “Even Foofenstein is following my lead. It took a lot of ridicule to bring plaid back but the perserverence paid off. Now, as an industry leader, I recommend giving the bug-eyes a second look – I think they’re out like yesterdays pointed collars! What’s next – Mizrahi in work boots?”)
3. Do you have jobs in Kansas for when you get back?
Nope. We’re going to figure it out when we return. Or maybe we’ll figure it out en route.
4. Are you using a travel agent?
We used Airtreks.com to book our tickets — they specialize in around-the-world trips. We have 28 different flight segments, and it took us over 2 hours on the phone to work them all out. We’re using Access 2 Tanzania for our safari. We’re booking the rest of it on our own.
5. Does Mr. Farmer know what he’s getting in to?
Hard to say. He’s been doing a lot of monotone chanting lately.
