Preparation Mode

The recruiting is finished for my first backpacking expedition through South East Asia. Our team is as follows: Me (obviously), Arrio Hoffman, Dalton Beebe, Blake Campbell, and Sam Trent. There are many others that I would have loved to accompany me on this adventure, but alas, there are few people with enough patience and perseverance to spend a few months trekking through a foreign land with a person as insufferable as I am. Ha! For that reason I am overjoyed to have these guys on board. These guys are some of my best friends, and have been for a long time. Each has a unique personality and set of perspectives which will enhance the experience. I'm ready to learn from them.

Our plane tickets are purchased, and we are set to leave on Dec 31 from Seattle to Bangkok with a short stop in Taipei, Taiwan. Things have just gotten real. We did the purchasing together; Blake, Sam, Arrio and I were together in Alaska, Dalton was with us via phone. There was a somber feeling in the room as each of us realized that we weren't just talking the talk anymore, but we were walking the walk. I woke up the next morning wondering if I made the correct decision or not. I'm confident the other guys asked themselves the same question. 

We are now in full preparation mode; purchasing the gear, planning our route through the countries, and, of course, painstakingly attempting to help nearly every single person we come in contact with (including some of our family members) to understand why we are doing this. I will not attempt to expound upon our reasons for going on this adventure in this particular post, but I will in a future one.

We each have already purchased our backpacks (ironically they are all the same make and model; Arrio, Blake, and Dalton even have the same color). The current list for gear is as follows:

1. Backpack
2. Daypack
3. Sleeping Bag Sheet (cocoon)
4. Money belt
5. light weight clothing (no denim, 2-3 changes)
6. Swim Suit
7. Sunglasses
8. Lots of sunscreen (it is expensive over there)
9. padlock
10. First Aid Kid
11. Toilet Paper (we should always carry a roll)
12. Toiletries (bio-degradable soap)
13. Regular Shoes
14. Hiking Sandals (Chacos, Tevas)
15. Power adaptor (can be purchased over there)
16. Flashlight/headlamp
17. Pocket Knife
18. Micro-towel
19. headphones
20. laptop/phone/tablet
21. Raincoat
22. Refillable water bottle (not necessary, bottled water is everywhere)
23. Copies of important documents (Passports, debit cards, etc.)
24. Backpack Rain cover
25. Backpack Duffel bag