Departure Day

After all the preparation, departure day finally arrived.  It's kind of cool to to be blogging from seat 30A at 35000ft.  Too bad I have to wait until I land in Japan to post this. 

Today is going to be a long day...  11 hours to Japan, 2 hours layover, 6.5 hours to Bangkok, 11 hours layover, and then finally 4 hours to Kathmandu.

Some people asked me how did I pack for the next 5 weeks.  My packing list is simple as I'm trying to travel with just a carry-on (an REI Grand Tour pack).  Here is a list of what I'm bringing:

• Travel Documents
• Travel books: Trekking the Himalayas, Moon Thailand, and Frommer's Japan.  Plus some selected copies from Lonely Planet and Hiking in Japan.
• Clothing for 7 days.  I'm planning on doing laundry.
• Sunglasses, sun hat, and flip flops
• Warm sweater, thermal underwear, and a warm hat for the mountains.
• Toiletries
• Sleeping bag and sleeping mat (I debated long about bringing them).  Hiking shoes.  Iodine pills. 
• HP Netbook for blogging
• Electronics: Android Phone, Garmin Vista, SPOT Locator.
• Photography: Canon SD850, Canon Rebel XSI and lots of memory cards. 
• An assortment of cables and adapters to keep everything charged (Japan uses US-like plugs, Thailand uses Euro-like plugs, and Nepal uses India-like plugs)

Next update when I get to Nepal.