Let The Adventure Begin!

We're finished packing. I remembered to pack my Spanish-English dictionary. Erin's mom sent us an i-tunes gift card so we're perusing movies to buy and watch on our 1.5" screen.

Adventure-prepping is tiring business. Were Lewis and Clark worried about packing two types of bug spray? Did Columbus get a side-ache carrying his luggage? Did Admiral Byrd almost forget his yellow fever vaccination papers to prove to the customs officials that he got his shots? Did Amelia Earhart have a seven hour layover during the middle of the night in Lima? Did Conan the Barbarian have to try on his money belt?

The world may never know...

Things To Do Before Leaving

Things we're packing for Peru:

• Camera - Nikon D60 (sorry to our Canon-snob friends)
• Laptop - Language school has wi-fi and we'll pretend that people want to read our blog and see our pictures
• iPod - Erin has it loaded with days worth of movies and tv shows
• USB headset to talk to friends over Skype
• Book on Peruvian culture
  
• Spanish / English dictionary - Seems like a no-brainer, but there's a good chance I'll forget it
  
• Books to read - Erin's starting the Twilight series, I'm undecided
  
• Altitude sickness pills - Don't think we'll be drinking the local solution to altitude sickness: coca leaf tea
  
• Cipro - if you've traveled, you know
• Sawyer water bottle with a built in filter - same filter Amor will be distributing but in a water bottle
• Quick-dry clothing that will get our picture into National Geographic magazine for sure
• Money belt - But really, don't all muggers know that we're wearing money belts??
• Rain ponchos
• Inflatable travel pillow - We leave Saturday morning and arrive in Peru on Sunday morning
  
• Voltage converter and adapter - Got to keep the first 3 items juiced
• And...underwear
  

Why Peru?

Erin and I are heading to Peru for most of the month of November. We leave on November 1st.

It's been our dream for a few years to have a big adventure together...the type of adventure we'd pull out the photo album to show friends and family for years to come...the type of adventure we might only be able to have before we have kids...the type of adventure we have to get immunizations for.

So why Peru? The adventure started out being a round-the-world trip where we could stop and see our friends living around the world in different places. That trip would have focused on Asia and Europe. We couldn't seem to line up all of the things that needed to be lined up to do a trip like that so we started looking at European river cruises.

I had backpacked around western Europe for awhile after college with David. While we had a great time on our trip, we both agreed at the time that it would be better to be in Paris with your loved one than with a friend. A cruise would have taken us through central Europe with stops in towns a tourist would only get to on a cruise. But, long before the current economic crisis, we realized that this trip would drain our money fast.

Want to go somewhere for a long period of time for cheap? Did someone say South America?

We started focusing on South America. We both speak some Spanish and the thought of brushing up on our Spanish excited us. After looking at Costa Rica (we've already been to tropical places and we live in San Diego anyway) and Buenos Aires (we could have combined language school with tango lessons! (I learned last night from someone who spent a considerable amount of time in Argentina that tango is more about emotion than dancing - I could probably use help in both areas!) ) we stumbled on Peru.

What's the opposite of tropical? How about 11,000 feet of elevation?! I'm sitting in Denver right now at half that elevation sucking air. Seriously, I try to plan my movements in my parents house to minimize the number of times I have to climb stairs in their tri-level house.

So we'll be in Cuzco (or Cusco if you're a gringo) going to language school, doing some traveling around the area, and just hanging out. Ever since my whirlwind European backpack tour I've wanted to spend an extended time in one area...getting past the tourist areas and maybe seeing what the locals do. People who travel say that's what you should do. I wonder where we buy tickets to have "lunch-with-a-local"?

We'll also be visiting Machu Picchu (pictured above). We hope to add some more stops in Peru but we'll figure that out when we get there. That seems like a good adventure.