Or 3 Months…
Finally in the double digits! Thought we’d
never get to this point, but now that we have time feels like it is racing by.
Hard to believe that at this exact time in 92 days we will be on a flight to
Rome. I’m finally starting to get excited. About time right?
I actually do
have some trip updates.
Excursions
We have officially booked/paid
for ALL our excursions/tours for this trip. Yay! Here’s the line
up:
Catacombs
Ghost & Mystery Walking Tour
Colosseum
Egypt
Israel (first day)
Israel (second day)
Greece
Naples
Rome
Out
of all of these, there is one that really has me thrilled and that would be
Egypt! I cannot wait to see the pyramids and the Nile River. I plan on getting
dirt/sand from all these places. That’s legal right? It’s not like we’re getting
water from the Nile, not that I’d want to stick my hand in there to begin with.
I guess Nile crocodiles are pretty bold. They aren’t scared of humans and come
pretty close to town. No thank you.
Vaccines
We’ve also started
the process of getting our vaccinations. Let me tell you folks, this has been a
good time. Allow me to spare you the hell that is finding all this out on your
own and just give you the cheat sheet on how to do this.
Step 1: Go to
the
CDC Traveler’s Health page to view which vaccines are required/recommended
for each country you are attending.
Step 2: Decide which vaccines you
want to get. We’re playing it safe and getting them all (except Rabies) to
prevent any potential illness. Not to mention most of these you should have just
in general.
Step 3: Contact your insurance company and see which
vaccines they cover. Make sure to specifically ask about travel vaccines. This
is where the list of vaccines you will need will come in handy. Insurance
companies can be sneaky so ask about your specific ones.
Step 4: Ask
your insurance company if they cover
Take Care Walgreens Clinic or
CVS’ Minute Clinic. If yes, after step 5 proceed to step 6. If not, after step 5 proceed to
step 7. Also, be sure to find out if you are covered by your insurance should
you have an emergency out of country! Some companies do NOT cover such things so
you will need to get a second temporary policy.
Step 5: Print out your
vaccination card. This is VERY handy to have. If you take the card to the clinic
with you, they will fill in all the information. Also be sure to ask for a copy
of all the vaccine information (lot number, etc.) this way should you react
poorly, you can take that info with you to the emergency room.
Step 6:
Make an appointment with Take Care or Minute Clinic to get your general (they do
NOT do any traveler vaccines like Yellow Fever, Typhoid, etc.) vaccines. Since
our insurance covers vaccines and these clinics, we paid $0.00! Not even a visit
co-pay!
Step 7: Make an appointment with a travel medicine specialist for
your travel vaccines (and general vaccines if needed). You can find a good
resource
here to locate your nearest one. I’m not going to lie, travel medicine
specialists are EXPENSIVE! We’re getting Typhoid Fever shots, just 1 each and
paying nearly $200. That’s the cheapest we found! You can also contact your
county health department. They usually offer these shots as well for just over
what travel medicine specialists are charging. Jerks.
So far I’ve gotten
my Tetanus, Hepatitis A (shot 1 of 2) & Hepatitis B (shot 1 of 3). In 30
days I will go back for my 2nd Hepatitis B shot and my flu shot. T only needed
his Hepatitis A series as he’s had Tetanus & Hepatitis B for work. When he
goes back for shot 2 he’ll also get his flu shot. Next month we both will go to
get our Typhoid Fever. We’ll then officially be all vaccinated and ready to
go.
We opted out of Rabies for a few reasons, but the main one being
we’re not doing anything with animals. Sure, a bat could bite me while we’re out
and about, but our exposure to mammals is seriously minimal. Only exposure we’ll
have is the camels. It doesn’t help that the Rabies shot is a 3 part series at
$250 per shot! Hell to the no!
Travel Safety & Documents
I’m
also starting work on our travel book that we will take with us. It will include
all our important data like printed reservation receipts, vouchers, copies of
our health stuff, embassy information. Please, I cannot stress this enough,
definitely get ALL your embassy information ahead of time, including lost
passport numbers. The last thing you want is to be stranded in a foreign county
with a major language barrier trying to figure this all out. Also make sure you
register your travel with the government. Takes a few minutes, but then they
have a list of all US Citizens in a country so should a disaster (either manmade
or natural) occur, they know who they need to get.
We’re also making
copies of all this jazz for our families back here. That way should we go
missing, our parents have all the information to give to the officials here.
This includes color copies of our passports, copies of all the embassy
information, copies of all the hotels we’ll be staying at, copies of our cruise
information and our living wills. You can never be too safe friends. Better to
have and not need, than to need and not have.
Finalize decision about
trip
Put deposit on cruise
Put in for vacation
Put in for vacation
(T)
Pay remaining balance of cruise
Book airfare
Sign up for shore
excursions Rome (before cruise) Rome (after cruise) Egypt
Israel Greece Naples
Book hotel for days before cruise &
after
Make sure vaccines up to date
L:
Hep A,
Hep B,
Tetanus, Flu,
Typhoid Fever
T:
Hep A, Flu, Typhoid Fever
Get visas for required
countries
Get all US Embassy info for each country
Get new luggage
Learn to use digital camera
