We bought our tickets! After looking at the options of where to fly out and maybe seeing the inlaws in Minnesota, the best decision was to fly from Boise. As much as a stop in Minneapolis would have been fun, it turned out to be too costly.
Our itinerary:
Leave Boise and fly to Seattle
Fly from Seattle to Honolulu
Fly from Honolulu to Guam
Fly from Guam to Manila, Philippines
Fly from Manila to Puerto Princesa, Philippines
Take a bus from Puerto Princesa to Sabang
We will stay in Sabang until, well, we get tired of it!
More on the booking process later!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Vaccinated and Innoculated
So today was our appointment with the Travel Medicine Clinic. We were helped by an awesome Nurse Practitioner named April Kreitzer. She is at the Saint Luke's Travel Medicine clinic, and Molly and I strongly recommend her.
Anyhow, Southeast Asia is a hotbed of virulent disease. And monkeys. Virulent disease and monkeys. All in all, we ended up with 5 shots each and an oral Typhoid vaccine. Here's the list:
Influenza - Shot
Japanese Encephalitis - Shot
Mumps/Measles/Rubella - Shot
Tetanus/Diptheria - Shot
Hepatitis A & B - Shot
Typhoid - Oral
In addition, we have perscriptions for antimalaria pills and a variety of other goodies. All in all, I think we're going to rattle a bit. You have to take a LOT of pills for malaria and we will be going back and forth through malaria country the whole time we're in SE Asia.
We had the option on one other treatment but opted out: Rabies. That's right, we can be attacked by foaming, psychotic critters. The list was rodents, dogs, bats and monkeys. We have been reading the rules on monkeys. No petting the monkeys. Monkeys steal shit. Let the monkeys steal your shit. With any luck, they get bored and abandon your stuff in a small radius of where it was pilfered.
Update: it is now 2 days after the shots and we're at our lowest. We both feel a little funky and our arms are sore at best. Molly reached out to her sister Kelcey who recently went to South Africa about her immunizations. Kelcey's response: Wow, I only had to get a flu shot! That sucks!
Thanks Kelcey.
Anyhow, Southeast Asia is a hotbed of virulent disease. And monkeys. Virulent disease and monkeys. All in all, we ended up with 5 shots each and an oral Typhoid vaccine. Here's the list:
Influenza - Shot
Japanese Encephalitis - Shot
Mumps/Measles/Rubella - Shot
Tetanus/Diptheria - Shot
Hepatitis A & B - Shot
Typhoid - Oral
In addition, we have perscriptions for antimalaria pills and a variety of other goodies. All in all, I think we're going to rattle a bit. You have to take a LOT of pills for malaria and we will be going back and forth through malaria country the whole time we're in SE Asia.
We had the option on one other treatment but opted out: Rabies. That's right, we can be attacked by foaming, psychotic critters. The list was rodents, dogs, bats and monkeys. We have been reading the rules on monkeys. No petting the monkeys. Monkeys steal shit. Let the monkeys steal your shit. With any luck, they get bored and abandon your stuff in a small radius of where it was pilfered.
Update: it is now 2 days after the shots and we're at our lowest. We both feel a little funky and our arms are sore at best. Molly reached out to her sister Kelcey who recently went to South Africa about her immunizations. Kelcey's response: Wow, I only had to get a flu shot! That sucks!
Thanks Kelcey.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Passport
So, to leave the country, the first thing you need is money. The second is a passport.
I had a passport. It expired, went the way of the dodo and got itself lost during the many thousands of miles of moves we have done. Today, I went to get a new passport.
Getting a passport in the U.S. is actually a fairly simple process. You need one official form of ID, say a Birth Certificate, one piece of photo ID, the application and passport photos, available at most convenience stores.
I was prepared. I had filled out the application online. It was printed and everything with a little red star was completed and accurate. I had a brand new, sparkly Birth Certificate (the previous is no doubt hanging out with the former passport), a driver's license and a couple of Walgreens mugshots.
I head to the Canyon County Courthouse to submit the form and pay my fee. I had done my due diligence and according to the form in my hand, Visa/Mastercard were acceptable forms of payment. Nice, big letters right on the front of the application.
I get through security and manage not to startle the 1000 year old man working the scanner to death. Head up to the second floor and check the directory: Passport Office. Passport Office. No Passport Office listed. Going against every fiber of my being, I break down as ask for directions from the County Clerk. Room 246, gotcha, thank you very much.
I stroll into Room 246 and confidently slap down my application right next to the sign that says Credit Cards are not accepted. Well, ain't that just peachy. "OK ladies, where is the closest ATM since you haven't joined the 20th Century?" "Oh, there's an ATM downstairs but for Passport Applications you need a cashier's check or money order." Just for clarification, I was less than pleased. No where on the Federal Website was this happy horse shit dictated. Apparently, people from Canyon County travel so little that there is no need to make this process in any way intelligent or easily managed.
So great. I run to the bank, shell out five bucks for the priviledge of getting my own money, and head back to the Courthouse. We start going through the application and all the empty slots in the application, filled out on the Federal Website, now need to be filled out by hand because "they don't like it when there are empty bubbles." Well, if they didn't like it, I would assume that it would be mandatory to fill them out ON THE FEDERAL PASSPORT APPLICATION WEBSITE!!!!!
During this time, the gentleman behind me is telling me not to go to Mexico. "Why?" I asked. Because apparently everyone gets kidnapped. He's been kidnapped twice. "Where are you headed to, then?" I ask. "Mexico," he replies. Well, a big Whiskey Tango Foxtrot to that, my good sir.
Finally I get sworn in as myself, sign and get the hell out of dodge. This is the third time that I have had official dealings at The Canyon County Courthouse, and this has been the best of the three experiences. All in all, I won't miss them and they definitely won't miss me.
In 4-6 weeks, I will have my passport and it will all have been worth it.
Stupid Courthouse.
I had a passport. It expired, went the way of the dodo and got itself lost during the many thousands of miles of moves we have done. Today, I went to get a new passport.
Getting a passport in the U.S. is actually a fairly simple process. You need one official form of ID, say a Birth Certificate, one piece of photo ID, the application and passport photos, available at most convenience stores.
I was prepared. I had filled out the application online. It was printed and everything with a little red star was completed and accurate. I had a brand new, sparkly Birth Certificate (the previous is no doubt hanging out with the former passport), a driver's license and a couple of Walgreens mugshots.
I head to the Canyon County Courthouse to submit the form and pay my fee. I had done my due diligence and according to the form in my hand, Visa/Mastercard were acceptable forms of payment. Nice, big letters right on the front of the application.
I get through security and manage not to startle the 1000 year old man working the scanner to death. Head up to the second floor and check the directory: Passport Office. Passport Office. No Passport Office listed. Going against every fiber of my being, I break down as ask for directions from the County Clerk. Room 246, gotcha, thank you very much.
I stroll into Room 246 and confidently slap down my application right next to the sign that says Credit Cards are not accepted. Well, ain't that just peachy. "OK ladies, where is the closest ATM since you haven't joined the 20th Century?" "Oh, there's an ATM downstairs but for Passport Applications you need a cashier's check or money order." Just for clarification, I was less than pleased. No where on the Federal Website was this happy horse shit dictated. Apparently, people from Canyon County travel so little that there is no need to make this process in any way intelligent or easily managed.
So great. I run to the bank, shell out five bucks for the priviledge of getting my own money, and head back to the Courthouse. We start going through the application and all the empty slots in the application, filled out on the Federal Website, now need to be filled out by hand because "they don't like it when there are empty bubbles." Well, if they didn't like it, I would assume that it would be mandatory to fill them out ON THE FEDERAL PASSPORT APPLICATION WEBSITE!!!!!
During this time, the gentleman behind me is telling me not to go to Mexico. "Why?" I asked. Because apparently everyone gets kidnapped. He's been kidnapped twice. "Where are you headed to, then?" I ask. "Mexico," he replies. Well, a big Whiskey Tango Foxtrot to that, my good sir.
Finally I get sworn in as myself, sign and get the hell out of dodge. This is the third time that I have had official dealings at The Canyon County Courthouse, and this has been the best of the three experiences. All in all, I won't miss them and they definitely won't miss me.
In 4-6 weeks, I will have my passport and it will all have been worth it.
Stupid Courthouse.
It's Official!
Hey folks,
It is officially official. The missus and I are leaving Idaho! The budget is met, the timeline is being set and from now on, this will be our official log of the trials, tribulations and celebrations of getting the F**k out of Idaho!
Just a little background for all of you: I am originally from Idaho. The wife is from Minnesota. We met in Denver and she had a previous posting in Madison, WI. From Denver we moved to Maui, HI. From Maui we went to NYC, NY. Now, we are back in Idaho. We have been living in Idaho for nearly three years, at it has been wearing at us heavily.
I will keep the Idaho bashing to a minimum out of respect for the people we know and love who actually like living here. Instead, we will keep this blog focused on the steps necessary to leave Idaho, and the U.S. for a time, behind.
Anyhow, welcome, and I hope you enjoy the ride as much as we are going to!
It is officially official. The missus and I are leaving Idaho! The budget is met, the timeline is being set and from now on, this will be our official log of the trials, tribulations and celebrations of getting the F**k out of Idaho!
Just a little background for all of you: I am originally from Idaho. The wife is from Minnesota. We met in Denver and she had a previous posting in Madison, WI. From Denver we moved to Maui, HI. From Maui we went to NYC, NY. Now, we are back in Idaho. We have been living in Idaho for nearly three years, at it has been wearing at us heavily.
I will keep the Idaho bashing to a minimum out of respect for the people we know and love who actually like living here. Instead, we will keep this blog focused on the steps necessary to leave Idaho, and the U.S. for a time, behind.
Anyhow, welcome, and I hope you enjoy the ride as much as we are going to!
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