2006.06.22
How many?
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Haven’t cooked nearly enough lately, so i think I’ll opt out of today’s qotd. Though i do make a mean maple-ginger glazed salmon, or so I’ve been told.
How many outfits? I’m very nervous about my upcoming trip. Three weeks! I can’t remember the last time I took such an extended voyage. I’ve no idea how to pack for such a thing — pack for heat, they say, but don’t forget to pack for cold too! Will I be able to launder there? J tells me that in China it’s often easier and cheaper to just buy new clothes when the old stuff gets dirty than it is to wash. I find this kind of advice very intimidating.
Am living a paradox as far as preparedness goes. The Rough Guide to China and Fodor’s Hong Kong are already being devoured in earnest; I love travel guides and maps, love the smell and feel of discovery by paper and the opportunity to meet a place in the flesh already feeling like an old friend. I remember my Rough Guide to Egypt (heart Rough Guides above all others), already dog-eared and read cover-to-cover twice before I’d even set foot in that ancient kingdom, maps covered in tentative, often revised, footpaths of pencil. Checkpoints every half hour. But this time I’m at a bit of a loss: though Hong Kong is free for exploring, China will be fully chaperoned — no room for wandering off the trail. Haven’t even had a chance to (or perhaps have chosen not to) learn the itinerary to see which locales will be hit, though one can only assume the biggies: Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai… in such a huge country, i thought it best to let others run the logistical hurdles. but now am feeling pangs of regret at not being able to plan the ins and outs of the trip myself.Calm down and let it flow, she says, my better judgment. It’s out of your control, and if you forget something, well, that’s another adventure for the memoirs. but all I can do is think: How many outfits?