Getting Ready

I work with Scott’s travel agent in the UK. No matter how we try to work it, the trip over will be long. I’ll leave Chicago at 2:30 on Friday, 8/8. Hang around JFK for about five hours. Then catch an Emirates flight to Dubai with Scott. That flight leaves at 11:00 PM Friday and gets into Dubai at 7:30 PM Saturday. That means missing a full day of daylight. Overnight in Dubai to catch-up on sleep. Then an 8:30 AM Sunday flight to Addis Ababa. In summary, leave at 2:30 PM Friday from Chicago; arrive Addis Ababa at 11:30 AM on Sunday. Fortunately the return on Friday 8/15 has tighter connections and an 8 hour timezone gain.

A little more than two weeks before my trip I started getting ready by going to the travel clinic to get all of my necessary shots and prescriptions. I’ve been to India twice before, so I’ve had some of the shots

and I’ve taken Larium (to prevent Malaria) before. Larium is supposed to give you crazy dreams and is rather troublesome for some people - I’ve never had any of that. The nurse has a list of all the possible diseases I may be exposed to in Ethiopia - suffice to say that it is all of them. I get six shots, prescriptions for Larium and Cipro (just in case) and a bill for $706. Over the next few days I head to REI for some travel gear. I pick-up Ultrathon bug repellent (34.34% DEET!) and a spray to keep bugs from biting through my clothing. I also pick-up some “light-colored long-sleeve shirts” (on Scott’s advice) in linen (Eileen’s advice) from The Territory Ahead online. I also go online to buy a new suitcase from Red Oxx. I get some new hiking boots from Uncle Dan’s in Evanston - they make them much lighter than they did when I bought my last pair fifteen years ago. My last stop is the drugstore for sunscreen, TSA-approved size of toothpaste and Immodium. I’m ready. I suppose.