How do you pack for a 9-month trip?

We’re on the plane—NOW I’m excited.  People have been asking me for weeks if I was excited and of course I was, but there was just so much to do that I couldn’t even think about being excited.  And, no, I wasn’t “all packed” days or weeks ago.  I was “all packed” 10 minutes after the cab arrived to pick us up!  How do you pack for a nine-month trip?

In the taxi, as I often do, I struck up a conversation with the taxi driver, who was about 70+ years old and clearly from the US:

Me—I usually ask taxi drivers where they are from, but you are probably from Ohio or somewhere around here.

Driver—Well, originally I’m from Amarillo, Texas.

Me—(incredulously)  Really? Me, too!

Well, turns out he wasn’t really from Amarillo, but from a wide place in the road (as we say in Texas) 100 miles away.  That’s okay, I’m not really from Amarillo either, although I was born there.  Still, the Panhandle is the Panhandle and we had a nice chat about the wind (it blows all the time) and the sun (shines a lot more than Ohio) and fried  okra (we both love it).  A bit of old home week.

We’re on the plane, and I didn’t nearly get everything done that I wanted to.  Sorry, Jennifer, for leaving stuff in my office for you to pack (and the office a wreck in general).  Sorry Karen that I didn’t get the dining room table all the way cleared off (truth be told, Doug did the clearing of it that got done).  Chris, I’ll e-mail your reference letters and get Jennifer to print and mail a hardcopy of the one.  Judy, I’ll e-mail you the performance evaluation.  Joy, I’ll read your draft and send you feedback (and I had already written that before you e-mailed me!).  If anybody else knows of something else I’ve left undone, Facebook or e-mail me.  Not saying I'll get around to doing whatever it is.  Meanwhile, we’re going to Mexico!  I still need to call credit card companies about that—I can do it from Houston.

So, how do you pack for a nine-month trip?  Well, I didn’t get a book to read (although I had two I was planning to bring); I packed one rain jacket and one umbrella for the two of us; I brought a yoga strap and a fitness ball and its pump; my Spanish dictionary, five pairs of shoes, a dress and a skirt, which most people will find hard to believe; and I’m not sure what all else.  I guess I’ll see in a few hours when we get to our apartment in Mexico!

P.S.  I wrote this yesterday, mostly on the flight.  We made it, we're in our apartment and learning how to work things.  Doug's next project is getting the wireless internet working, but I have to get off of the wired connection for that to happen.  Chao!