Dearest Rachel -
I don't think I've completely shaken off Basel Syndrome (which, upon re-reading that letter to you, I was surprised to discover that I'd defined it as more of an irrational preference for staying in my hotel room/cabin rather than going outside of it; whereas now, I think of it as a fear that, no matter how inevitable my travel plans are as the day approaches, there's always the chance that they'll come to naught) yet. However, as the days wind down to the point where I can count them on my hands, it's starting to get to the point where the trip dominates my train of thought. More to the point, I find myself dwelling on the odd preparations here and there that I still need to take care of before I can comfortably say that I'm ready to go.
Some of this feels like I'm getting ahead of myself, even as the departure date approaches. Obviously, I'm going to have to pack clothes, for instance, but I clearly have to do a few loads of laundry first. However, since I need clothes to wear between now and then, I can't wash and pack everything now, I need to wait until no more than a day or two before leaving to do that. You understood this, and could do this well, often to the point of doing the wash in the wee hours of the night before we were to leave. But since I can't bring myself to stay up that late – and fear that, if I left too much to the last minute, I'd forget to bring much of what I hoped to, and then I'd be spending too much of these upcoming three months regretting my forgetting – I have to set aside what I can whenever it comes to mind.
Thus far, none of what I've set aside thus far has been clothing, although technically, I could probably get away with most of my T-shirts and polos, as it's too chilly to wear them here (even though it's actually been unseasonably mild for the past week or so). I mean, I have so many of them; why not set a few favorite ones aside already?
But instead, I've been assembling some of the more esoteric stuff that I might use on a cruise and nowhere else. I told you earlier this month about the selfie stick I got (and I should mention that I ought to charge it once again just before packing it away, so I can't consider that finished until the night before the trip, either), but I also decided to get a watertight bag to hold my phone in for when I might want to take underwater shots – I'll be visiting the Great Barrier Reef at some point, among other places. I might even bring along my old phone in order to take those kinds of pictures, just in case; I can't use it as a phone, but I could send it underwater to take pictures, and if the bag isn't sufficiently waterproof, at least I won't have damaged my real phone. Of course, that will need charging up, too, before packing away, as will my noise-cancelling headphones; yes, I finally got a pair of those for the flight and whatnot. Granted, I probably should have had those for the longer flights to Japan, but whatever.
I've also got a spare HDMI cable to pack, as it seems that the televisions aboard ship now permit one to connect a computer to them (which probably means I might do well to bring the many collections of television and anime shows we collected on hard drives to watch, especially for those week-long journeys between certain ports. It will be rather bittersweet to watch such stuff without you, so I don't know. Then again, it's not as if I can wait for you to return…). Interestingly, although it's no skin off my nose, they've made it clear that they don't work with certain devices like the Roku or Amazon Fire sticks. I would think those would be more common than folks like myself hooking computers up to screen, but whatever…
At the same time, I really should bring a book or two as well, to be a little more 'cultural' about this. The previous Christmas, Dad had given both Bill and I a book that he'd read and enjoyed; while I'd brought it along to Japan, I barely got but a few chapters in before being distracted by one thing or another, be it sights, tours or responsibilities (whether actual or self-imposed), and quite literally losing the plot. I'll have a bit more time this time around, though, so I really should try and give it a proper read, for his sake.
Now, I'm torn about whether to pack anything more formal than a collection of polo shirts and the like. I'm sure the folks would like a nice picture of me while on the cruise – the shot of Daniel and me by the ferris wheel in Shimizu was more typical of us, but it's not quite on the level of those family pictures we would have taken of us, back in the day. Then again, it's not like I'm a family at this point, either, so… yeah, I don't know what to do about that. Besides, I'm only giving myself one suitcase for the flight out (since it's domestic); I'll probably pick up enough souvenirs (including clothes) along the way to fill another case on the trip back – which probably means I ought to pick up another suitcase as a souvenir, too – but there's only so much weight, and so much room for what I'm able to bring.
Granted, some of the things I'm packing to take will ultimately be consumed or otherwise left behind, thereby leaving me that much more room on my return. This includes things like toiletries, as well as my various medications and vitamin supplements. Your ashes don't count, by the way; since the shaker is coming home with me, no room will be gained (and in any event, I don't expect to scatter anywhere near everything I'm bringing – there are so many travels I expect to take over however many years I have left; just a shake or two everywhere I go will last me for years, and still probably have enough to plant with me when that time comes). Dad has recommended bringing some local (as in, Chicago-area) souvenirs as a present for certain staffers, in addition to the gratuities I've already paid out; he used to make a practice of distributing boxes of Frango mints as extra tips, which sounds like a good idea. Once I hand those out, I'll have a little more space to work with in my current bag, before I need to get a new one to bring stuff home in.
All of which is aside from the stateside issues I need to take care of. Among other things, I need to set up a brokerage account for the camp, as well as making sure that I can take care of two-step authentication while I'm abroad. If I can't receive text messages, this is going to make things like the tax return considerably more difficult than I'd hoped. I've got my travel agent looking into it with the cruise line, but this could pose a problem. Still, I'm glad that I at least have internet access as part of this trip; I can't imagine what I'd do without it, even if I wasn't trying to contact you every day like this.
Finally, there's the question of Daniel, and how much he can handle with running the house in my absence. This whole thing is meant as much as a test for him as a getaway for me, but I'm starting to have my concerns. Just last night, the two of us were out grocery shopping, trying to burn through some of the gift certificates I've accumulated from using the credit card the local supermarket offers. Bringing him along would help him make decisions as to what to get in order to be able to eat in my absence – or so I thought. But it doesn't seem like he does much in the way of food preparation at home; he couldn't think of anything he needed from the place. Why bother, when he'd just be doing something that he doesn't already do? I mean, he's able to go out and get himself sustenance when he gets hungry – and he's certainly got enough saved up that he can do that with impunity – but that isn't what I intended for him. Then again, there will come a day when I have no control over what he does with his life anyway; better that it happen now, and I can correct him if need be from afar, rather that having him effectively wind up farther at sea than I will be, I suppose.
And with that having been said, honey, all I can do is ask you to keep an eye on us, and wish us luck. We're going to need it.
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