althom1122

For those of you who have followed my agonizing planning, I thought I'd let you know that I finally took care of a couple last-minute details:
- I rebooked my flight to San Francisco a day earlier as several of you suggested. (I'm flying from Maryland and meeting my daughter in San Francisco - and was worried about making the connection.)
- And I finally decided to get a guide in Siem Reap. Ponheary was booked, so we're using her brother, Dara.
I'm now in the process of putting everything together - printing out all my confirmations, cleaning my house (don't you love coming home to a clean house?), going to the bank for some crisp dollar bills, arranging for my neighbor's daughter to feed my cat and get my mail, and getting together all the stuff I'm taking. It's almost here!!! I can hardly believe it!

What OTHER last-minute things do you all do to make sure you're all set to go?

glorialf

pay my bills; give my itinerary and contact numbers to various people; call my credit cards to tell them not to prevent me from using my card while out of the country; make a copies of my passport and put them in various purses, luggage; get some extra passport photos to take with; go through my medication list of stuff to take; go to the podiatrist for a foot clean up; start taking out the clothes I am going to pack and put them in one place -- often hang them in my second bathroom so my dogs won't get hair all over them; get my luggage out of my storage room; put new batteries in battery operated things I'm taking.

Karen-- I love the way you have planned this trip and I know you will have a wonderful time. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Susan33

Hi Karen

I call my ATM and credit card companies so my cards do not get blocked. Notify the burglar alarm company. Turn off the water supply to the ice maker. Do all the laundry and ironing. Change the bed (clean sheets are so nice to come home too). Throw out perishable food and take out the garbage.

See you in Bangkok on the 8th.

Susan

althom1122

Ah- I just remembered something else! Call my doctor and get a new epipen (I'm allergic to fish, some of you may remember).
And yes, I'll call and let my credit card banks know I'll be out of the country and give my itinerary to some friends. And definitely start getting together the things I'm taking. Need new rechargeable batteries for my camera. And I think I'll get another memory card.
And - here's one of my little superstitions - buy some Lifesavers. My sister told me when I was younger that if you eat a Lifesaver when your flight takes off, you won't crash. (I used to be quite scared of flying - still get just a little nervous... but the Lifesavers have always worked! Heehee!)
Clean sheets when I get home... yes, that would be nice. And definitely take care of the fridge!

simpsonc510

Did you happen to purchase travel sized rolls of toilet paper? I found them at Target in the "sample size" toiletries section. I've gone through several rolls over my 9 trips here. You never know when a "Western" style bathroom will NOT be supplied. It happens!! On that note, before entering the stall, always check to see if there is a giant roll of TP on the wall near the sinks/mirrors. They will often put a giant roll there rather than individual rolls in the stalls. Be on the lookout!!!

Carol

rhkkmk

sleeping pills for the trans pacific flight....or are you going to be conducting a lecture on trip planning for the others on your flight....maybe the airline would pay you???

jewelry to the safe deposit box...silver too....

passport has at least six months from arrival date to expiry....

dialing instructions to thailand for those at home in case of emergency...

long sleeve shirt to protect you from sun....soft cotton hat....

you will have so much fun....can't wait for the report!!

bob

althom1122

I laughed out loud at your asking whether I was going to give a lecture on the plane... boy, have you got my number! On a group tour to Europe with my sister several years ago, we came up with a trivia game about the group members (28 of us). And on one our longer bus rides, I took the microphone and we played Jeopardy. I hammed it up big-time (even humming the Jeopardy tune). We'd gotten to know each other pretty well by then, and my sis and I came up with a question about each couple or individual to see how much the others had learned about their fellow travelers. Things like:
- which couple recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary?
- which man picked up a rock as a child and knew what he wanted to be when he grew up?
- which woman once worked for vogue magazine and accidentally threw away an andy warhole original sketch?

We gave little candy treats to the winners.

So... hm... maybe I WILL be conducting a lecture onboard the plane... especially if they might pay me.

Good idea on the dialing instructions to Thailand for family/friends. And yes, passports are up to date. My sister got me a great hat for Christmas - kind of like what they wear on Survivor - with a wide brim and a string that hangs down in the front. I look silly in it, but... oh well.

althom1122

I made some passport pictures myself. I hope they're ok. I printed four that are 2 inches by 2 inches (what the US passport page says). And I also printed four that are 2 cm x 4 cm (what the Cambodian visa page says). How picky are they about the size? And the background is not perfectly white -it's a little greenish. Is that ok? I'm waiting for my daughter to send me a shot of her so I can print her some, too. Figured it would be much cheaper to print them myself than to have them taken somewhere.

glorialf

I had 6 passport photos made at Walgreens for $3.99.

terryr

Hi Karen,

In addition to what's already been listed, I also called my credit card company to ask for an extension on my due date so that I wouldn't incur a finance charge. Essentials for the long plane ride ahead: eye mask, ear plugs (to block out sounds of crying children), and slip on slippers.

Have a wonderful time! Please say hi to Dara and Ponheary and hope your dining at the China House is a total pleasure. Looking forward to reading your report.

Terry

MaryW

One thing I always do these days is take a photocopy of my passport and put in my handluggage - usually another somewhere else and just to be sure we leave a copy tucked safely on a webpage just in case we should lose it. Last year a friend was coming through Los Angeles to Hong Kong and then to Oz - he had his passport nicked in the airport in LA and didn't notice until on the plane to Hong Kong. Unfortunately despite a lot of help from airline staff he had great problems in Hong Kong. Had a copy of the passport but in the checked in luggage and they wouldn't let him access that until he could show his passport!!!!! Finally with much help they let him access his bag and he could get things fixed up. Still if it had been readily available it would have saved a lot of time and hassles.

Gpanda

Karen-don't forget to bring bottled water for the flights. Also, what part of Maryland are you from? I went t high school at Bethesda-Chevy Chase H.S., class of 1970.

rhkkmk

make that 1870

rhkkmk

karen---one of the issues with the pics is the weight of the paper...i don't think a regular copy weight is sufficient...us passport used to specify the weight of the paper...sometimes they need to emboss the picture...

in any case you could have them re-taken in asia...

for instance in SR they enclose the pic in plastic which must involve some heat process...thin paper might be a problem...

just a thought...

anyways every thing else is going to be perfect on your trip so why not have a problem with the pics???????????

Kippy

I usually leave a copy of important travel documents with a relative at home such as travel insurance details and photocopy of passport.

Remember to take addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of people that you may want to contact - friends family, bank, credit card companies.

If you subscribe to one of these card guard companies that hold all your credit card details and important document details so that they can cancel lost/stolen cards etc, then remember to take that company's information too.

Have a great trip!

Kathie

Make sure you have the overseas numbers for your credit card companies and bank just in case you have to call. They all have numbers you can call collect from overseas. Your credit cards likely list this number (in teensy-tiny print) on the back of the card; you'll likely have to ask your bank for the number.

I had (for the first time in all my years of traveling) a situation where I had to call my credit card company. The card wouldn't go through at my dress-makers. I told her I'd come back later and went back to the hotel and called to see what the problem was. It turned out that the bank had a server down that receives all international transactions and approves them. The operator I talked with said she'd received calls from all over the world in the hour it had been down. She said it would be back up in a couple of hours and to try again then. I did so and it was fine. But was I ever glad I had that number!