15 days!

Fifteen days and we depart!  That is two weeks and a day!  It's crazy that we're almost there--nearly ready to leave on this adventure that we've been talking about, planning out and so on so forth for a year now!

We've been doing something every day this Summer in relation to preparation for a trip.  Or at least that's how I feel.  I know I'm at least a little wrong and that we've taken a handful of carefree days and kicked back.  It's no comparison though to the past month.  I've been repeating to myself and my wife since September 1st that it is "Crunch Time."  I know what I mean when I say it, but I can't help thinking of cereal or cartoon sharks.  

A good bit of our stuff

With just a few weeks to spare we finally obtained every piece of gear that we had planned on purchasing for the trip.  Convertible pants (shorts and pants in one? Why, yes please!), nifty water filters called "Life Straws," sleeping pads (they go under your sleeping bag to provide both comfort and added warmth on colder nights), and moisture-wicking shirts that we'll be wearing while working out in the New Zealand sun. And a lot of other odds and ends, too, obviously. 

More stuff, a bit more in depth. SPORKS!

65 liter pack, with sleeping pads

 We'll be hauling all our stuff in two packs--one a 65 liter, the other an 80 liter.  Some time in December we'll hopefully be buying a car on the South island, so we'll end up keeping our packs and other stuff in there.

It's been a bit of a challenge thinking in terms of packing enough stuff for a full year. Obviously we'll need to restock on things like shampoo, vitamins and toothpaste at some point, but we've tried to plan out enough clothes and such to bring. We're really not going with too much. And what we are taking is all made for the work we'll be doing. I think I'm taking one t-shirt made of cotton, and everything else is polyester/nylon because of their properties that make them ideal for work.

We'll be taking an 11.6" laptop with us to blog and skype from in order to keep in contact with everyone back here at home. It's my goal to update as often as possible. I think every day will be some kind of awesome, crazy new experience, and I'm sure I'll be trigger-happy with snapping photos, so expect to lots of beautiful mountains, beaches and all that other good stuff.

I'll throw in another update in the coming days and add some more pictures. Feel free to comment and ask questions! Thanks!

- Seth