The 100th Day

Woke up this morning, stretched, hiked 10km, ate salmon cakes. Now I am ready to fly from Rutland, Vermont back to Canada. Wowza. 100 days on the road with the red bag. England, France, India, Thailand, China, USA.

Its truly amazing having friends all around the globe. I must give thanks to the following folks for letting me sleep on spare beds, feeding me and letting me do a load of laundry and making me feel at home (as always):

Alex, Tim and Maya in Oxford and Sussex
Saz and Loz in Oxford
The Halperin's (Claire's parents) in London
Chris, Shaila and Will in Mussourie
Yvonne in Beijing
Jason and Timber in Shanghai
Ann and Aki in New York City
Ari, Lena and Kia in Washington D.C.


And of course thanks to everyone for sending emails, words of encouragement and general well wishes!

I feel like I am making an Oscar speech.

Onto the RED BAG
I didn't use or barely used, but still carried with me:
- first aid kit
- mascara, eyeliner and bronzer
- all medications

What proved to be indispensible:
- a black wicked hooded jacket from MEC
- the Rayban sunglasses
- orange headband to cover up these really bad roots
- lululemon bra
- just about everything else. I packed quite well actually!

I didn't get sick. I didn't get anything stolen or lost. I didn't break any bones. I didn't buy any cigarettes. I didn't eat Peking Duck in Beijing. I do feel fit. I did take 2000 photos. I went on a lot of boat trips. I met a ton of cool people, and saw many old friends.

But to be honest, I am now ready to swap my hiking boots for a cool pair of heeled boots again, I definitely need to get my eyebrows waxed, and I'd like to sleep in one bed longer than 7 nights...

Red Bag Leaving Europe...

Whewf. Heathrow is a madhouse. Security threats yesterday and all flights were cancelled. You'd have thought I would have read the news to find out about this, but alas, I did not, and showed up to the craziness. Yet I did manage to check-in about 3 hours early and am already sitting in the lounge enjoying free internet and free food. The joys of being a frequent traveller!

The Red Bag is actually, and indeed surprisingly, lighter now than when I left Canada. Joey will soon be the proud keeper of a few books on red wines, the off-the-beaten-track book on Burgundy, and a bottle of Dijon. Alex has scored with getting my black cargo pants and an amazing book called "Paris Noir: The Secret History of a City" by Jacques Yonnet. Honestly one of the best books I have read and strongly recommended for anyone who knows an inkling about Paris, or would just like to read about it.

I am definitely beginning to feel relaxed, and I am totally getting in to the groove of this adventure thang. The red bag is faring well, and am pleased to report that it is indeed water resistant, as I found out yesterday while running to the Gare du Nord in a torrential downpour.

Off now to enjoy salt and vinegar Walker's crisps, and with complete disregard to my sister's ramblings about me being tipsy too often during this trip... a glass of wine!

Red Bag Contents Upon Departure

The Red Bag, and it's contents, are my only possessions for the next 100 days.

Top 20 Items of the Red Bag Upon Departure from Toronto:
1. $25 Casio watch with alarm.
2. Black water-resistant hoodie.
3. Three pairs of walking socks.
4. Jeans that yes, I really really needed to bring.
5. Light brown lululemon Yoga pants which really are good for walking and look great.
6. 60 multi-vitamins.
7. Black combat pants which are quite impractical, but I love them.
8. New white tanktop.
9. Silk sleeping sheet.
10. SPF 30 face cream.
11. Two tubes of vanilla mint Colgate toothpaste for Claire.
12. Printed orange and brown strapless cotton dress.
13. Mascara, eyeliner and concealer.
14. First aid kit filled with Egyptian vitamins and antibiotics.
15. Two camera batteries, 3gb photo capacity.
16. Old nokia phone with charger and global sim card.
17. IPod with 3500 songs and charger.
18. Indian Visa application and 3 passport photos.
19. Nicotine patches.
20. 10 packs of Egyptian Marlboro smokes.