Northface BackTrack 50 and Quickdry Towels

So our first major purchase is waiting for us back at the apartment...I can't wait to open it! After much debate about straps, zippers, compartments, daypacks, and volumetrics, me and nam found the perfect packs.
This one is not too big, not too small, not too heavy, not too flimsy, not too expensive etc etc.. it is perfect. This red one up top is mine and Nam got the same one in black


We also ordered two large "Quickdry" towels which are kinda foamy felty things which claim to circumvent the rotting mildew problem we ran into with the cotton towels we traveled with last adventure. Mine is an apricot/curry/orange, Namita's is blue. I kind of like this color coding of all our possessions...


In other trip related news, I went into McCosh today and made an appointment to see Helen the travel nurse. It was super fun to answer the receptionist's question, "And where are you planning to go?..." "Oh you know, Batswana, South Africa, Indonesia, Italy..." By the time I got to Brazil and Argentina she had stopped writing down what I was saying. Our first meeting will be a 45 minute syringe extravaganza. In about two weeks, I should have a brand new immune system. Stoked...

We have an itinerary!

So Carmella from STA travel totally came through. Here is a tentative itinerary that was given to us yesterday. She gave us a quote around $4800 for the entire trip, which does not seem bad at all!

In a nutshell:

30 days in Brazil (September)
1 week Argentina
1 week Spain
30 days Italy (October/November)
1 week Bulgaria
2 weeks Istanbul/Turkey
2 months South Africa/Botswana (January/February)
1 week Ethiopia
2 months India (Feb/March)
1 month Thailand/Indonesia
1 week Tokyo

FLY HOME!

It sounds awesome, but I think it may be a liiiiitle too much. I was hoping to not spend more than $4000. Also after talking to some friends of Forrest's up here in New Hampshire, I think a trip to China might be cool too. Joe and I are more beach/nature people so my first impression of China is that it may be more developed...

ANYWAYS. Happy fourth of July weekend. If anyone...actually...reads this...
Namita