Here we are again, everyone, a couple of weeks away from another trip and another adventure. This time it is an avventura italiana, starting on August the 30th, when we leave for Rome, and it won't finish until we arrive back in Ho Chi Minh City on October the 2nd.
At least, that's the plan. And it really should be able to be followed. It's only those midnight fears that suggest it might not. You see, Stephen's Vietnamese visa and work permit both run out in the next few weeks, so they need renewing before we go. We were told that it should be fine, as long as he gets the paperwork in by the 17th of this month. We were worried mainly about the police paperwork, as they have dragged their feet in the past, but they came through admirably promptly this time, thanks to a change in personnel, apparently. But when Stephen took all the stuff to the HR office yesterday, several days early, he was told that some of it was wrong and some was missing. The wrong stuff could be corrected with only a trip to a local government department (uh-oh) but the missing stuff... we turned the house upside down looking for it but couldn't find it. This morning we tried to get it replaced but were told (very pleasantly, admittedly) to come back this afternoon. But re-reading the instructions, we wondered if maybe some of the paperwork we already had would be adequate after all. So since Stephen had already dealt with the other stuff in record time, he decided to just try again with what he had. And it seems to be fine. We're still earlier than the deadline, and the time lost between submitting last thing yesterday and not-quite-first thing this morning shouldn't be too great. But what a horrible few hours - what if we couldn't find it, what if we couldn't replace it? But finally, we figured that the worst-case scenario should only delay our departure by a couple of days. Probably.
We've had plenty of things on our list of stuff to do before departure, and they're gradually being dealt with. I bought this pretty little toy to type my blog with - a tablet with a detachable laptop keyboard. It should be light and easy to carry, with the robustness of a (small) laptop for comfortable typing. Last week I finished editing last year's travel blog from Japan, and ordered it in book form, to have a permanent, actual, physical album of that trip. We're set as far as luggage goes, and I even have an idea in my head of what to take. Not much, hopefully: We'll be training around the country and we don't want too heavy bags, or extra bags of stuff bought along the way. I have a memory in the UK of making sure we had 7 bags every time we got on and off a train. It might get that way by the end of this trip, but at least we'll start by travelling light-ish. What else? Our NZ drivers' licenses are both due to run out next month but they are in the process of being extended by a year, just in case we might want to drive a car in Italy. (Our VNese licenses are valid, but for motorbikes only. Hopefully we can use them to hire a Vespa somewhere.) And now I am writing this to see how the blogging app works, and get used to the keyboard, and send out the invitations for you to subscribe.
So, a disclaimer: this will be a travel diary for myself as much as a blog for you. After the trip I will be converting it to a real book, with pages and a cover and everything. It will be written primarily for my own benefit so that I get to remember all the little details that might otherwise be lost in the rush and bustle, not to mention the length, of a big trip. But I invite you to tag along. I hope it won't be too foody (although I can imagine there might be a lot of food worth writing about.) I hope it won't be full of gush (although I can imagine there might be a lot to gush about.) I hope it will just be an enjoyable read, whether you are reading it as an introduction to Italy, or you are already an old hand.
See you again in a couple of weeks!
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Me writing this at home on the laptop/tablet.
The black blob on my right is Whittaker the cat.
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