So much to do! So many details!

It doesn't seem possible that I will soon be traveling around the world. I was told in February that I would be the UVa Librarian for the Fall 2007 voyage for Semester at Sea. Oh, the places I will go! Japan, China, India, and Egypt to name a few. The Semester at Sea web site has the full list at http://www.semesteratsea.com/voyages/fall2007/index.html

Such excitement but in February it was so far away that it seemed surreal. But now there is less than a month to go before I leave for San Diego. And there is so much to do! I thought that having five months to prepare for this trip would give me ample opportunity to organize everything at work, buy clothes and necessities for the trip and get all the other gazillion things taken care of. How silly of me.

Much of the difficulty is not knowing all the little details that need to be addressed and the best way to take care of them as they crop up. So, for anyone else who will ever have the opportunity to participate in this life altering journey here are some of the things that I have learned. (Please note that some of it is geared for people at UVa).

Passports & Visas - get this taken care of as soon as possible - especially the passport since there is such a backlog right now. For this trip, I had to get a visa for China and India. I had the option of taking care of it myself with the embassies in DC but I elected to get it expedited by a company called Travel Document Systems, Inc. (http://www.traveldocs.com). I also needed pages added to my passport since it was recommended that I need at least 12 blank pages for the trip. It cost of bit of money to have them take care of everything but I thought it was worth it for the peace of mind and knowing I would get the passport back in time for the trip.

Immunizations - I made an appointment with the UVa Traveler's Clinic (http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/cgh/CurrentWorkandResearch/TravelersClinic.cfm) It is necessary to make an appointment well in advance of when you need it since they are only open on Tuesdays from 1-5. They ask for a list of the countries you are visiting so that they can look up all the dreadful diseases you might catch while there. I talked to Dr. Guerrant who is the director of the clinic and he was very informative (and enthusiastic). He put the fear of God into me about malaria, Dengue fever, and anything else a mosquito might do to me. Nasty little buggers. Makes me want to walk around in a hermetically sealed bubble!

As for the fees of the clinic - none of the costs are covered by our health insurance so be prepared to pay $70 for the physicians fees in the office and about $160 or so for the immunizations which will be billed to you. Of course, that doesn't even cover the cost of the prescriptions for malaria which adds another $100 to the price of everything - but after the talk I got from Dr. Guerrant, it is money well spent!

Health Insurance - contact the UVa Benefits office and let them know you are going to be out of the country for 3+ months. It is necessary to apply for Out of Area Coverage (http://www.hrs.virginia.edu/benefits/ooa.html) so that you will be covered while traveling. It was also recommended to me that I get my power of attorney paperwork taken care of too.

Travel arrangements to and from the ship - I worked with a travel agency in Charlottesville to book plane tickets to San Diego. I was able to work with Dudley Doane's office to get the tickets paid by UVa rather than deal with reimbursement stuff. I get to board the ship two days before the faculty on August 21st in order to get a start on setting up the library. We return to Miami on December 7 but since we have no idea how long it will take to disembark and clear customs, it is recommended that flights not be scheduled until after 6:00 pm. So I decided to stay overnight in a hotel and fly out the next day. That way I won't be watching the clock and freaking out.

Enough for now. Time to take care of some more details. More information will follow tomorrow.