At last! With one day to spare, I've retrieved my passport from the Indonesian Consulate in North Beach, with the coveted 60-day visa intact. So much ruckus and trouble for this glorified sticker! Curious that they required 2 perfectly sized (expensive) photos, yet none are included with the visa. I guess it's just for their records in case I make trouble and need to be identified in the future! Homeland security in Indonesia?

I'm delighted to learn that my friend Chantal will probably join me for 2 weeks of exploring and painting in Bali. We had a wonderful time travelling together in Morroco a couple years back, so it seemed only natural that we share time in another exotic place. She creates lovely lively watercolors, and I'm quite inspired by her paintings from her Morroco experience. It should be interesting to see what happens! We may spend most of our time taking pictures and observing, and then paint later at home in San Francisco.

I'm calmed by the knowlege that even if I forget everything else, that with the passport, tickets, credit card, travelers checks, laptop, camera, and main painting supplies and tools, I'll be fine. A friend assured me that art supplies are available in Bali... though unfortunately, Tivas are not! I'll just have to add them, and a "high quality" mosquito net, to the growing recommended list of what to buy when I land in Malaysia.

I won't bore us all with all the dreary logistics, but let's just say that instead of a perfectly prepared departure, I've had to settle for a resourceful and expedient one. Especially since I decided to partake in some extra farewell opportunities with my wonderful friends. So, instead of sewing those padded slip covers for the new zippy laptop and other digital equipment, I've brought home giant bubble wrap mailers. And instead of wrapping up all the societal and legal loose ends, I've taken care of the things that would be most disaterous if ignored for 6 or 7 months (hopefully). I'm proud to have whittled down my wardrobe to a mostly silk one that rolls into a colorfully layered ball only slightly bigger than a small cat. It's exotically odd, and will probably have people wondering where the heck I'm from, but at least it's temple-respectful with shoulders and kneecaps covered. I may be a bit ragged and pieced together, what with buttons popping and silk underskirts ripping, and may also be a bit chilly as the cool SF breezes, and airline vents, blow. But I'll be warmed by bon voyage memories, and eventually, by the tropics. I can find wonderful clothing replacements in SE Asia.

I realize today just how expensive it is being secure, as I doled out fees for travelers checks, a year's PO box rental, and DVD-R's for archiving during my journey. Oh... and parking garage fees.

My main regrets and worries are over not having fixed my teeth and a fix-it ticket... both lingering landmines. The latter by my paranoid stretch of imagination may be a potential snafu at the airport should a warrant be out for my arrest. It's ridiculous considering it's for lack of proof of insurance in the glove box while driving a friend's fully insured car. Let's just say that a faded ticket, a confused online citation payment, and lack of information and a printer, have made this difficult to resolve. Try as I may, proof on CD is not enough for a sometimes still paper-based bureaucracy.

I'm close to fitting everything in one wheeled bag, but I'm almost certain that it's too heavy to qualify for carryone and will need to be checked. Strangely, one of my biggest challenges has been to find a carry on handbag big enough to carry my laptop and digital camera into the cabin. I guess that's the downside of a 15" laptop, as opposed to the 12".

Well... I'd better get on with it. I have a lot of tour book pages to scan, and a whole lot of post dinner party cleaning to do. I sure hope my new laptop and camera gear is self explanitory enough to avoid taking the heavy manuals. Regretably, it looks like I'll have to spend the morning getting ready. I hate last minute pressure.