How to survive a rabid monkey lick

One thing we need to do as we prepare for our upcoming world tour (nine weeks of Borneo, China and Europe) is to get caught up on our vaccinations.

A few weeks ago we visited the Travel Doctor here in Wellington and learned about all the scary things you can catch (like yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis) - or that can catch you (monkeys with rabies, mosquitos with malaria). Yick.

Due to our plans to visit Malaysian Borneo and China, they recommended the following:

• Hepatitis A - a one-time injection plus a booster in 6-12 months; good for 30 years.

• Hepatitis B - series of three injections over eight weeks; good for life.

• Typhoid - one-time injection needed every three years.

• Rabies - this one is optional. And here's what you have to do to survive a bite, scratch or lick from a rabid animal: wash the area with soap and water for 10 minutes without rubbing. Don't compress the wound as you want to let it bleed and flush the virus from the wound as much as possible. Even if you received a pre-exposure vaccine, you need a post-exposure treatment as soon as possible. Because Bali has so many dogs around, our nurse told us that Bali often runs out of the drug, so it's better to catch a flight to Singapore or Kuala Lumpur in search of immediate medical care. Not really comforting but good to know. Did you know that New Zealand is one of the few places on earth that doesn't have rabies? Let's keep it that way.

• Malaria - Malaria's a bit different in that you take pills for protection instead of getting a shot. Two types were recommended to us. One is fairly cheap, may upset your stomach and you have to take it during and four weeks following your trip to a malaria area. The other is much more expensive, fewer side effects and you only have to take it for a week following your trip. In both cases do everything you can to avoid mosquito bites.

• And your typical flu shot - which is designed to protect you from the flu anywhere in the world.

We have our malaria pills ready and have received all the required shots. In the end we opted out of the $200 rabies shot. What are the real chances of getting bitten or licked where we're going? We're hoping fairly low.

It makes me feel good to know we're able to protect ourselves with these vaccines. But after listening to all the horrible things that can happen to you on vacation to "paradise," I have to admit I feel a bit less day-dreamy and a bit more realistic about our upcoming travels.

Our world tour kicks off in 2 weeks

You've probably heard me mention that our time in New Zealand is coming to an end and we're preparing for a bit of travel before moving back to Kansas City.

It's been lots of fun planning our upcoming trip. It began with us asking ourselves "where in the world do we want to go?" which is quite a daunting question. So we created a giant wishlist that we had to narrow down according to our schedule and budget. (Sorry Palau -- I'll have to swim in your magical jellyfish lake another time.) After much brainstorming, negotiation and organising, our itinerary now looks like this:

• Leave NZ on 2 April
• Singapore
• Malaysian Borneo
• Beijing
• Switzerland
• Greek Islands
• Italy
• Germany
• Arrive in Kansas City on 3 June

I'm pretty excited about what's coming up. So excited in fact that I made a logo for our trip. My graphic design friends will undoubtedly be impressed by my expert use of WordArt. In my defense though, I've been busy selling our household goods on trademe.co.nz and prepping our other stuff for shipping to KC. We've gotten our visas and our shots (more on that later) and our flights. Now just wrapping things up, getting ready to say our goodbyes and preparing for our next adventure.

Looking ahead

I’m home enjoying a three-day weekend thanks to Wellington Anniversary Day. And it’s nice we hadn’t planned any outdoor activities because it’s been windy and raining and rather dreadful outside all weekend long. But it’s given us a chance to catch up on some reading and work on some upcoming travel plans.

Jake and I decided a while ago that we’d be moving back to Kansas City, and we’ve recently booked our flights. We’re leaving on 2 April. During our transition, there is this incredible window of opportunity for a bit of traveling. And in this case, “a bit” is nine weeks! And we can’t say no to it. When else are we going to have this perfect combination of no rent, no jobs and no children? (Technically Jake will be on leave from his job in KC.)

We’ll share more details about the itinerary as it comes together, but basically we’ll be taking the long way back to the States via Asia and Europe.

In the meantime, we’re starting to think about all the details that we need to manage. (How much NZ wine are we allowed to ship to the States? How do we have a garage sale when we don’t have a garage or a yard of any kind? Do they let tourists into the weekly water buffalo auction in Borneo?) I’m a list-maker, and I’m having a great time drafting our checklists. But we’re also planning to make the most of this summer – our plans for next month include the Sevens Rugby and the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. We’ll keep you posted.

Let's maintain a little mystery, shall we?

Our American friends and family will be gathering around large plates of turkey and stuffing this Thursday in celebration of Thanksgiving. I'm giving thanks in my own way this year.

I'm thankful for my hard-working husband, and I've decided to take him on a mystery weekend away. He has no idea where we're going - only that we'll be in New Zealand and that our flight leaves on Friday afternoon.

Check in next week when we have the big reveal, and we'll see if I was really able to keep it a mystery or if he figured out our destination ahead of time.