A pox of chickens and other concerns...
Monday, 29 January 2007
Rightie, new post time i reckon. I've been laying low for the last few days because i caught chicken pox out of no where and had to call in sick and miss my whole last week at work hehe.
The first night felt like i had a combination of hot pokers prodding me without puase and been coated in itching powder for 24 hours so i didn't get a wink of sleep.
I've gotten all my documents, tickets, paperwork packed, aswell as the big backpack so i've not got to worry about that any longer. All thats left is to sort out my on board 'day pack' and eventually pack away my drum kit so thats it safe, which is something i'm eternally putting off it seems.
Scribbled By Dejan @ 12:47:00 AM,
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Costs
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
Leicester, UK
Going abroad for so long is never cheap, as the trip gets closer and closer the expenses we have incurred are going up and up. I have almost spent £2000 on this trip and i haven't even left the ground or had expensive tourist food yet. Heres a quick run down on just my costs so far.
Flights: £893
Insuarance: £155
Vaccinations: £130
Pre Booked Treks/Activities: £525
Hostel: £40
Bag/Clothes/etc: £200
I was prepared for many of these costs, but not for the price I am supposed to pay for a tiny little pill to be taken daily. Malaria tablets, pretty necessary for our south american leg of the journey. Although the main places we want to visit are not the worst malaria hotspots, i don't think i'd want to take the risk.
We have had no end of trouble trying to work out which drugs we should be taking. Dejan was told on different occasions by different healthcare professionals that; we wouldnt need any, it changes every month and they had no idea what we'd need at the time, to take 'this' one, to 'take' that one.
My nurse in the end told me most of that was bollocks, and prescribed me a drug called 'Malarone', she told me it was a "little bit more expensive" than the other drug which is called "mefloquine". It turned out that she was lying. Malarone is fuck of a lot more expensive, in fact i would need at least £175 quid to pay for the correct dosage, as each pill costs £2.50! This is due to GSK holding a patent on the drug. Excellent! So corporate greed keeps the costs of a drug which could save million of lives, out of the hand of the poorest citizens who most need it. And just about out of the hands of me.
Mefloquine however, only cost Dejan around £6 for the whole dosage. The one problem being according to wikipedia, "It is known to cause severe depression, anxiety, paranoia, nightmares, insomnia, seizures, peripheral motor-sensory neuropathy,[2] vestibular (balance) damage and central nervous system problems......Central nervous system events occur in up to 25% of people taking Lariam, such as dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams.[5] In 2002 the word "suicide" was added to the official product label, though proof of causation has not been established."Excellent, we have to choose between crippling costs or the possibilty of having permanant mental illness!
Which one will we choose?
Tune in next week to find out......
Links:
Laurences Malaria Drug Guide
Scribbled By Tim @ 3:30:00 PM,
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Last minute preperations
Monday, 22 January 2007
After numerous death threats from Tim and trying to work out this 'internet' thing i've finally worked out how to log in and post.
ALRIGHTY, news, erm. Looks like we've finally gotten everything we need now including all those annoying little things you realise you've forgotten just as you step off the plane We're now at the stage of getting all our stuff packed, co ordinating our luggage so we don't bring stuff we can share, and have all our documents sorted...
What else? ah yeah, tim's been a right pain, mutter mutter, waking me up at all hours for a nappy change, mutter mutter, teething, you name it hehe
Right, i better get back to it!
Scribbled By Dejan @ 11:52:00 PM,
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The Plan
Friday, 19 January 2007
Leicester, England
We leave Heathrow at 9am GMT on Friday 2nd February arriving at New York Newarke airport at midday New York time. I'll immediately buy coffee and bagels, becuase thats where my priorities lie. We have from that day til the 29th of April to aimlessly take in as much of america as possible. I want to Visit Chicago and Minneapolis, i don't know why, it'll also be absolutely freezing then. I realised that the South by Southwest Music festival (SXSW) will be on in march in Austin, Texas. So hopefully we can go down to Texas to catch some bands. If we have time I would personally love to go to Vancouver. I went there once as a kid, and remember it being great. But the finishing point is the San Francisco Bay Area.
We take a plane from SF to Lima, Peru. Spending a few days in Lima before flying to Cuzco, to do the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. After that we are free to bum around south america, taking in Bolivia and Lake Titicaca. The Igassu Falls in Argentina and then Brazil, before flying home on the 27th June. I realised i've just condensed half a year into two paragraphs. But ah well. You'll be hearing nothing else for the next five months.
Hopefully Dejan will work out how to post on here, and will begin to tell you of how i'm unorganised and how much pain he's been through just to get me to think about the trip. Ah well.
Scribbled By Tim @ 1:35:00 PM,
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Welcome.......mortals
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
Leicester, UK.
Hey there, I probably know you.
Over the coming weeks and months this lowly page of not much at the moment will tranform into an exciting collage of travel adventures, stories, photographs and pleas for money. It will become a beautiful yet troubled butterfly after an ugly coocoon maggot stage.
So onwards to the Plan....
Scribbled By Tim @ 1:59:00 PM,
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