10 days before departure

count down has started long time ago :)

Asus Eee 900 laptop arrived, white one, as black ones ordering time was way too long. I "modified" it a bit according to the instructions found here , now it looks much much better :D I still have to set up all the accounts for IM's (pidgin and skype), CouchSurfing, Gmail, Flickr, couple of important bookmarks and so on. I got Thunderbird all configured with mail filters (which I simply copied over from desktop), although I'm not planning on reading my e-mail whole lot while there ;)

I have not decided if I'll bring my phone with. It would be very convenient as it has GPS on it. I already downloaded the Nokia maps and everything. Although I have heard that those aren't very good. So I gotta think about the phone a bit.

Back bag has been bought :D It's green :D And it is identical to my friend Riinas with whom we will be traveling together. Travel insurance has been arranged as well.

By the way I have created a separate set for Asia trip 2008 in Flicker (check the right hand side menu, first link under 'Links' heading). Understandably I don't have whole lot of information there yet, but the pictures will be there once the time is right.

I have managed to upload all the travel documents on a server by now. This would include passport, visas, ID card, drivers licence, VISA/debit card, travel insurance, hotel bookings, flight information, immunization passport scans or PDF's. I also put some digital photos there just in case. Of course this is all uploaded into password protected area.

Things that I still need to arrange/do:
- buy a watch... this is a complicated task :( all I need is a digital watch which has stopwatch and alarm. All the digital watches have heart rate monitoring and calorie reading functionalities. I don't need the heart rate monitor, I'm fine with my heart rate as it is - it does not need to be monitored. I also don't care about any calorie reading - no need for that.
- put together the first aid or pharmacy kit, I got to do some research on it still. I need to review the insect repellent options for sure as I have heard mixed things about it. Also gotta check if there is anything about the pollution that I should take note of.
- I'm still missing tickets to the Olympic event. The travel agency who is responsible of it in Estonia is doing such a poor job with the whole thing, they keep amazing me with new mess ups day after day. How come a company like that is still on the market? Beats me.

Other than that all else is getting arranged bit by bit. Vacation notification e-mail sending has started already some time ago :)