4 days to go….. maybe

I can’t believe we only have 4 days left in Calgary! Chris and I spent the weekend packing and visiting with great friends and family so although we’re getting really excited to leave, it’s also tough to say our good-byes.

This week we ran into a bit of a snag while trying to obtain our visa’s for India. This has not been an easy process and our applications have now been rejected twice!! They are very particular on these applications! I feel like it is  impossible to guess the right answer! I have heard while travelling to India you need to have lots of patience, as nothing gets done quickly or they way you might want it done. I suppose they really try to break you in to their culture right from the get go with the visa application process!

It states at the top of the form “do not leave any blank spaces. Place N/A on any blank lines”. Ok, seems pretty easy. Wrong! It’s a bit of a guessing game as to how they want you to answer the questions.

Q.5. What is your Nationality … ‘CANADIAN’.

Correct.

What is your past Nationality….. ‘N/A’?

Nope!!!! The answer was ‘CANADIAN’?!?! huh?

Then another question we got wrong is

Where did you obtain your last Indian Visa….. ‘N/A’???

Nope! The answer is ‘NONE’. what???

It’s all very confusing, but we feel after two attempts we may have got it right this time!!! They were shipped back to the consulate Saturday evening.

So at this point we have no Indian Visas, and worse, our passports are somewhere in between here and Vancouver! Although we are scheduled to leave Friday morning, I guess we’ll wait to see when we get our passports back? Departure date is currently TBD!

Back to packing!

A Taste of Turkey

Can’t wait to do this!!

408 Hours

Man, we’re lucky to have friends and family that are so stellar.  It’s starting to feel like we’re really going, and we’re already starting to miss you guys!  Keep us up to date on Facebook, Twitter, Emails and this blog.

Staying Connected

You might not believe it, but pre-trip planning is a full-time job.  Right now we’re trying to figure out the best way to capture and share our trip with everyone back home, and for us to remember down the road.  We’re exploring options with a bunch of different technology and applications…we’re getting there, but it’s been waaaaay more of a chore than I would have thought!  It’s a clear sign that those days where I could just figure new technology out in the blink of an eye are gone.  Does anyone have a 7 year old they could lend us to come over and teach us how to use all this stuff and make it work together?  Twitter, Gmail, Ipods, Facebook, Kobos, Cameras, WordPress(.com), Ipads…the list goes on.  I’m thinking I might not be able to take any clothes on the trip after I fill my backpack with USB cables, power converters, user manuals, power cords, and all the actual technology.

23 days

a few weeks to go and neither one of us can believe that were about to leave home, family and friends to hit the open road.  i’ve had a bunch of questions lately about which location we’re most excited about.  it’s a good question…there are a lot of interesting places to choose from.  after a non-existent summer in Calgary, we’re really most interested in chasing warm weather around the globe for a few months!

we’re submitting our visas for India tonight…wow, talk about a complicated process.  by the way, how do you call an international number that starts with 911 as the first 3 digits?  seems like a bit of an issue for someone calling from Canada.