All My Bags are Packed, I'm Ready to Go

It is 12:35am right now and in about 24 hours, I'll be on a plane with my mother on our way to Hong Kong for the first layover. I'm exhausted but finally all packed. We have to be at the airport tomorrow at 10pm so this is officially my last sleep at home for the next three weeks (my poor hubby just reminded me). He helped me pack all of my electronics - including two cameras, a laptop and all the necessary cables to make sure everything is charged and transferable.

It is the first time in a month that I have finally felt excited about the trip. My father called a few family members in Vietnam tonight to let them know that we are coming. They have our flight information and are ready to hand off the keys to us at the airport to my uncle's condo in Vietnam (Yay for family connections!). I also got confirmation for our tour today, which will leave on the 22nd of June and go for about 10 days. I'm most excited about visiting Sapa, which I'm told looks amazing (see right pic)! We are going to be staying at a homestead in Sapa for one night before heading back to Hanoi.

As always, I like to make a list of things I'd like to do and hopefully I'll be able to achieve some of those things by the time we come back to Canada. Here goes:

• Ride on the back of a motorcycle through the crazy streets of Vietnam
• Get some glamour shots taken (the glamour shots in Vietnam are AMAZING - it's an all day affair where you get your makeup done and they take these great fashion photos of you)
• Buy myself and my mother an ao dai (traditional Vietnamese dress)
• Shop and bargain for something in the Vietnamese markets
• Eat traditional Vietnamese street food! (perhaps something I've never tried before)
• Witness a wedding
• Hear an old story about my family that I've never heard before
• See my father's childhood house
• See my mother's childhood house

I think that's a pretty good list for now. I'll probably be blogging at some point during the 20 hour flight to Vietnam...well, most likely since I haven't been able to find a good book to read through yet.

I called my mother earlier this afternoon and she said she hasn't been able to sleep in two days from a combination of nerves and excitement. We are both working tomorrow so that should make the day go by much faster.

Vietnam, here we come!