Crossing our fingers on both hands.

I'll have to consider this. I certainly don't want people to start thinking I'm strange.

Oh yes, what's a list without adding and subtracting at the same time! Do it all the time.

Impressive!

It brings me great joy to know that there are other people who enjoy including completed tasks and packing items on a list .. just for the pleasure of crossing them off.

Great Joy!!

Now I understand why you're starting out with less weight and leaving the giant roll of duct tape at home.

You need space for little soaps and shampoos!

What a bonus that the onion bags don't weigh much. They just take up space.

I don't recall your prior journals including a count of these little treasures.

Would you consider recording the occasional running total here?

Janice, I think luck has been involved more than sturdy. That and the fact that there isn't one inch of exposed cardboard anymore. They are 100% taped, which makes them slightly less vulnerable.

One time, before bikes, we had a large cardboard box full of beautiful Lao silk and while sitting on the plane in Bangkok we could see it outside waiting to be loaded onto the plane in a torrential downpour! The next time we saw that box, in San Francisco, it had literally melted and could not even be picked up. The contents had to be poured into a large plastic bag they gave us. But we had put all the silk in zip lock bags fortunately and nothing was ruined. Pretty tense though as we watched the box get soaked in the downpour.

Looking forward to the giggle-worthy adventures to come.

As Juju would say, "Have fun riding on the Mekong!'

Just to clarify, by 13 I mean by each flight required to get from Portland to wherever it was we are going. So, on Sunday there will commence three flights: 1 to San Francisco, 1 to Taipei, and 1 more to Saigon. Each time these boxes get unloaded, transferred, and reloaded there is risk of damage, so that's why we're counting them that way.

Thirteen flights?! The cardboard boxes we used last year were in rough shape after the first flight to Amsterdam. You found some sturdy specimens there.

Yes to everything! We will be cheering you on and following along!

We DO love the Mekong and will be very happy to see it again, it's like an old friend.

Well done on the bikes you will luv the Mekong mostly flat except bridges over Mekong looking forward to updates xxxx

In our home this would definitely be Dodie. Steve doesn't do any of the sorting, packing, or list making. His role is limited to technology, computer work and bicycle maintenance, repair and carrying heavy things. It works for us.

I totally forgot to mention all my little shampoo bottles! I knew there was some other reason to return to Asia.