Luggage and Packing

I've come home (ie. "to my parent's house") for the Thanksgiving holiday, and one of my goals is to choose my luggage. It's quite tricky business, you know. You have to be able to fit everything you need in it, but it can't be too big or bulky and for someone [tiny] like me it's important to be able to carry the thing myself when it's full (ie. not too big), it has to be able to be searched easily without getting messed up, it has to stand out somehow so you can find it on the luggage belt, it has to be sturdy enough to cross an ocean... (must remember to look at Delta's luggage restrictions yet again).

Also important and proving difficult is knowing what I'm going to have to pack. There's the weather: I'll be passing through several different kinds of climate. Winter in Dallas is doubtless different from winter in New York, and in Africa it's actually summertime now and I have no idea what a summer in Cape Town is like.

The internets tell me the temperature ranges between 16°C (~60°F) and 26°C (~80°F) which quite frankly is heavenly to me. It means I can wear long pants/jeans plenty, and may need a sweater or jacket - which is fine because the ozone layer over Southern Africa is rather thin apparently. I've read that in the Western Cape winter is the least rainiest season, so that's good, but I've also been told that the wind in the city is phenominal, and I'm genuinely afraid of being blown away. May have to find some weighted boots! (Am I kidding? Who knows...)

I guess I'll just take what I'm wearing now, and include some shorts and a heavy jacket. I'm also getting prepared for the infrequency of air conditioning. What it's like outside it's likely to be like inside as well, and that's where being a spoiled American gets me. I like my steady 75.5°...

There's also me wondering how much laundry I'm going want to/be able/to do.

Final question, what do I want in my carry-on luggage? Mostly I think just my computer and some food.

By the way, I've already gone and purchased a grounded S. A. outlet adapter, and if I've done my homework properly my computer power source should be okay with the voltage there. *crossfingers*

To think I used to love packing so much...

To-Do List

For every airport (DFW, JFK, CPT, CVG, and Dakar), know and print:

• check-in procedure
• baggage policies/luggage restrictions/customs
• boarding procedure
• airport & terminal maps
• w/marked gates, baggage claim, airline(Delta) office, currency exchange
• passport/visa req.
• star recording [contact] names and numbers
• pilot & co-pilot on every flight (extra points for crew)
• consular general/ambassador
• locate consulate
• make a packing list

Seat and Meal Choices

I've been playing with my seating details on the Delta website; I'm fairly certain I want aisle seats most of the time, but I think last time I moved I gave myself a window seat at least once, while going over the continent during the day. Figure I'll be awake and there will be something to see at that point, but for the really long legs I'll want to be able to get up frequently without disturbing any strangers.

I've also been thinking about changing my meal plan. I would very much like to shift my diet to a more vegetarian one. I don't know that I can or want to take milk and eggs out of my food; despite the excellent reasons regarding animal cruelty for not eating milk and cheese and eggs, it still remains that they are an important part of my nutrition, not to mention delicious.

Also, I don't know that just because an airline offers alternative meal options means they take care of those people who choose said options. I have read some nasty stories of people choosing "vegetarian" and receiving token steamed vegetables and bland squash sandwhiches. Flight food is supposed to be crap anyway; why limit your options even further?

So I've selected the regular meal option for my flight out (Delta only offers meals on international flights) and I'll investigate the alternative at that time. (It may be that I can even request a vegetarian meal while I'm actually on the plane.) And for the flight back, which I can still change, I've selected the "Asian-Vegetarian" option, which is hopefully the one that contains dairy etc. (Verses the more Vegan variety.)


I'm also looking at my options for snacks on the flight. It looks like free peanuts and cookies are still available (from the "Snack Basket" for Economy class; other options available to First Class flyers, but pfft, who needs a Quaker granola bar anyway?) These are my complimentary options.

Then there's this EATS menu. There are a couple of nice-ish options, but most of them cost $8 (exception: a plain bagel with cream cheese is all of $3).

There's also a decent list of complimentary beverages, which still include Canada Dry Ginger Ale "available on select flights". This makes me happy, because I first discovered and fell in love with ginger ale on an international flight when I was very very young. Good memory!

Thank God! Free peanuts and ginger ale. That's all I really need.

ALSO! I just noticed that the coffee served on the flight is provided by - get this... - JavaCity! (lol To explain, I used to work for JavaCity until very recently when I got my better-paying internship. Of course because of having worked there, I no longer have much tolerance for coffee in my system. Let that be a lesson to you; if you really love coffee, do NOT work in a coffeeshop!)

To Visa or not to Visa?

The thought that I might need a visa hadn't occurred to me until recently. I immediately set about looking for the answer.

You can always count on the simplest thing becoming impossible to find right when it's most urgent to have them! I could not seem to find a website that had a definite answer for me. I was mainly focusing on South African governmental websites, figuring these would have the most accurate and real information. The only thing I could find was the United States on a list of countries that DO require a visa. No stipulations however, so I quickly downloaded the forms and began filling them out.

What I was reading told me I needed to collect what seemed to me an absurd amount of information, including proof that I had enough money to make the trip, and photos. I would have to send my passport in also, which worried me. Somewhere I read that it would take up to ten days to get all of this back with my visa stamped in it.

Shortly after emailing my host to ask for his identification number (more information I couldn't imagine needing) I uncovered the website for the South African consulate in New York:
http://www.southafrica-newyork.net/homeaffairs/visitorsvisa.htm

Finally I had the answer I expected all the time, which was that for a visit of less than 90 days I do not need a visa merely for tourism.

I also learned, however, that this means there are certain things I can't do under certain circumstances. For example, the semi-informal linguistic research I had been thinking of doing, with an eye toward possibly publishing an article, comes much too close to "studying", for which I need a special visa. Volunteer work and certain participation in church services would also be technically be prohibited.

That's okay, it's just something I had to learn, and better to do so now than when I've screwed up, right?

I was also duly chastised via email by my dear host for knocking SA's government websites. Should have more accurately criticized myself for failing to employ my best Googling skills properly.

So, conclusion? Because I am going for not-quite-thirty days, which is definitely under 90, I do NOT need a visa. I hope I'll still get a stamp in my passport though!

Tickets Bought- Flight Details

Last night my dad purchased my plane tickets for nearly $400 less than we expected. These are my flight details.

I'm so excited!