New Stuff!

It's like Christmas all over again! Except I have to buy all the stuff for myself. That's not so good. But when the UPS man brought my new suitcase yesterday, I was so happy I gave him a cookie, just like Santa Claus. (Freshly baked, too. Mmmmmm.) I have new luggage!

My old rollaboard suitcase has served me valiantly and well, ever since it was called in to replace my old, larger suitcase that DELTA (Do Not Expect Luggage To Arrive) lost forever and ever on my very first trip home from college. *ahem* Not that I'm bitter. Anyway, my little green rollaboard went back and forth from NC to Iowa at least 4 times a year all during college, to Taiwan, Chile, Japan, Germany, back to Japan, and any number of smaller trips in cars, but alas, in coming back from Germany, where it was almost lost, the seams started to give way. I would really rather not go all the way to China only to have my luggage rip open, so I decided I had to get a new one.

After much consultation with my frequently traveling father, not to mention with anyone else who would listen to me obsess about it, I settled on the TPro 22" rollaboard from Travelpro. My dad swears by them because they got started making luggage for flight crews, who need durable luggage more than anyone. We'll see how this line of their luggage does for me. It's looks really big inside, so I think I might just be able to get everything I need for 5 weeks in China into it and my new backpack. If I manage that, I can even get them both on the plane with me, entrusting nothing to the whims of the airline baggage gods.

I also got a new Lonely Planet guidebook for China over the weekend. Looking at all the guidebooks in the bookstore reminded me of doing the same thing in a bookstore in downtown Santiago with Jessica, dreaming of all the places we could go. There's something magical about guidebooks. They contain so many possibilities. Of course, having now used a Lonely Planet guide for both Chile and Japan, some of the magic depends on the country's transportation system and whether or not you have to work while you're living there, but still, the possibilities are there.

Now all I need to get is my passport, which was sent out on its own to get a Chinese visa. I hope it comes back soon. Then I'll be ready to go!