A quick check through the baggage and paperwork, for the umpteenth time, shows the following to be my closest friends for the coming year.
I am over-prepared for this little trip. If I had jumped on a plane 2 weeks ago, or even a month ago, I would probably have been prepared enough. But since I'm still here I've looked through that little red bag of mine a dozen times, adding things and taking things away.

Here are some of things that have been considered over the past few months

Vaccinations - from a great free (bulk billed) clinic in Forest Hill (490 Springvale road for those of you in eastern suburbs melbourne):
Typhoid $44.95 - lasts 3 years
Meningicoccal Meningitis $45.65 - lasts 5 years
Polio booster $48.20 - lasts 10 years
Going to buy malaria in India (haha, "buying" the disease... you can't even get sick for free these days?!)
and I was already up to date with Hep A&B
oh, Yellow Fever...better sort that out.

Documentation
Indian Visa - $102 when purchased online (http://www.vfs-in-au.net/) and registered post to and from the Indian passport service in Melbourne.
Malaysia, Thailand - at the border slash airport, no charge.
Nepal - at the border, approx US$30
Pakistan, Iran - a few weeks in advance when on the road.
Beyond - too far in the future, sort it out later.
Passport photocopies and spare passport photos (printed 4-8 to the page at Big W for 15c a print - No thankyou Mr. Post Office man, I will not pay you $10 for 4 photos!

Technology - probably taking more than I should, but perhaps hearing my favourite song on the ipod or doing video journals on the netbook will be the difference between flipping out when I find ants in my water in some stodgy hotel room in the Rajasthani desert, or just having a chuckle at why we put ourselves in these situations.
Two Passports - one for me and one for the netbook :)
Acer Aspire One Netbook - $328 from JB Hifi - bargain! with wireless and webcam so I can call my mummy-o on skype, movies so that I don't have to pay for them when flying budget airlines. Ipod Touch, Canon Ixus 75 + link cable, Canon Ixus 80is - because I'm bound to destroy one camera while on the road!
Memory cards and sticks plural - so that i don't take all my photos on one card and then cry myself to sleep when I accidentally drop the camera in the ocean.
Dropbox.com account so that I can upload all my photos and have a friend back home download them to his storage device - thanks Davi!
Tiny Maglite (torch)
Asian power adaptor

Other Stuff
65L Denali waterproof duffle $30. Lowe Alpine day pack.
First Aid kit: Diareze, Ibuprofen, Gastrolyte, Couple of small bandages, bandaids, antiseptic cream, repellant, sunscreen. ok ok, blogs getting boring, won't have much interesting to say until I reach India.

1 pants, 1 jacket, 1 set thermals, 1 boardies, 3 shorts (with secret pockets sewn inside for passport/credit cards), 5 shirts, 5 jocks, sleeping bag liner sheet, thongs (not a skimpy bikini), Toieltries, Lonely Planet for India and Pakistan, A Time To Kill - Grisham, The Icarus Agenda - Ludlum.

Alright, everything's packed, house is vacuumed and mopped (ooh, he mopped? very impressive!), goodbye's are mostly said. Now it's time for cold feet - leaving behind a job that I love, friends and family that I love and clean toilets... which I love. All this for a few months of adventure on the road followed by a few months of volunteer work. The eternal dilemma for a problem traveller (read: travel addict) rears its ugly head - saying goodbye to the things we love. Life would be easier without goodbyes!