It has been a crazy few weeks. I am trying to relax some today; heaven knows I haven’t had much chance lately. I will have to cover a meeting Tuesday night, the night before the trip, and write the story from home that night, probably while doing a final load of laundry.

Thankfully, my plane doesn’t leave until Wednesday afternoon, so I will have time Wednesday morning to worry about any last-minute details. There are a million of them, or at least it seems that way.

Because of all the toiletries and what-if medicines I’m taking (everything from sunblock to Pepto-Bismol), I have decided not to use my shaving kits but to plack everything in zip-top plastic bags. I will put those in plastic grocery bags just in case something leaks. I have toyed with whether to take my cordless electric shaver (a good charge Tuesday night would last me through the trip) or whether disposable razors and travel-size shaving cream would take up less room. Of course, some things will need to go into my backpack instead of the checked luggage just in case the checked luggage doesn’t make it to Nairobi at the same time we do. Several of our team in 2004 had missing luggage which didn’t turn up until a few days later. Luckily, we were all working in Nairobi that year, where it was a simple matter to deliver something from the airport. This year, we’ll all be cross-country.

I’m sure I’ll forget something, or possibly that my backpack will be so crammed full that I’ll arrive in Nairobi looking like Quasimodo.