INNOCULATIONS AND MALARIA TABLETS

Now I always knew that there would be something unexpected to pay for or that something would come in more expensive than planned. Today we went for our second round of jabs. As we plan to camp a great deal we are being extremely thorough and having pretty much every innocualtion we can think of. Chloera is about the only one we have decided not to bother with. So that means: Rabies; Tick Bourne Encephalitis; Japanese Encephalitis; Hepatitis B. Now to me that doesn't seem very many. We've already had Yellow Fever which we would've had to pay for and the rest we've had free of charge at our local GP (Typhoid, Polio, Tetanus, Diptheria etc). So the decision to have four additional innocualations didn't really cross my financial radar.

Until that is we went to the local MASTA clinic. And even then I didn't fully realise the true extent of the overall cost. I would say it was probably six of one and half a dozen of the other. I didn't read there price list carefully enough. They didn't make it clear enough how their price structure worked.

Rabies IM Route - £47
Tick Encephalitis - £63
Japanese Encephalitis - £43
Hepatitis B - £40

I looked at the above and did the calculations - £193 each. Not cheap but not too bad. Both of us covered for just under £400. Unfortunately I missed, didn't read properly, skipped over - however you want to phrase it - two important words at the top of the price list

"IMMUNISATIONS PRICE PER DOSE"

So that was my half dozen. Missing the "per dose". Their six was failing to indicate on the price list just how many doses were required for each innoculation. As it turns out each vaccine needs three doses to be effective. Doing the maths that makes things altogether more expensivive. £193 x 3 = £579 each - A GRAND TOTAL OF £1158 for 4 innoculations. Now don't get me wrong. When you put that next to catching Rabies or Encephalitis it is really a small price to pay. But it still came as a major shock. I really feel the price list should be amended to clearly state just how much it will cost to be fully protected from the diseases. Not many people are likely to want just the one or two doses. But of course the following price list looks far less appetising.

Rabies IM Route - £141
Tick Encephalitis - £189
Japanese Encephalitis - £129
Hepatitis B - £120

Would it put people off? Some possibly but not Bridget and I. It would though have helped us budget better. It's all a moot point really and I feel less irked now. We need, want the jabs and would have paid whatever was required. But if you are planning a similar trip I hope this helps you avoid our naiveity.

MALARIA TABLETS

Just to add insult to injury we have also discovered how much malaria tablets are going to cost. Malarone about £400 each leaving us little choice but to chose Doxycycline - much cheaper (about £115 each) but with greater chance of side affects. We need to try them before we go and keep our fingers crossed we have no problems. Again please don't think I am whingeing - better to pay than to catch Malaria but we hadn't expected it to cost quite that much - I think it was easy to think of the trip as an extended holiday and forget that a year away is a rather more than that.

OH MY GOD IT'S NEARLY FEBRUARY

There's just one week of January left! Having been going so slowly for so long time has speeded up to such an extent I worry we won't be ready to leave on April 11th. Ridiculous really but sometimes its difficult to control how I feel. February is such a short month and then March will be upon us and that's it really, we'll be leaving before we can blink. I haven't read many blogs that recount these kind of pre-match feelings but for me it's important to explain that as fortunate as I feel to be able to be taking this trip, as excited as I feel about cycling to the other side of the world, it's also quite scary all be it in a good way.

We have a list - it's quite a long list and it was written a while ago. All the things we need to get sorted and buy before we leave. It should be getting shorter but it seems actually to be getting longer which is quite worrying. We have begun dealing with many things on the list but don't feel we can cross them off until each task is completed. So I think I am going to write a few down here to make me feel better. We have organised a new bank account that doesn't charge for drawing money out abroad; we have started our inoculations (unfortunately realised that one of the jabs we need will need a booster in 5 months time which means we will need to be able to explain in Italian what we want - ho hum all part of the experience; I have a feeling that phrase might become my mantra for when things don't quite go according to plan); we have purchased our rack packs, folding bowl, road morph pump; we have signed up to flickr and face book; we are now signed up to Couch Surfing and Warm Showers - something I will write about in more depth later but which in brief makes me reassured that not the whole world is as messed up as I sometimes think and a reflection of how the world could and should be (sorry if I sound like a priest giving his Sunday sermon but it's how I feel at the moment); I have booked my leave so I can finish work even earlier, nearly three weeks before the ferry leaves which is reassuring.

Even though we do have most things under control I still feel moments of sheer panic, deep and empty pits in my stomach. I have even begun to have night time imaginings (not technically dreams or nightmares because it's normally when my mind begins to wurr before falling asleep) about being disturbed or attacked while wild camping. As a result I've begun to look up camp sites in Northern Spain and the South of France even though I know we can't afford to camp every night - especially when considering the state of the pound at the moment. Not sure if a psychologist would approve but as a way of keeping everything in perspective I am going to list top five things I am most looking forward to and the top five things I most fear.

TOP 5 GOOD THINGS (no particular order):

* Waking and sleeping with the sun.
* Seeing so many different parts of the world.
* Carrying everything we need with us (I am quite a hoarder back home)
* The people we will meet
* Slower pace of life

(There are many more I know but don't want an endless list)

TOP 5 FEAR FACTORS:

* Leaving the dogs
* Wild camping
* Getting hurt, attacked etc
* Getting bitten by a dog or snake or some other unpleasant
* Coping when we are ill, down or fed up.

You see just writing them down makes me feel better and seeing them in written form makes we feel like I'm actually a bit of a wuss. Leaving the dogs will be especially hard - Megan in particular as she is nearly 12 and there's a realistic chance I won't see her again. She is such a stoic little dog and I am sure once we are gone will be perfectly happy so I am in fact worrying about how I will feel rather than her well being but the thought of that last hug goodbye already wells me up.

Now I wrote earlier that I wasn't going to write a list of things we are taking but I have now changed my mind. We have learned so much from other people's experiences it seems unfair not to share ours fully. So next time I will post of equipment lists - obviously you can skip them if you find them boring or unhelpful. Also I appreciate there aren't many photos yet - obviously we haven't left yet but I think I may at least post some photos of our bikes - by then we may even have given them names.