A little bit closer now...

So I have been very busy with my Big Adventure planning.

It all started with my Indian visa application. TIP FOR ANYONE APPLYING- do not send your visa application (including a cheque and your passport, eek!) to the wrong address! The Indian Consulate General on Bloor downtown Toronto is not where to send the application. As they kindly informed me with the inclusion of a press release, the Consulate General has not been accepting visa applications since 2009... oops! My bad!

So when my mom checked the mail Saturday morning that hadn't been brought in from Friday, I found that my application package had been returned to me... over a week after I had originally applied. So when I looked up where I am actually supposed to send the application it was 1:15pm and the office for submitting applications closed at 2:30! We frantically changed out of our pyjamas, jumped in the car and sped down to the office. Luckily everything went smoothly from there. I applied, got a beautiful picture taken, and we were set.

Since we were already in Toronto, we went to the Mountain Equipment Coop downtown to find a backpack for my travels. Thank you to everyone for the tips beforehand! But even with your tips, the research I myself had done beforehand, plus the recommendations of the MEC employees, it was still a 3 hour process. Painful for all those involved. I even walked around the store for half an hour with each backpack I tried so see how it would feel. Very tiring that how it feels.

The bags I tried on are: the Deuter Futura Vario 45+10 SL Backpack, the Gregory Jade 60 Backpack and the Gregory Deva 60 Backpack.

The Gregory Deva 60 came highly recommended from many of the employees at MEC and after weighing the pros and cons of all the bags I decided to go with that one. They all felt relatively the same to me when I walked around with them so I figured enough's enough it's time to pick a bag and hope it doesn't break my bag after a few hours carrying it!

This bag fulfilled a lot of the requirements other people had suggested. It has a removable pack on the top (it's like a fanny pack though, not sure if I'll use it as my everyday pack... something I still need to look into!), it has a separate bottom compartment for shoes or dirty or wet clothes, and it sits on my hips and in my lower back, I didn't feel anything in my shoulders. It also has plently of little compartments and pockets which will be useful.

One thing I really liked about the Deuter that I wish the Deva had is there was space in the back with a net kind of thing for air ventilation! Would have been nice in hot countries like India when I'm sweating... oh well! I'm very excited for this pack!

So I definitely need to do a test pack to see what I am and am not bringing. I got lots of other goodies from MEC too like a first aid kit, water bottle, water treatment tablets, etc.

And finally... MY EXCITING NEWS! My visa is ready for pickup today!! Only took 3 days which is actually amazing! So now it's just up to me to figure out how I will be getting to Goa and what day I'm leaving! Sooner than I thought! Mallika arrived last night and I am extremely jealous. Can't wait to join her!

Getting nervous about this trip... but excited!!!