ULOG: 4 - Packing and ready to leave

It's time to travel again!

Traveling always gets me super excited because it's a new adventure about to start! This time my trip will include 2 destinations: First stop Colombia (Medellin and Filandia) to visit my parents whom I haven't seen since last December, and then a week in New York with my university friends for a little girls trip.

Since I live on a small island in the butt-hole of Panama, I can't simply drive to the airport. First I have to get off the island, and get to the capital city of Panama. From there I can fly then to wherever I need to go. So today I will take a water taxi to get to mainland, take a bus to David, which is the closest large city with an airport and then fly to Panama City. Sounds complicated, ah? Well, it could be easier, but since I left things for the last minute (again) I didn't get a direct flight from my island to the city. There's a saying in Luxembourguish which goes like this: if you don't have a brain, you have legs. Meaning, if you didn't think about everything the first time around, you have to run around more =).

PS: I just realized that the word Luxembourguish doesn't exist in my online dictionary. Go Luxembourg! I guess our language and nationality lacks popularity!!!

Anyways, first I have to pack!

Yes, I know, I'm leaving in a few hours, and I'm sitting here typing in my PJ's instead of having everything ready. Typical me, but it's a good thing I'm fast!

For Colombia, I have to bring warm clothes since my parents decided to move to the mountains where it gets freezing cold at night. A week later I'll be in NYC where I will most likely die from the heat, as New York can get unbearable during the summer. Sucks for packing, but hey, I had to do this back to back, so I have no choice.

Of course I'm going to take my favorite Megaton BJJ sweater with me to keep me warm! Some jeans and sneakers, et voilà! I'm not complicated. For NYC, some shorts, t-shirt and sneakers will do! And something slightly fancier for the evenings...

Of course the most important items on any trip I organize are my cameras. One that takes great pics and the other one if I decide to film something. I'm always thinking about blogging and vlogging, so these items cannot miss! Unfortunately I also have to travel with my laptop, because I will have to work on my Columbia trip.

Ah, and of course I can't forget my passport! Very important! BTW, I hate passports and the whole idea behind them. Have you ever thought about the fact that we are actually not free at all?

This little document is what immigration officers will judge you by, and will decide whether or not you can enter a country. You don't get to choose your passport/nationality, it's a lottery you unknowingly play at birth.

Pretty unfair, don't you think?

For instance, I can go to the US whenever I want (in theory), whereas my husband needs a visa. Meaning he needs to b̶e̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶ prove that he is good enough to enter the greatest democracy on this planet. It's pass or fail. It all depends on the officer's current mood, whether he got laid the night before, got up on the left foot and had his morning coffee. That's what your trip depends on.

My entry also depends on the good graces of a person in a booth by the way. First I had to pay $49 (!!!!) to ESTA to be able to even travel to the Land of the Free. It's an online form you have to fill out to get the right to go stand in front of the immigration officer. Most countries hand you a piece of paper on the plane, but the US does it online,and as you can see it will cost you an arm! However, it doesn't offer a guarantee to be allowed in! You even get an email to explain this to you, just in case you were rejoicing:

Your travel authorization has been approved and you are authorized to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. This does not guarantee admission to the United States; a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at a port of entry will have the final determination.

So in short, you pay almost $50 bucks to maybe get in. This used to be free when I was living in the US. Then they started charging $20, and now it's $49. Talking about unfairness!

But I'm lucky with my nationality because I can pretty much travel anywhere without major headaches. I'm very grateful for that, and I always feel extremely sad for those people who were born on the wrong side of the globe. If I could, I wold eliminate passports all together and let anyone travel freely wherever they want. That would be true freedom, but that's a much longer debate I will leave for another post. I really have to finish my suitcase now =)

Will blog soon again, either during or after my trip!

Did you ever have any issues entering a country with your passport?

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