Well, I have had some wonderful advice from my friend Bob Williams:
1. Start eating food similar to what I will be eating in China at least a few weeks before hand, so my gut isn’t having to deal with a whole new experience. Hmm. Boiled mutton????
(Ha Ha! A couple of nights ago, I dug into our freezer and found two small bottom round roasts from Prather Ranch…extra lean, to be certain. So I got out my recipes and found one that I had scrawled across the top RAVE REVIEWS. It is a slow cooker recipe, and I do know that here at altitude, I often have to ad an hour or more. So I piled in the ingredients, and let the cooker work it’s magic. After 6 hours on “low”, I checked the meat, which should be done “when the meat crumbles into strings with the prodding of a fork.” Well, not yet; it was still hard. So, I let it go for a few more hours. Same story. Hard, like a brick. So I turned the cooker off, and went to bed. In the morning I turned it on again, this time to “high”. Five hours later, it was still hard! OMG It is like the mutton I had last time I was in China!!! Providence, I am certain. My chance to eat like I probably will in Tibet! And I have a recipe!!!
Gotta say, it was so hard, one could build a house out of it! Even Tupper couldn’t eat it. But I salvaged the damn things by slicing (sorta) them into dog sized bites…and guess who thinks all that work was just for them?)
2. If possible, start adjusting sleep habits to China time.
3. Do NOT drink alcohol or caffeine on the plane. It dehydrates the body, and the recycled air is already doing that. DRINK DRINK DRINK water.
4. Boost the immune system.
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I am totally preoccupied at the moment with the physical nature (read “cold”) of this trip. My mind is on clothing and bedding. But Bob brings up some very good points. Preparation really must be taken seriously, and it must include me getting in the best physical shape I can be in so as to ward off the adverse conditions of airplane travel, altitude, change of diet etc.
After I deal with the clothing list, it will be time to consider things like medications. I have learned, from my world traveler friend, Merrill, there are some high altitude pills, and some emergency respiratory ailment pills…and of course tummy trouble pills. I think it is time to make an appointment with my doctor. While pills are just about my least favorite thing to consume, I have yet to go to China and NOT get respiratory problems…once very serious. I’d rather have them and not need them, that is for certain.
Stay tuned.