It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here. The past couple of weeks have been busy in that particular way that leaves no room for sitting down and actually gathering my thoughts. I’ve missed it, even as I let this space go quiet.
But today isn’t just any day. Tonight we fly to Vietnam.
On the weather
Yesterday I messaged my niece Jen, who lives in Da Nang, to ask about conditions over there. Our Facebook feeds have been full of the flooding in Hanoi this past week, torrential rain, streets underwater. It’s uncomfortably familiar. We’ve had nonstop rain in the Philippines for months now, so I know exactly what that looks like from the ground.
Jen said she’d reach out to a friend of hers who lives in Sa Pa, which is where the race I’m running is happening this Saturday. In the afternoon she sent an update: it was raining in Sa Pa right then, and she sent a video to prove it. It didn’t look good.
Packing, finally
I meant to pack last night. I was too tired to actually do it, so I told myself I’d deal with it in the morning instead. The moment I woke up today, I started pulling together everything we need for the whole trip.
In between, I knocked out some office work, settled a few bills, and decided to get an extra layer of travel insurance on top of the free one that comes with my RCBC card. Better to have it and not need it.
It’s shaping up to be a long, tiring day before we’ve even left. Our flight leaves at 10:25 tonight, and we land in Hanoi at 1:15 in the morning. After that I honestly don’t know yet if we’re taking the sleeper bus up to Sa Pa or arranging private transport. I guess I’ll figure that out once we’re on the ground, and hoping the rain has let up by the time we get there.
