The Planning Process

Getting a 6 month trip together when you own a home, have two jobs, and several animals is quite an experience. The process has literally taken months to organize and I suspect these activities are worth sharing as a possible guideline for others of like mind. I found that laying out a timeline and listing some of the processes I had to put in place was a good approach. Many of the activities, such as automatic withdrawal from my accounts for utilities, required several months to get off the ground and tested. This reminds me of Henry David Thoreau's Walden Pond – 4 sacks of sugar, two tins of coffee….. Following are some of the considerations:

On The Home Front

Managing Accounts:

• Set up online payment and automatic withdrawals for utilities
• Consolidate phone, cable and Internet access under one company and pay online
• Automatic withdrawal from checking account for oil and gas
• Automatic withdrawal for electric bill
• Online payment for cell phone
• Pay ahead six months for water & sanitary
• Automatic payment for Mortgage
• Automatic withdrawal for credit card purchases
• Set up online payments
• Auto Insurance
• AAA membership
• Reiki Insurance
• Auto deposit
• Paychecks from UMA
• Paychecks from MSAD #11
• Distributions from Blesh/Pelosi Trust

Managing Animals:

• Get dogs checked for heartworm
• Purchase 6 months of canned and dry dog food
• Purchase 6 months of canned and dry cat food
• Purchase Heart Worm pills
• Purchase tick & flea applications for dogs and cat
• Purchase 6 months medications for dogs

Managing House & Grounds:

• Finding a house sitter
• Arrange for cleaning services
• Make space available for house sitter (e.g. drawers, closet space, medicine cabinet space)
• Show house sitter how to operate everything & how to care for the animals & lawn
• Give house sitter use of car & put on insurance policy
• Provide backup contacts and phone numbers for neighbors & house sitter
• Introduce house sitter to neighbors and make them aware of how long I’ll be gone

Travel Arrangements

• Obtain a 10 year VISA for India from the Indian Consulate
• Obtain a health certificate and get all appropriate shots & travel related medications (Cipro, immodium, etc)
• Purchase roundtrip tickets from JFK to Delhi India (leaving February 21^st and returning August 14^th) Air India
• Purchase one way ticket from Portland, Maine to JFK (yes, I am coming back Mom!) Jet Blue
• Purchase travel insurance which includes medical coverage, delayed flights, etc.
• Arrange with Anthem Blue Cross to have a vacation override of all medical prescriptions for 6 months
• Arrange with Doctors to give 6 month prescriptions & photocopy each to stash in luggage as a backup
• Upload scan of passport, travelers checques numbers and important documents to e-mail for handy access

India – Initial Plans

• Arrange for a room in Majnu-ka-Tilla (the Tibetan section of Delhi) for two nights to sleep off jet lag
• Arrange for an overnight bus to Dharamsala on the 24th
• Arrange for a small place with cooking facility in McLeod Ganj (upper Dharamsala)
• Register with two passport pictures for the Dalai Lama teachings
• Get the lay of the land and begin looking for workshops, lessons, etc.
• Make initial plans for getting from Dharamsala to Leh, Ladakh

Acknowledgments

I would be remiss not to mention all the help I’ve obtained from others in planning, providing contacts, and advice:

• Khen Rinpoche Tsetan
• Tashi Dolma
• Joli Greene
• Annabella Pitkin
• Friends of Tibet: Delhi www.friendsoftibet.org
• Friends of Tibet: Dharamsala
• Friends of Tibet: Bombay

Fundraising also took up an enormous part of the Fall. I focused on contacting individuals, organizations, friends, and companies, including book dealers I have worked with over the years, to begin the project of fundraising. I was initially looking for tax deductible monetary donations that we could wire to the Siddhartha School so the teachers could purchase books in Hindi, Tibetan, and English. My dear mother and a few friends pitched in to fundraise for me as well. We’ve collected about $2,500.00 – a long way from my goal of $10,000.00 but I won’t give up as there is no real time limit to this ongoing project. Now I have begun to look for book donations as well – mostly focusing on new DK (Dorling Kindersley) books in science, ancient history, plants and animals. There are always people (including Khen Rinpoche Tsetan) going over to Ladakh to help out or visit the school so we can send a few books with each person. Building the library collection that way, as well as with the books purchased with donation funds by the school, we should have a nice collection in no time. So many people have made donations that I will not list them here but suffice it to say that I am very grateful to each and every one of them. From a Buddhist standpoint they have gained benefit from their kindness & support.