Around my computer lies a mess of paperwork, all indicating that I'm leaving Thursday. I've got a visa in hand at last, and a ticket to go with it.
My next job will be to get a return ticket- I do want to come home, ya know, and deal with all the bits of business of being gone.

I've been told that the ideal way to travel is with an open return ticket- a ticket which will allow me to come home any time within a 6 month or 1 year window. Generally, these are only available through travel agents, which I haven't bothered with up to this point. Second best, and less expensive, is a simple one- way ticket for the latest date I'd possibly use from an airline with low or no fees for changing tickets. Also, I could just wait and buy a ticket when I'm ready to come home, but there is a certain comfort level to having a guarantee of passage home.

Number two on the list is the good old IRS. I'll be gone through April. I've learned, though, that you can get an automatic extension for 6 months if you are out of the country by filing this.

Customs is going to be fun too. I want to take a few lettuce seeds- it would be a taste of home to have a wee little garden in my window in faraway China, but for none of the travel websites cover that. :( Maybe a gardening website?