Definition: Mincing About

Mincing About - verb.

To procrastinate, to be indecisive. Sit on the fence and generally waste time.The Scots always did have a way with words, after all the country did give birth to Robert Burns. This was the definition I always thought it meant but actually to most Scots it means, to parade and prance about in a camp and satirical manner.

On occasion my boyfriend will say "stop mincing about!" almost as often as he says "here's 20p, go buy yourself a sense of humour". The latter comment usually preceded by a very bad joke.

It's exciting times - the global economy has just gone bust, millions of people are losing their jobs, their possessions, global warming and the depletion of natural resources is causing political conflict and I find myself at the tender age of 33, educated with a degree in architecture and realizing that I don't like 90% of the job of an architect. It is time for a change and a time of change.

But first a trip...a bit of mincing about.

I'm going on a Scandinavian odyssey, a journey I've always wanted to do since I was an architecture student and one that I would like to meticulously document to share with friends, family and anyone else who comes across my blog spot and cares to read past the title. Who knows, I may have a few epiphanies along the way.

In preparation for this trip I've had to purchase a few pieces of equipment, which I hope to update you on and provide performance reviews in future postings.

1 x Digital Camera. I've chosen a Panasonic Lumix TZ7. A compact number with a revolutionary wide angle lens.

1 x Waterproof Jacket. I went with a Peter Storm 3/4 length jacket with hood that I hope will stand up to the rain in Bergen, Norway.

1 x Luggage bag. Berghaus Optimus 40. A multi purpose bag that has wheels, straps for wearing as a backpack or over the shoulder and small enough that will keep me from packing all my worldly possessions and allow me to travel fairly light.

Those are my big purchases. Although I do have a soft spot for smaller purchases I've made such as the 'Spork'. It is a eating utensil and has the head of a fork on one end and the head of a spoon on the other. According to several backpacker and traveller websites, re-usable eating utensils are good to have handy if you anticipate hitting the supermarkets for cheap food on the go. Not having to rely on disposables, it's also kind to the environment.

Thanks for reading and hope you will log in and follow me in the near future.

Departure date 29 August 2009

Ruby