See Above what is called "la photo ultime des tourdumondistes" (the ultimate photo of world travelers) - We've got ours now !!
How do you pack for a year around the world has been one of the most asked question and deserved a little story telling … happy reading !

If we pause for a minute… what is Regulatory Affairs ? What is really my job about ? … Not to worry we are still in the same article and I am only taking the long road because they all do lead to Rome in the end.

I am a Pharmacist by training, and specialized early on during my curriculum in Regulatory Affairs (aka Reg Affairs, aka RA).

RA is the cornerstone of the pharma industry, as I always liked to pitch it to my interns, colleagues, C-suites or anyone who would want to hear it. I'll keep it short and sweet for the purpose of this article though. RA is basically coordinating all the Pharma functions to draft and implement a robust strategy that would essentially gather all the R&D information generated on a specific molecule into a single (although huge) dossier, to be submitted to various health authorities around the world. The purpose is then to provide all the necessary information to the Agencies to evaluate the benefit-risk ratio of said molecule and ultimately (after leading a few rounds of negotiation) get the sacred stamp of APPROVAL, allowing the drug to reach patients and be placed on the market.

That's, in a nutshell, what my job is about. And it's a job that I have been passionate about since day 1. It is a fascinating field and I have been fortunate enough to apply it to oncology drugs, bringing our piece to the immense edifice of helping cancer patients around the world… (hey, around the world? Was that a hint that we would end up someday travelling the world for real?).

To embark on our world tour, we took the opportunity to put my career on pause. However, not being in RA for a minute does not mean you get to erase all the skills you've been able to build working with amazing former colleagues and mentors, right? (Ping to you all if you are reading me between 2 meetings.)

RA teaches you rigor, organization, taking into consideration everyone's needs, working with different personalities, leadership, improvisation skills, negotiation, compromise, follow-through, ups and downs, timelines, timelines, timelines, going straight to the point, headaches, back and fourth, decision making, outside the box thinking and ultimately making sure all that is needed would fit into the dossier…

See where I am getting at??

OF COURSE, we have applied the same to pack our suitcases !!!

How do you fit the lives of 5 people into 48 kg of checked-in luggage and 5 carry-ons that shouldn't make you feel like a mule? Well, I will leave you with the answer in the photos below.

Verdict: We did it!!

Until next time,
R.

From this:

To this: TADAAAA !!!!