In just a few hours I'll be on my way to the other side of the earth. My ride to the airport will be here in just about six hours and I've just finished packing. At least I hope so.
A lot of things have changed in seven months. When I began this journey by taking first major trip to Europe at the end of March I was extremely nervous. I'd never prepared for something like this and didn't have any idea what I was doing. While I pretty much packed the morning I left (I have a bad habit of waiting until the last minute to do anything and now it's sort of a pre-trip tradition) I was a ball of nerves the whole time. I didn't know what I was doing or what to expect in the coming days, weeks and months. It's funny to look back on those days now. I can't say I'm nervous at all tonight. I'm much more anxious and excited to just get moving again.
It seems so strange for so relatively little time to pass and feel such different emotions about the journey in front of me. My nervous jitters have been replaced by the anticipation of something wonderful that I know is about to happen. Going to sleep tonight is going to be hard. I'm like a little boy on Christmas eve - I can't wait for the tomorrow to come so I can see what's waiting for me.
I'll be flying to Los Angeles in the morning, spending almost 13 hours doing God-knows-what (hopefully on the beach or somewhere nice), and then hopping my 16+ hour flight to Australia. When it's all said and done I'll have been traveling for 37 hours before I wearily arrive in Brisbane.
Almost everyone who hears about my upcoming journey asks me the same questions: "When are you coming back?" To these people I always reply that I have no idea. It could be three months or a year. Maybe more - who's to say. What will happen when I get there? I really don't know. How long will I be in Brisbane? Only time will tell. What am I doing for Christmas? I don't even know what part of the continent I'll be on at that time. Basically I couldn't tell anyone with any degree of certainty what city I'll be in one week from today. This is my favorite part about my travels. I just never know what's going to happen.
And so tomorrow it begins. I'll be taking this year's 11th, 12th, and 13th plane rides, my 10th international flight, and my fifth transcontinental leap. Altogether I'll have traveled by land and air enough miles to circle the globe more than 1 1/2 times. What will happen next? Join me here in finding out as I do.
Posted December 7, 2004 12:26 AM @ (GMT - 6)
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