It Begins...

I'm approximately seven hours away from climbing onto a plane headed for Amsterdam, with a final destination in Kisumu, Kenya.  I sit writing this on my living room couch, in my most comfortable travel outfit with a brick of apprehension and nerves parked in the pit of my stomach.

I have been out of school for about six weeks.  I was lucky enough to spend 10 days with my best friend in New York City, where I fell in love with Central Park and the millions of people bustling through that amazing place.  I have spent the rest of my time at my parents' house, where I was lulled to sleep by the sound of sprinklers against the garage door and fed home grown vegetables for dinner. I caught up with some old friends, and enjoyed multiple happy hours with my two incredible parents.  The six week break was finished wonderfully with a going away party full of friends where we talked, laughed, ate and drank inside while the lovely Washington rain beat against the windows.

I've never kept a blog before.  As most of you know, I'm a bit of a chatterbox, and the processing and reflecting that I do usually happens out loud, and when I'm lucky with a listening ear.  This will be a new experience for me - one of many! and I hope that you will be able to enjoy and understand the journey I am embarking on and will have.

I have spent the last weeks driving my noble steed (my red Saturn Mario) all over Olympia and Tumwater picking up supplies and materials for this trip.  I have watched the shocked expression on the Fred Meyer pharmacist's face when I came in to collect my 24 bottles of insulin and 760 needles, received a box of children's' toothbrushes from my dentist, and spent countless hours at REI listening to the salesperson explain just how many different items I would need to survive.  It has been a wild ride, and I can confidently tell you I will not miss the orange-fruitloop smelling dressing rooms of Target, or waking up in the middle of the night wondering if I have the correct number of T-shirts and shorts.  The year of planning is about to be put to the test, and my one hope is that my trusty (and stuffed) 60 Litre backpack will make it to the other side of the world with me!

The first leg of my journey is from Seattle to Amsterdam, which is a ten hour flight.  I will have an eight hour layover in that airport, so I will certainly be adding to this post when I arrive there.  Think good flying thoughts for me, and fingers crossed that I sit next to someone interesting on the plane!