Weighing in at 31.5 pounds, veteran of three continents and several mountains, my backpack is feeling much better prepared for the seven months on the road than I am. I've been asked numerous times in the past few weeks whether I'm excited to be leaving. I know I've talked a big game about my around-the-world trip, and that my transient lifestyle should probably have made departures like this one seem old hat by now. But this past year in Chicago has been the most stable of my post-college life, complete with a twelve-month lease, a full set of dishes, and a long-term boyfriend. In comparison, the months to come - during which I will experience nine new countries, be accepted or denied admission to grad school, thrive or flounder at maintaining a long-distance relationship, and quite possibly experience a cosmic shift in my world view - feel like the stuff of fairy tales: beautiful, hazy, and terrifying. Visualizing tomorrow's plane flight from New York to Bogota is like looking at the sharp cliffs at the edges of old maps. Beyond this point, there be dragons.
So as I set my sights on Bogota, Colombia, where I will be landing in the wee hours of Thursday morning, I am telling myself that it's good to be a little (a lot) afraid. This next year may very well be the last time that I can honestly say I have no idea where, how, or what I'm going to be from day to day. It's overwhelming, but yes...on some deep level...exciting.
I'm going to do my best to keep this blog updated with stories, photos, and musings as my wonderful travel companion Brianne and I trek through Colombia, Chile, Peru, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Nepal, and the UAE. For further reading, you can also follow Brianne's blog, or look back on my travels through Europe and New Zealand at my other blog. Thanks for coming along.
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