Preparation

I leave in a week. To know that next Saturday I will be waking up in Thailand is a little bit more than intense. Well, that's assuming that I sleep when I'm supposed to after 24 hours of travel. Until then, I'm in the last bits of preparation.

There is a certain sense of accomplishment when you make that last big run of chores, when you have taken care of the major items on your to-do list. It's an expensive sense of accomplishment, but hey: I have a new computer battery (one that lasts longer than 15 minutes!), an SD card, toiletries, a real-people wardrobe (kind of) and more sunscreen than I ever really wanted to buy. I have changed banks, cancelled magazine subscriptions, mailed packages, and received packages. Overall, accomplished. Now I've just got to fill a suitcase or two, check to make sure that I haven't lost my passport and my tickets every three hours, and then we’re good to go. This is convenient, seeing as in a week I will be in that nervous, sitting around mode, waiting for 7 am Thursday morning to arrive.

Needless to say, I'm excited. And terrified. This time around is completely different from France—I don't speak the language, don't know the country well, and haven't been enamored with all things Thai for years. Simply put, this country is not in my blood. Yet.

So while it does terrify me that I am going into something more foreign than I have ever experienced, it is also (predictably) thrilling. This next year promises to be incredibly difficult, challenging, and a number of other synonyms for arduous. But I am claiming this next year for me—to play an instrument, write letters, learn to meditate, go on long bike rides, maintain this sucker, not get sunburned, find a dragon boat team. This year is going to be made up of personal victories.

And lots of stories and photos, of course. So I'd be delighted if you'd join me.