Never leave home without your towel

Tomorrow I leave on the trip of a lifetime and tonight I need to take a page from Douglas Adam's "A hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy." Don't panic.  I'm scrambling around like crazy trying to get last minute things done.  I'm playing with all my gadgets and trying to figure out how everything works together.  I'm also grabbing the last minute things I forgot, like sunscreen (probably important in Africa).  I'm excited and actually not worried about the trip, which is new to me. I think I've been too busy to be apprehensive, or just too worried about the things I'm leaving unfinished at home.

Here's a picture of all the things I'll be taking with me.  It didn't look like a lot until I took the picture. Once I return, I'll let all you aspiring backpack traveler's know what I forgot and didn't need to bring. But for now, I'm happy with what I'll be hauling around.

Stories

Crazy things always seem to happen to me. I've had several requests from friends to write about my stories in real time, but never thought I could write an entire blog about my silly life.  While funny, it was far too uneventful.  But now I have the perfect excuse to start a blog. I've been given the opportunity to travel the world for six months and I'm going to document my misadventures along the way.

Six months is a long time, but I just happen to have a large chunk of time on my hands.  I just finished a four year PhD program in medical entomology.  Due to the less than stellar economy, jobs are few and far in between. Thus, I thought it wise to use my lack of employment as an opportunity to flee the country while I'm young, before the responsibilities of life begin to pile up.

I'm planning on taking this time to collect myself.  Finishing a PhD is hard enough, but my journey was made more difficult with a breast cancer diagnosis at 26.  Seven months of chemo and a mastectomy later, I'm doing great.  But my brush with my mortality has made me look at things a little differently. The next six months will be a practice in stopping and smelling the roses. In being out of my comfort zone. And really just living.