I’m starting to feel a little crazy lately.

I leave Austin in 22 days. I still have a pretty long list of things to do before I depart, so the next few weeks will be spent tying up all the lose ends, hanging out with friends and family, and mentally preparing myself for the fact that I’ll be on my own without a home base for a pretty long time.

I’m not terribly great at planning, so sometimes I’m so overwhelmed by my to-do list that I don’t know where to start. I know that once I get on the road, I’ll feel great. It’s just the waiting around part that makes me feel unsettled.

I have made some good progress so far: figured out my general flight itinerary, got a second passport, got a 10-year Indian visa, bought a backpack, solo tent, and other things I need, bought my ticket from Austin to LA, started making friends in some of the places I’ll be visiting, and created this Web site.

Of the many things still left to do are: figure out the logistics of applying for my China and Syria visas, apply for my early voter’s ballot (and figure out where to send it), find a home for my cat, clean my car of all the remnants left from moving out of my house, find couchsurfing hosts in New Zealand, exercise daily to strengthen my back (so my ribs don’t keep popping out and make me hurt when I carry a backpack), set up a Skype account, notify my bank and credit card company that I’ll be out of the country, make copies of all my important documents, call my first few airlines to request a vegan meal, and a few other things (like finding Linux equivalents to my favorite programs and figuring out a quick way to download videos).

I’m sure I’ll get it all done. I just want to make sure that I’m as organized as possible so that I can leave free of worries.

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Trip Preparations