Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Big Gulp!

Things are getting more real.  I just received an email from the staging staff with all the details about the staging event on October 1st.

Naturally, getting this information triggered some emotions and anxiety for me.  Some recurring questions such as "Am I doing the right thing?", "Will my family and dear friends be all right in my absence?", "Will I be happy and comfortable?" and so forth flashed through my mind like the shooting stars in the sky.  My answers to these questions seem to be firm and unchanging "Yes".

Although I will miss my close ones dearly, I continue to believe this experience will be rewarding, and that it will mold me into a better person for many years to come.

So, anyway, enough of the tear-jerkers, heres the travel facts:

  • I am to report to an historic hotel in Philadelphia by 12:30p on October 1st.
  • I will register and have all the orientation and stuff all day until 7:00p that day.
  • We will depart the hotel at 2:15am on October 2nd by bus to JFK Airport in NYC.
  • We will depart for Johannesburg, South Africa at 11:15am October 2nd. The flight will be 15 hours non-stop into October 3rd.
  • From Johannesburg, we will fly to Nairobi, Kenya at 8:15a.  The flight will be 4 hours non-stop.

As for my baggage, here are the restrictions:
  • Total of 100 pounds combined, with no bag exceeding 50 pounds (did not say how many bags, but I assume 2 plus a backpack)
  • Total of 107 combined linear inches (h + w + l) with no bag exceeding 60 inches.
I have purchased, collected, and accumulated my travel items.  All that is left are a few items, mainly clothing, to purchase.  The next challenge is that I no doubt will end up deciding what items to leave behind after all once my bags are full.

As of today, I have 31 days left to enjoy America.