Two Weeks Notice

            In two weeks I’ll be on African soil. Two weeks. Fourteen days. 336 hours. In case you can’t tell, this is blowing my mind just a little bit. Looking around my room as I’m writing this, my walls are full of pictures of animals, many of them African. There are plenty of books on my bookcases that have to do with Africa. My passport and plane ticket confirmation are beside me. The supplies for this trip are in a small pile in the corner of my room, next to the suitcase. All the details are worked out. All that’s left to do is try to relax and count down these last couple of weeks!

            Africa is a place that I’ve read, thought, and dreamed about for longer than I can remember. I’ve always known that I’d make that dream a reality one day, and actually go there. Now that it’s so imminent, though, I can hardly believe that this is real. I’m at that point where I’m so excited about this trip that I’m having trouble falling asleep at night. I can only imagine what my last night here at home will feel like.

            About this time last year, I left for Wyoming having no idea what that adventure would bring. I returned to Texas in September a different person than when I’d left in May, and I mean that in a good way. Spending those four months seeing views that took my breath away, getting charged by elk, jumping off cliffs, and sleeping under a sky absolutely full of stars made me see things in a slightly different way- and also made me want to see more of the beautiful world we live in. As my time in that park was nearing its end last summer, a thought hit me very suddenly- it was time to stop just dreaming about my trip to Africa, and start actually planning it! Why hadn’t I thought of it before? Sure, dreaming about the trip was fun, but just doing that wasn’t going to actually get me anywhere. So the planning began! Now, about nine months later, here I am. The trip is paid off, the flights are booked, the travel insurance is set up, the hostels are booked, and all that’s left is to wait, which is something I’m not the best at doing. But, if I’ve been able to wait (mostly) patiently this entire time, I think I can handle a couple more weeks.

            I can tell my family members and close friends are nervous about me going on this adventure. It always seems to surprise people that I’m still not nervous or scared about it, just excited. As I say, to me it doesn’t even feel like a choice to not be nervous- it’s like my mind just doesn’t have whatever it is that causes that emotion. As far as I’m concerned, though, that’s the best way to live. What’s going to happen is going to happen; nervousness doesn’t help that. Even if I did feel nervous, there’s no way that would change my mind about going.

            Africa has been sort of a goal of mine for my entire life now. Being the dreamer that I am, it almost feels like that place is already a second home for me, even though I’ve never actually been there. One thing’s for sure- I’m definitely ready to begin this new adventure! See you in 14 days, Africa.

            This post’s food for thought: “Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.”- Judith Thurman

Dare You To Move

            After a lifetime of dreaming and nearly nine months of planning, the process of finalizing this trip seems to be complete! My project costs are paid, I’ve got my passport, my flights are booked and paid for, my first night’s stay in a hostel in Cape Town is booked, complete with transfer from the airport, travel insurance is set up, my credit card company has been notified… sounds like everything is taken care of!

            I only have five shifts at my job left before my leave of absence starts. In a way I’m happy about that since it means that my adventure is getting very close. I also can’t forget that if I didn’t have that job, this trip couldn’t be happening. The many hours I’ve spent making lattes and other drinks for people have definitely been worth it when it comes to the dream they’ve helped turn into reality. My coworkers have been really fun to work with, and I honestly will miss joking around with them this summer.

            The zoo has recently started advertising zoo summer camp, and it makes me just a little sad to see. Zoo camp was a big part of my life for many years, both as a volunteer and a staff member, and it’s kind of hard to know that another summer of zoo camp will go by that I won’t be involved in. Again, knowing that I’ll be in Africa swimming with sharks and taking care of baby baboons very soon, it’s hard to be too sad about what I’m missing here. But seeing the advertisements still make me a little nostalgic.

            I definitely still have people asking me if I’m nervous about this upcoming trip. I’ve answered no to that question from the beginning, but I think a lot of people assume that, since the trip’s getting very close now, my answer will change. I know a lot of people might not feel nervous about something until the last minute, but I can still only feel excitement about it. My excitement definitely feels like it’s grown with each passing day, as my arrival in Africa gets closer and closer. That’s probably largely due to the fact that all the planning, even the smaller details, is now totally taken care of, so I can relax and think about the trip, without stressing about getting all the prep work done.

            The main thing people still seem to think I should be worried about is the fact that I’m traveling out there alone, without any family or friends by my side. I’ve been told plenty of things that could go wrong, and my response is pretty simple. We could play that “what if” game all day when it comes to this trip. Of course there are risks. Yes, it’s my first time traveling internationally. Yes, I’ll be alone. Yes, I lack a y chromosome. No, none of that will stop me from going on this adventure. As I love to say, my drug of choice is adrenaline. I love the moments in life that really get your heart pounding, and I know this trip will bring plenty of them. That’s what I’m focused on.

            Guess that’s enough for this post. See you in 20 days, Africa- and I’ve got a feeling it’ll be the longest 20 days of my life!

            This post’s food for thought: “A ship is always safe at the shore- but that is NOT what it is built for.”- Albert Einstein 

My Favorite Year

            This truly is becoming more and more real every day. A couple of weeks ago I officially submitted my final deposit to the organization that manages my summer projects. It definitely feels really good to know that I’ve got that totally taken care of now. I also recently put in my summer leave of absence at work, which was surprisingly very painless. I’d originally figured I’d just have to quit when I left, but after thinking about it and talking to my supervisors, I decided it’d be nice to still have this job when I return in August.

             Okay, now I’ll put the Africa trip aside for a bit and say that today is my last day of being 21. Wow. I’m never really sure if birthdays are meant more for looking back on the previous year, or looking forward to the one that’s coming, so I always try to do some of both. I can honestly say that this past year has been the best of my life, and has really changed who I am. First, I spent my entire summer, from May to September, away from Texas, separated from my friends and family, in a totally new environment and around totally new people. Four months was by far the longest that I’d been away from home, and that was the best summer of my life so far. Up in the gorgeous Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, I had plenty of adventures that I’ll never forget. I spent my days off going hiking, camping, kayaking, rafting, and more. I went cliff jumping into the frigid Gros Ventre River. I saw views that truly took my breath away. I slept out on a picnic table, under the most beautiful night sky I’ve ever seen. I almost got killed by an elk. I sang in public for the first time. I played my first drinking game. I took risks that the twenty-year-old version of me wouldn’t have. And I made some wonderful friendships that truly made that summer great. I really miss Cristina, Tanner, Nate, Jesse, Elliot, and the other friends I made up there, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about them. I definitely left a piece of my heart in those beautiful mountains, and I know I’ll return someday.

            One thing that the last year has helped me realize is that I really want to get out and travel more, which brings me to this coming year. Near the end of last summer I began to officially make plans to make my dream of going to Africa a reality. Now, on my 22^nd birthday, that trip is less than a month away. A few evenings ago I got home from work to find that, as a wonderful early birthday gift, my passport had finally arrived. It took months of battling the government, but it’s finally here. I’ve hardly been able to stop looking at it since it came. Holding that passport in my hands made me see that this really is happening, that the adventure I’ve been dreaming about for as long as I can remember is becoming reality.

            Thanks for all the great memories, 21. I’ll cherish them for a very long time to come. You were an incredible year. Let’s see if 22 can top you! See you in 27 days, Africa.

            This post’s food for thought: “Don’t just count your years, make your years count.”- George Meredith 

Adventure Over Safety

            Well, I figured a blog update was overdue, having been nearly a month since my last one, and after being at work the past seven days straight, I finally have some free time to write one out. Overall, my job at Starbucks isn’t a bad one at all, but this past week there were definitely some stressful and tiring times. For those times, I just kept telling myself that this will be worth it when the middle of May rolls around and I head off to South Africa. I’ve worked at this job for nearly six months to earn the money for the projects themselves, transportation costs, and some extra money that I’d like to have available for the nine weeks that I’m in South Africa.

            This is a topic that I touched on in a previous blog post, but I feel the need to reiterate it since it still comes up regularly. When I tell people that I’m going off to South Africa and what I’ll be doing there, one of the most common responses that I get is that I’m brave or even a bit crazy, or if I’m scared to be doing it. This is especially common when I mention that I’m going by myself, without any friends of family by my side. Yes, I know there are plenty of stories of people, especially women, traveling alone that end tragically. To throw in a little statistic, research found that, as of 2014, 72 percent of American women had traveled on their own at some point. Whether she’s a grieving woman hiking over 1,000 miles to help her heal, such as Cheryl Strayed in Wild, a newly divorced woman searching for love and religion, such as Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love, or a different traveler on another type of adventure, it’s clear that in today’s world, the lone female traveler is no longer considered an anomaly or a damsel in distress.

            Now, I’m going to put aside the fact that I lack a y chromosome, and look at my trip specifically. When I tell people that aren’t huge animal nerds like I am that I’ll spend the first month researching great white sharks on the South African coastline, their responses are very cliché and make one thing about the person pretty clear: they think they know everything about great white sharks because they’ve seen Jaws or Deep Blue Sea. The responses like, “well, we’ll never see you again”, “hope you know the danger you’re getting involved in”, or “good luck not getting a limb bitten off” are frustrating, to say the least. However, they remind me why I chose to get involved with this amazing and horribly misunderstood creature in the first place, and in that sense those comments are motivational. I can’t help but be a little bit amused when I see the looks on people’s faces when I tell them that dining room chairs kill more people every year than sharks, or that people have eaten more people than sharks have. In short, I can completely honestly say that out of all the risks involved in this trip, working with the great white sharks is the absolute least of my worries.

            If there’s one aspect of this adventure that I have the most apprehension about, it’s the times that I won’t be with my projects, such as the short time I’ll be in Johannesburg before, between, and after them. Being the largest city in South Africa, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Johannesburg has the largest crime rate as well. The time that I’ll be there is very short (not more than a few hours for my entire trip, since I’ll only be there to change planes), so even that doesn’t worry me very much. I’m the type of person that doesn’t mind being alone, even in an unfamiliar place. Quite the contrary, I like being my own boss (who doesn’t?), and the “flying solo” aspect of this trip will make it feel more like the adventure that it truly will be.

            Once I join the people I’ll be working with, both at the great white shark project and at CARE baboon sanctuary, I’m sure that the small amount of apprehension will completely dissipate. True, I still won’t know anyone I’m around, but that has never bothered me. I am a lot of things, but shy is certainly not one of them. I’ve never been nervous about being around people I don’t know, and I never remember having trouble making friends. Maybe it’s due to the fact that I’m the baby of my family and, as such, like attention. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in jobs and positions that require me to talk to people since I was fourteen. Maybe it’s just who I am individually, or probably some combination of those things, but for whatever reason, I like meeting and talking to new people, and making friends. Last summer up in Wyoming, I knew absolutely no one when I arrived, and within a week the people around me nearly felt like family. I don’t doubt that the same thing will happen in South Africa this summer.

            I’m glad I had time to post an update today. I absolutely love to write and think about this upcoming adventure. But, after writing this much, I guess I should wrap up. See you in 42 days, Africa.

            This post’s food for thought: “I didn’t say no because between safety and adventure I choose adventure.”- Craig Ferguson