Well, this
is it! The big day is almost here. Tomorrow at one in the afternoon, I’ll be
flying out of San Antonio, first to Minneapolis, then on to my very exciting
surprise destination for three days, before carrying on back to Cape Town. My
bags are packed and waiting, I’m all checked into my flights and have my
boarding passes printed out, and I have my hostel stays and airport transfers
booked. Throughout the past few weeks, and especially the past couple of days,
the excitement has continued to build up in my body and mind, as it always does
before a trip. Even though this is my fifth international trip in the last
three years, I haven’t outgrown this feeling of pre departure excitement.
I don’t
really know if there’s one thing in particular that I’m looking forward to most
about this trip. I’m definitely super excited about this new place where I’ll
be in about 32 hours. Visiting places where I’ve never been is always fun and
exciting because even if I feel like I know what to expect, everywhere has its
little surprises. But even more than that, this new place is special because
when I arrive, I’ll be accomplishing a goal that I set back when I was 21, and
that I thought would take most of my twenties to complete.
Aside from
that, I’m really excited to see my fellow White Shark Projects volunteer
friends Lizzy, Beth, and Cake again. I’ve been messaging with them for the past
few weeks, and we all definitely can’t wait to be together again. I’m also
really looking forward to seeing the crew of White Shark Projects again, like
Mandla, Tom, and of course Jerome. The blog post that I wrote about the WSP
crew the last time I was in South Africa is still by far my most viewed blog
post ever, and the thought that soon I’ll be seeing all of them again makes me
so happy. I mentioned to someone recently that it was the wildlife that
originally drew me to South Africa back in 2015, but it’s mainly the people
that keep me coming back.
On top of
those reasons, I’m obviously really looking forward to being out on the boat
and seeing the sharks again. After all, they’re what first drew me to Africa in
the first place! One other thing I’m really excited about that probably sounds
strange to people is returning to my routine of regular beach cleans. I talked
a little bit about those the last time I was in South Africa. There was just
something so special to me about lathering on some sunscreen, grabbing a trash
bag, and spending some time alone out on the beach picking up whatever trash
the ocean brought in. Not only did I feel like I was helping out by picking up
trash, but those times were a great time for me to enjoy the water and just
recharge out on my own. I used to think of myself as an extrovert, but as I’ve
gotten a little older I’ve come to value and enjoy time alone so much more, and
doing beach cleans really was one of my favorite activities the last time I was
in Gansbaai.
Well, there’s
really not much news to report other than that! My next blog post will reveal
the exciting newest destination- I can’t wait to share it! This post’s food for
thought: “Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress,
adventure.”- J.K. Rowling
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