The Journey Begins!

Well, the bag is almost completely packed, and my travel buddy Beth is on her way to Toronto. Tomorrow night at 9:50pm we board a 12-hour flight to Abu Dhabi, where we will connect to a 4-hour flight to Delhi.

The anticipation for this trip has been building for a little over two years, when Beth and I first discussed taking our “post-university-finding-ourselves-while-we-backpack-around-the-world-but-really-are-delaying-real-life” trip. Now that it’s a little over 24 hours away, I keep having to pinch myself to remember it’s really happening!

So far the plan is… there is no plan! We know we want to visit Thailand (gov’t shutdown pending), Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and China (visa pending). And hey, we might head to Europe at the end to meet up with some other friends. Anyone who knows me well is probably wondering how in the world it’s possible for me to be departing on an unplanned journey without a backpack full of some sort of anxiety-reducing medicine. I’m the girl who plans things. To a “T”. Now, I’m going to be the girl flying-by-the-seat-of-her-pants in Southeast Asia. Sounds like an entertaining time? Well I’d love to have you follow along!

I want to say some thank-yous (and goodbyes) to everyone who has made this trip possible and has wished me well with gifts, advice, and support. First, to Beth, for agreeing to be my other half for the next few months. I am so excited to have some serious quality time with you, and for us to experience everything together (and to Bob, thanks for letting me steal her for a little while).

To my LTM crew, I will miss you and all the little ones, thanks for being my second family, and for making the time I have spent saving up for this adventure the most incredible experience. I’ll see you when I get back! Don’t let the little monsters grow too much!

To the #digitaledu crowd, I hope you all have a great semester. Thank you for introducing me to the joys of blogging and for creating such a great sense of community, both on and offline. I’ll see you when I get back for some #digitalbeers!

To all my HC ladies, I’m sad to be missing your big milestones as you move in to your own places, get promotions, and obviously that I won’t be able to participate in indoor socccer!! I will miss the bi-monthly dinners – but I’ll send out a doodle when I’m back so we can organize one!!! 😉 Thanks for always loving me for who I am.

To my Queen’s girls, try not to have too much fun without me in Toronto this semester. I’ll miss seeing your pretty faces and just hanging out. There’s something to be said for staying close with your university friends: they’ve most likely seen you at both your best and your worst, and there is no replacement for the bonds made, from midnight coffees at Stauffer, drinking out of taps in kitchens, roof chills, movie nights, to the line at Alfies, we did it all together.

I can’t thank my family enough for their love, support, gifts, good wishes, hugs, kisses, and “happy-goodbye-tears” (you know who you are… and Mackenzie, it is genetic. You too will cry the happy tears one day.) I love you all, take care of each other while I’m gone and please stay in touch with emails, pictures, and facebook!

Delene & Tom, I will never be able to thank you enough for all you do for me. I hope you have a great couple of months filled with travel of your own, and lots of fun with visits from your (big) little man.

To the final three: my mum, my dad, and Peter. I will miss you more than words can say. The three of you help me to stay grounded, always reminding me to not stress about what I can’t change. M&D: you’re the best parents I could ever ask for. I could write a novel about how much you have done to shape me in to the person I am today… but let’s save that for another day. Thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams. Peter, we said it all already. You know how amazing you are. I’ll see you soon on Skype!

A great big thank you to everyone who has wished me well on my travels and has followed my blog! And also to those who have provided advice, contacts, and financial contributions. I look forward to getting connected and staying in touch as I travel.

(apologies for the slightly mushy-gushy post… I couldn’t help it, emotions got the better of me!)