It's Becoming Reality (Someone Broke My Rose-colored Glasses)

I got an email about an hour ago from the program coordinator in Bali where I'll be doing my internship.  The subject of the email was "Tips and Usual Info."   So I start reading through this list which is seven pages long!  As I'm reading this list, it hit me a little bit like a ton of bricks!  This isn't just a dream anymore, a talk about planning something in the so-distant future that you can't really see it.  It's happening in 5 months!  

Topics on this list include: 
Before your flight
Upon Arrival
Setting Up Your Room
Helpful information for transportation, money, health, safety, shopping, internet, fitness, wellness... the list goes on.  

A couple things that were the heaviest "bricks" to hit me were regarding the need for an International Driving Permit and clean water.  So over the next couple weeks I'll be getting paperwork filled out and passport pictures taken to apply for the international drivers permit.  I'll also be investing in backpacking-sized water filtration and disinfection stuff so that I don't have to continually buy bottled water.  All these things I'll need make me concerned about fitting it all in my two backpacks.  :-/  I'll have to be extremely conservative with the amount that I pack.  I'm sure it will take a few rounds of condensing and combing through and getting my gear down to the absolute essentials.  It won't be easy.  

As I read this list, I felt a slight tinge of nerves.  I usually have this big bravado and courage;  I haven't felt at all nervous to head out and travel and explore.... but golly, what is going on!!  I think this list just made it very real.  It's very exciting, but I just want to make sure I'm ready.  If I am prepared, then I can usually handle almost anything.  If I'm not prepared, then it won't be good.  

Take a look at this list!!  :) I've uploaded 3 of the 7 pages.  Hopefully you can read the pictures.  Let me know if you can't (PLEASE would someone leave a comment!!) and I'll try something else. 

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One last thing to add... I was helping my roommate with a garage sale this weekend and one of the last people to stop in was a man from Africa who had married an American woman and was in the US.  He had worked in Africa and Europe in the oil and gas industry.  From what I gathered from our conversation, he provided training in health and safety for the industry and even though he was "in the height of his career" abroad, he was finding it extremely challenging to find a job in his field here in the US; he'd need to take additional courses.  Honestly, I'm sure there are differences in the way we do things here but I would imagine that the standards of the oil/gas industry in Europe are equivalent or even higher in Europe than they are here.   He was one of the nicest people I've met and it's people like him that make me excited to meet more new people outside the US.  I should have given him my business card.  I don't know what good that would do, but hey... networking is networking.  You never know!  

Have a good night folks.  

The countdown: 5 weeks and 5 days.  

Progress is Slow

Good evening all!

Well, between about the end of April and end of last week, work has been flat out, work-as-fast-as-possible-for-as-long-as-possible to meet tough deadlines.  But now, the project I'm on is about 85% finished (I think; that's just an estimate).  

So, that means the following: 

- I haven't been to the gym, at all, since at least sometime in March or early April.  

- I've gained back all the weight I've lost since college - very mad about that.  Not to say that I've been thin(ner) since college - my weight is a roller coaster - up and down, up and down... grrrrr.  Basically, I weight what I did when I graduated senior year.  Not a good thing!

- Ragnar Relay was hot and brutal.

- Didn't compete in the triathlon because I was exhausted and sick.... and;

- I didn't make any progress on my vaccinations (supposed to be accomplished in May) or visas (supposed to be started in June).  Granted, I still have time, but I really don't like to wait till last minute to get things like this under way.    

So, now it's sort of down to crunch time. Ok, well crunch time might be a little strong... but I don't have time to waste.  So, Friday I had a physical.  Tomorrow (Thursday), I'll be going to the NJ Travel Clinic to get a consult on exactly which vaccinations I need (which, from my physical last week, I'm pretty sure I'm going to need most), which is going to cost quite a bit because insurance doesn't cover it.  I also plan to get the vaccinations done two or three at a time.  Too many at once I don't think is smart.  So, that process should hopefully be done in no more than two weeks.  After that, it's visa time.  

So, this week, I did make some progress.  I have paid off the first two months of my international travels.  I got my travel insurance set through STA Travel (only ~$200 for a whole year because I'm younger than 30!!), and my flights are set for that two month period with the exception of a departure flight from Bali. Need to get that flight.  

The doctor I saw last week gave me the number to two travel clinics.  One, the Enlightened Traveler in Paramus, I called twice, both times got an "answering service" and, at least to this point, have not received a return phone call.  So, I called the NJ Travel Clinic and ended up going online to schedule an appointment. Thankfully, they had a spot open tomorrow at 10AM, so I nabbed it.  I'll figure out what the damages (financially) will be tomorrow.  Oh, but I need to remember to look at getting some of the vaccinations potentially at the county health department.  I did that back in 2011 when I went to India.  So, hopefully that could help save some $$.  

While I've been writing this, I have American Ninja Warrior and Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge playing in the background.  Can I just say - those people are so inspiring!!  Makes me want to join a team and train hard.  Team challenges are so much more fun than individual competition.  It's cooperative, it's supportive, it's positive reinforcement, it's encouragement and building each other up... not tearing each other down.  It's supporting each person on the team no matter how strong or weak because they are part of the team. The stories of what these folks have overcome is just mind blowing sometimes.  You never really know what someone is struggling with to overcome their obstacles to prove to themselves first, and others second, what they're capable of.  

That's pretty much all I had to say for today.  Below are some touched up pictures showing preparations accomplished... 

6 weeks and 1 day until I'm done with work.... 

~7.5 weeks until I head out west to visit national parks...

So that means about 17 weeks until I leave the US to travel internationally for hopefully an extended period of time.  

The excitement is building!  

Flights are settled!

Woot Woot!!! 30-day tour voucher!!  That means I'm all paid up!

Travel insurance set!  If you're under 30, you can get 1-year of travel insurance for ~$200... it's a deal!

Added some details to my travel check-list on the Global Nomadic intern site.  I am so excited for this internship.