Preparation

Last month, I started to stress out that we hadn't done enough research for the trip. My friend Jess told me not to worry about planning too much, that it was better to just have a general idea of where we wanted to go as plans would likely change as we traveled. She advised me to focus on "extracting ourselves" from our lives here: getting out of the cell phone contracts, the car insurance, forwarding the mail, figuring out how to deal with our taxes, etc.

Over the past week or so, I have been working on extracting us from our current lives and preparing for the next 4 months. I have to admit, it hasn't been that fun. I never thought it would be so frustrating to try to get my insurance to pay for our travel medication or to get a straight answer from the IRS. (By the way, did you know that you can apply for an extension to file your taxes but not an extension to pay? What? Don't you need to file your taxes in order to figure out what you owe?)

So in the midst of all these administrative tasks, we are finding it hard to feel excited for the trip. I mean, believe me, we are really excited, but it feels so surreal, so far away, so unknown. We have no idea to expect from the places we see, from the people we meet, and from ourselves.

The next 13 days are about unplugging here and getting ready for there. Doesn't Tyson look unplugged already?

Tyson is sporting the new 2010 "galaxy" eye mask and
coordinated plush neck travel pillow. Sweet dreams.