My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...for real this time.

I feel like I have to write something profound, but honestly, I’m so exhausted that we may have to try a semi-coherent stream-of-consciousness writing style. I think my creativity may have been shaved off with the rest of my hair this morning:


I cannot believe all the little details and loose ends that have filled these past few days. Both my mom and I sleep with a pen and pad of paper next to our beds because we keep remembering more things to do: make reservations for the youth hostel in Paris, bring a roll of toilet paper, let the credit card company know I’ll be out of the country, grab extra batteries for my CD player, etc, etc. It’s somewhat maddening. And even now that I’m all done, I can’t help but wonder, did I forget anything?

I can list off some successes though: for the first time ever, my luggage was under the weight restriction on my first try: 48.5 lbs and 49.5 lbs for my checked luggage and 23.5 lbs for my carry-on. Somewhere in my history of traveling, I’ve finally learned how to streamline my packing.

My mom and I have also had great luck collecting used soccer equipment for the Malian youth: 50 pairs of shoes, 30 socks, 30 jerseys, 20 shorts, 10 shin guards, a few goalie gloves and 30 soccer balls! Obviously, that didn’t all fit into my suitcases, so we have to ship most of it across the Atlantic. I can’t wait to see the kid’s eyes light up as we unpack enough equipment to form a complete soccer team.

I realized that I’ve been planning and preparing for this trip since last November and I AM READY. I had a fantastic weekend in Ann Arbor, catching up with old friends (and really realizing how much we’re going to miss each other), but honestly, I got so tired of talking about how excited I was to go to Mali. I just want to go so that I have actual stories to tell.

My mind is drawing blanks, but maybe that means I’ve done all that I can for right now (that’s a good thing). Tomorrow, all I have to do is just walk on the plane…

I’ll write when I can. Get excited!!