All packed up and almost ready to go! :)

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The word "excited" just doesn't seem to fully capture these last few days before I leave. Lets add to that word: nervous, anxious, butterflies, longing, anticipating, disbelief, all right already and lets go, happy, determined, focused, imagining, planning, etc, etc.
I am exhausted because I have gotten a collective 15 hours of sleep in the last 4 days and didn't get many more than that the preceding 4 days. Its hard work wrapping up one's professional, domestic, and personal life. Not to mention trying to pack for 7 months of travel in 10 countries and many more types of climates...while limited to one large backpack and one day pack. Good thing I am not a hight maintenance type of girl. I can be, but I know how not to be...thanks mom! But none the less, it is a real challenge to pack just right. I just can't seem to get it all done, but yet I am running around like a hamster in a automatic wheel. I no longer have mere bags under my eyes...they have now darkened and defined themselves into "suitcases." Oh well, can't complain. I will be in Cuba by Monday morning and will have 10 days to wander on my own until I am due to meet up with Elisa and Sergio (my sister and brother-in-law) in Cienfuegos, Cuba. How different this trip will be because of the amount of time I now have to accomplish everything I hope to experience in the next 7 months. I can't wait. 😊
I will miss my home, my bed, my kitty cat, my normal "blah" routine of work, workout, work, party, work, workout, etc. I will greatly miss my family and dear friends, my 7th grade students. But this is a moment in my life that I have been craving for since I can remember. I guess that is what is expected when you have hippie parents who raised you with all their incredible "movie-like" adventure stories. I longed for this type of trip since I was a child and now I have it. Amazing. Delicious. Empowering.

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Photos

My Stuff
7 months worth of necessities!

My pack!
My new best friend :)

Comments

[Carolyn]

Adios!
Hi Sonya! Have a wonderful trip. Will look forward to the pics of your experiences. I'll just live vicariously through you 'til I start traveling. Have fun!! Hugs, Carolyn