T-minus 6 days and counting

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It's Tuesday and it's sunny and warm here in San Diego (surprised?). I am currently enjoying what I will call my last true day off before we embark on our insane little adventure. I should be tracking down all the last minute info I need. I should be making sure the apartment is in order before we leave. Hell, I should be getting my absurdly long hippy-hair cut so that I won't have to do it while abroad. I am instead, sprawled out on the couch learning about this travel blog (and privately wondering exactly how disciplined I will be about keeping it updated) and watching France struggle to keep it together at the World Cup. The announcers are cracking me up. They're trying so hard to stay excited but since neither side seems capable of scoring a goal they are having their work cut our for- hold on... Free kick for Switzerland... nope, blew it. So yeah, completely overwhelmed at this point. I no longer know how to prep for this. All our tickets are in order, all our accomodations are in order, packing is being taken care of... What to do, what to do. I should be considering travel insurance a little I s'pose, but I don't really see the point at the moment. Also, I need the cost of the trip in order to get a quote, and thanks to the unique situation I'm in regarding financing, I really don't have that info.
I've become so wrapped up in this adventure, that I've now moved on to considering where to go next. My fantasy itenerary currently includes Dublin, the Scottish highlands, Amsterdam and Reykjavik (Having seen Mr. Tierney's pictures, I can no longer get Iceland out of my head). I also already know that I'll need to get back to South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and if it ever calms down, The Democratic Republic of Congo. Why is it that all the places with the most valuable and endangered natural resources/archeological sites/natural wonders also happen to be global hell-holes? Birthplace of civilization, Iraq and Iran, last natural habitat of mountain gorillas and northern white rhinos, Congo, remains of Carthage, Libya, not to mention everything of wonder in the warzone that is Israel and Palestine and the 5,000 years of Chinese pre-history being systematically buried or destroyed by the Chinese government. Dramatic sigh. Ah well, I guess we'll just have to see what there is to see before it's no longer there to be seen. I now have two more additions to my fantasy itenerary; Nepal and the Great Barrier Reef. Man, that's gonna be a hell of plane ride.
And with that...

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Photos

What Will Be...
While we couldn't have known it at the time, this would happen to us in less than two weeks.