Today's the day!
I was up late last night doing last minute stuff for the trip and was physically exhausted by time I fell into bed.....but as so often happens with me, I just couldn't turn my brain off - half filled with excited thoughts of the trip and half worried that I forgotten to do something or pack something.
Eventually, I drifted off and then awoke well before the alarm clock went off thanks to a small battalion of helicopters hovering above the Beltway which is just a stone's throw away from my house. I found out later on on the morning news that there was a 4 or 5 car pile up and all lanes were blocked but one so I presume the copters were hovering overhead to get a good vantage point to report on the accident. Whatever the case, the whirring of the rotor blades was not the way I wanted to woken up!
Figuring I wasn't going to fall back asleep anytime soon, I got out of bed, dressed and prepared to leave my house behind for 4 weeks. I did the final checks, locked the doors, got in my car and headed down the road to pick up my neighbor and colleague Paul. I drove us to work and Paul has kindly agreed to drive my car back for me. Since work is only located a few miles from the airport and home is more than 20 miles away, it made sense to drive in and then catch a cab from here - especially since Paul is willing to drive the car back.
I've got few last minute office tasks to take care of which will occupy most of this morning. My flight to Newark doesn't leave until late afternoon so I will quietly finish up the day here doing some last minute reading for the trip.
I can't believe the day is finally here and now that I'm packed and out of the house, my thoughts are shifting to the days ahead of me and my excitement is beginning to overshadow any worries of having forgotten to do something or having left something important behind!!
India, Nepal, Tibet....ready or not, here I come!!
