BootsnAll Travel Network



76 days until trip begins – Hi from Louisiana

Well I made it to Louisiana about 12 hours after I left South Carolina last Sunday. I spent the weekend up to that point packing and saying goodbye to friends. On Saturday before I left, I had to make the hard decision of which possessions to keep and what to get rid of. I basically managed to get my possessions down to about 13 boxes and what could fit in the trunk and anorexically small back seat of a Mustang GT. The boxes will be going to my sister’s basement for storage.

I spent my first two days here doing things like opening a bank account and paying the state exhorbitant amounts of money to register my car. I started work again on Wednesday. I have enjoyed seeing friends that I have made during my tenure at Albemarle. It seems like most of them for some reason or another have migrated to Baton Rouge. I am a bit shell shocked right now. I spent the last two months in South Carolina living a somewhat hermit like existence as a I was working a lot of shift work and didn’t have time off when my friends did. Since I have been here, I have been going to parties or have some sort of social outing almost everyday and there is still much more to come as I still have many people to visit. I am still trying to learn my way around the plant. One of the biggest differences between this site and Orangeburg (socially anyway) is the number of unmarried people (including a large number of females) around my age working at the plant. This lends itself to a much more active afterwork social scene.

I got my final grades for my MBA. I passed and will officially graduate tomorrow (even though I won’t be there to walk.) This is the last time I promise. Here we go -YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYAAAAYYYAY!!! Actually I finished with 4.0 grade point average (not bragging just stating a fact for those interested. Really my parents are interested)

On the trip front, my plane ticket receipts arrived yesterday via FedEx. The tickets are all actually etickets so I got the receipts in the mail. Supposedly I may need the receipts to get through customs so I have to keep them safe just as I would actual tickets. I have also started buying gear for my trip. This has been fun as I love having new toys to play with. The first thing I have gotten is a new watch/altimeter (elevation gauge)/compass/barometer/chronometer/kitchen sink. I have had a lot of fun (and gotten a few strange looks) going up to people and asking them to ask me how high we are. I also bought an LED headlamp. It has a strobe feature that I guess will be useful if I ever need to summon a plane to rescue me. I am also starting to buy some clothes for my trip. My current goal is to find clothing that contains anti-odor properties in case I find myself in situations where I may have to be hygeine deficient for a day or so. Its funny, every sport has name brands associated with it that you simply must wear or own to be taken seriously. Football and soccer have brands like Nike and Adidas. High fashion wearers (and yes it is a sport. Just go to any mall on the day after Thanksgiving) have Versace, Dolce and Gabana, and Wal-Mart. Well the backpacking, neo-hippie (not me), and travel around the world crowd also have their brands. For shoes, one wears Teva sandals. Mine have silver ions in the soles to fend off bacteria. All outerwear has to be North Face, MSR, or Columbia. My jacket is bright yellow Columbia OmniTech jacket. If you are in a cold area in a remote place in the world next year and see someone who looks like a 6′ tall lemon walking around, there is a good chance it will be me. What can I say the jacket was on sale.

At the end of this week, my parents and I will return to South Carolina to get the rest of my boxes and then drive to Indiana to visit my sister for Christmas. When I get back in January, I will begin getting the shots for my trip. I have an appointment at a travel clinic on January 5. I also have to buy my backpack.



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