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1 day to go

Thursday, March 1st, 2007

Well I am pretty much ready to go. My bag is packed. My head is shaved. Now I am just counting down the hours. I will leave home tomorrow morning around 10:00 to catch a 14:00 flight out of New Orleans to Miami. My friend and I will drive to the airport together. My trip to Easter Island will be a long one so I am glad to have company. I fly from New Orleans to Miami, Miami to Santiago, Santiago to Easter Island. I will arrive on Easter Island at 12:50 pm nearly 24 hours after I leave New Orleans. This is still not my longest series of flights as I have a 12.5 hour nonstop flight from Santiago to Los Angeles. One interesting fact about Easter Island is that Chile, of which Easter Island is a part, has made Easter Island use the same time zone as the mainland even though it is very far away. As a result, the sun rises at about 9:00 and set at about 21:00. Time on Easter Island is currently equal to that of the East Coast of the United States.

Today was spent running several errands. I got a haircut (my hair is cut really short, slightly longer than military boot camp cut). I mailed my sleeping bag and air mattress to my cousin in San Fransisco. My tent is on its way to Australia. I will pick these items up as I arrive.

For the more touch feely of you out there, here is a run down on my feelings. My main emotion right now is one of nervousness. The closest I can come to describing it is the feeling one gets when one is about to do something exciting yet it is a big fear for them. An example is skydiving for someone who doesn’t like heights. I am a little puzzled by this feeling as I am not scared per se (getting sick being my main concern). I think it’s more likely that it’s just me trying to cope with the big life change I am making. I have never not had a job. I have been continuously employed since I was fifteen. It will probably take me a while to get adapted to this. I have always been very careful about spending money and it is hard for me to spend money when I don’t have a job. I obviously have to get over this as this trip will cost money and I will be miserable if I try to nickel and dime the whole trip.

5 days until trip begins and packing list

Monday, February 26th, 2007

Here is my long awaited packing list. [read on]

7 days until trip begins and movie references

Saturday, February 24th, 2007
Time is really getting close. I must admit I do experience bouts of cold feet. Living in Louisiana for the last two months has been great in the fact that I have gotten see family and friends, but it also ... [Continue reading this entry]

15 days until trip begins

Friday, February 16th, 2007
Time is getting really short but the reality of the trip still hasn't set in yet. I have one week of work left and then one week after that to wrap everything up. It's been a while since I have ... [Continue reading this entry]

40 days until trip begins

Monday, January 22nd, 2007
Since I last wrote, I have made significant headway in my trip preparations. I have decided not to get the rabies or Japanese encephalitis vaccines for the time being. Reservations have been made at the Ana Rapu Guesthouse for my ... [Continue reading this entry]

55 days until trip begins – post Christmas update

Sunday, January 7th, 2007
Well I am back in Louisiana and have returned to work after spending 1.5 weeks in Indianapolis. My parents and I left for South Carolina during a torrential downpour which apparently extended all the way South Carolina making the 12 ... [Continue reading this entry]

76 days until trip begins – Hi from Louisiana

Sunday, December 17th, 2006
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 ... [Continue reading this entry]

87 days until trip begins

Wednesday, December 6th, 2006
I officially bought my plane tickets today from Airtreks so the countdown begins. I leave for Easter Island on March 2 from New Orleans, LA. I only bought tickets for the first 6 months of my trip and I will ... [Continue reading this entry]

Officially informed work of my trip

Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
I took the plunge a little ahead of schedule and officially let my boss know that I will be doing my trip starting on March 1. I did . My company needed to know whether I would be available to ... [Continue reading this entry]

Update or Decision Time Approaches

Thursday, October 5th, 2006
After crunching some numbers, it appears that I can still save enough money to go on the trip without selling the car. I may sell it anyway but I haven't decided yet. I am now about 95% certain that I ... [Continue reading this entry]