Well, I'm in Niagara Falls at home, being the the last stop before we leave on May 11th, flying to London via Amsterdam on KLM.

My whole life seems to be composed of a list, things to buy, arrange, remember. I move in small incremental chunks, attempting to avoid catastrophe. I seem to be suffering from a bout of pretrip depression; I feel a combination of guilt, nervousness, and compulsive rethinking of my actions. I know, your heart bleeds for me, but I'm kind of a compulsively responsible person. I am sitting here, listening to my brother's music - Bon Jovi, Runaway. I spent a lot of time thinking about my problems; you can go away, but they wait for you when they get back. Anyway, this is not a time for this, since this is supposed to be about my adventures, but I guess I'm allowed to feel a little anxious?

Okay, onto the practical stuff.

I took my third dose of typhoid fever vaccine this morning, and the red bump on my arm from the yellow fever vaccine has finally gone away. I have wanted to sleep a lot lately, something I have been attributing to the multiple injections. I just picture my body to be like the Starship Enterprise right now, with all these germs attacking.

"Shields! Shields! Red Alert!"

"Captain, she canna hold out much longer!"

Fair enough, I think. I have also produced a packing list; and I believe everyone would like a sample itinerary (by everyone, I mean the family). I am heartened by the arrival of my best friend for the weekend - always makes me feel better.