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preparations commence

Monday, October 1st, 2007

i’ve accomplished 2 major steps. first, my airline tickets are purchased. for me, this made it offical and gave me a framework. my trip has several “fixed” points:

arrival: 12/8/2007 san jose, costa rica
christmas: bocas del toro, panama
easter: antigua, guatemala
departure: 4/26/2008 cancun, mexico

after doing some research i came to the conclusion that i would need to plan for the major holidays. these are also major travel times for people in central america, especially semana santa (easter week). Easter in the colonial city of antigua sounds amazing and the time and place seemed good given my trajectory so i have planned for this. I also hoped to spend christmas with friends in bocas del toro. and i’m thrilled to have a bungalow on isla carenero where deb, dus, rita, jaenne and i will spend christmas and new years!

since i fly into San Jose, Costa Rica, i will travel over to the caribbean coast and spend a few weeks seeing the sights there before heading down to bocas. bocas del toro is an archepelago off the coast of panama where i spent a long weekend during my month in panama. i vowed to go back for more. these are amazing islands with rain forests, wildlife, great people and where the main mode of transport is small boats. after the holidays i will head across panama to experience the highlands, which i have not seen, before heading back up thru costa rica with no need to divert off to the caribbean coast.

so now you know what i know about my 4.5 months! btw – you can use the map on the right tool bar as a ready-reference. when my travels commence you will be able to see my progress across the map with links to milestones!

secondly, the details of my departure from work are being finalized. good bosses are hard to find and so i’m sorry to leave one as good as Laurie. I’ve had a good run at neustar and i am grateful for the opportunities i’ve been given.

so i may have a few posts before i leave. you know, thoughts on how the idea of being a solo female traveling thru central america makes me feel. WOW! excited right now, but i’m sure there will be a lot of other feelings mixed in as 12/8 gets closer. and even more once i begin!

Posted in central america, Travel | 1 Comment »

fall arrives

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

yep, the sun moves further and further down the horizon with each passing day. from my living room window the sun sets between oakland city center’s twin towers around the equinox. and the closer it gets to the winter solstice the less it shines directly in my windows in the evening. it would be nicer the other way around, with the sun pouring in during the winter, but alas that is not how it works. instead i have some really, really warm summer evenings.

my apartment overlooks lake merritt and yesterday, in preparation for the winter migration, they enlarged the “bird only” zone by dragging the barrier floats across the lake and making room for our winter guests. only a few coots and grebes so far but soon the buffleheads, greater and lesser scaups, canvasbacks and goldeneye’s will arrive. and with each day that passes i am a day closer to my departure.

now that my travel plans have become more tangible, i look around and wonder if i will get homesick. i’ve been away for a month here and there, but what i have in mind is different. it’s longer and i’ll be on the move. i’m sure my previous solo travels have helped prepare me but i’m also sure there will be unanticipated challenges. and anticipated ones: alone and sick, noisy room, missed bus, stifling hot, smelly bed, caught in a downpour with my pack. some i can prepare for, some i can’t. stay positive, peg.

i’ve planned a trip back to texas to visit with family before i go: wurstfest in new braunfels with friends, time with the nieces and nephew in dallas, and with mom and dad in san antonio. my parents don’t know my plans yet. i’ve wanted to wait till my job departure is finalized before i told them. and i decided that it’s the better for them to have less time to worry every time they hear a bad story about central america. yeah, i’m 40, but some things never change :).

so if you read this blog at any point and have words of encouragement, bring them on! post a comment!

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

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