Pulling it off

Here we are, both of us filled with nerves, having just had a lovely send-off of a day starting with a new years' brunch with dear Vancouver friends (yay Shaye, Jan, Alina, Amanda, Drew, and Eric), a calming tea with some more friends (yay Rob and Gloria), who incedentally took the keys to our car to babysit it for 5 months, and then a wonderful evening with our Vancouver family (sigh...Mom, Pete, Bubs, and Soph). Our bags are packed, clothes and contact lenses have been divided between the two bags in case one bag decides to stay behind, Steve has already practiced wearing the money/passport belt (which Bubs claims looks something like a beer belly), I'm dreading my final sleep with Helphy for a long time (for those unfamiliar with Helphy, she's my 29-year old stuffed animal who is staying behind in Vancouver), our quick-wicking plane clothing is sitting out for the morn, and now Steve's lying in bed trying to read himself into a deep sleep (of which he has been relatively unsuccessful as of late...you all remember that 3:45am blog last week, right?). Me? I'm just waiting for the sleeping pills to kick in and sure-as-hell hope for one final 8-hours before we take flight.

Our amazing send off from friends.

I'm feeling a bit numb at the moment, not yet filled with excitement, but instead finding some sort of a balance between utter fear of the unknown, complete disbelief that we've pulled this off, and chill acceptance of this MAJOR adventure we're about to embark on. I've packed plenty-a-suitcases in my day, but none have ever included such varied supplies - malaria pills, stuff sacks, 5 months worth of biodegradable laundry detergent, enzymes, etc. Admittedly, had I looked at the length of our (**now conmpletely crossed off**) to-do list 5 years ago when we "committed" to making this happen, I may have shrugged my shoulders and thought, "yeah right, like we could actually pull it off." But, by George, I think we've done it. As of 11:15am tomorrow morning, if you need us, we'll be at one international airport or another and every highway, backpackers route, or elephant ride in between.

With Mom and Bubbe and aaaaallll of our stuff...

Signing off for now at T minus 13.5 hours, from the quiet and familiarity of home, while on the brink of the unknown,

Happy 2011, all. So far so good.
Sarah