Well, we've done it. After months of dreaming, planning, and perusing guidebooks, it's finally happening. We've got return flight tickets, 12-month work visas, and money in the bank. Our stuff is half-packed and it's only now becoming real to me: we're going to New Zealand!
Why bother trying to describe how I feel? I've never been away from home before-- never even left the coast. Now I'm leaving it all: my friends, my family, my job, my belongings, and my apartment. I'm going to leave my comfortable life behind and embrace the unknown. With my best friend and a backpack, I'll be taking each day as it comes, halfway around the world.
There will be unfamiliar landscapes and unknown cities. People will think I have an accent! I'll meet all kinds of people: those who have walked on several continents, and those, like me, who have never left their place of birth. After looking out to the western horizon my entire life, I will finally be on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, stepping on the sand of a distant shore. I will be amazed; I will be afraid; I will probably get lost. The fear is exhilarating. The excitement is excruciating.
Three weeks before our flight, there is a lot to do-- one hundred and twenty working hours apiece, first of all. We are dismantling our apartment slowly, giving away furniture, donating clothing, and storing books. I have made an exhaustive packing list. There is a long list of ends to tie, documents to scan, and necessities to acquire.
Beyond all the work, I'll be playing. In the next few weeks, I'll be attending a wedding, a baby shower, a book club meeting, two birthday parties, a family reunion and of course, my own farewell party. These are big occasions, and last opportunities to see everyone dear to me.
People everywhere ask me if I'm getting excited. Yes, I am. But that doesn't begin to describe the nerves I've got, bare weeks away from what can only be the greatest adventure of my life.
Cape Farewell, New Zealand
