5 Days before Take Off

It seems as though summer has just started and now July is here and there are just a few days before I leave for Chile.  I just got home yesterday from four days in Nashville attending an education conference.  The conference was good but now I feel a bit behind in my prep for the big trip.  I need to get going with things.  I have gotten some things checked off but much more is swirling around in my head and I really should write those down so I remember to do them.

I did just finish reading a travel book called Travels in a Thin Country by Sara Wheeler.  The author spent 6 months traveling from north to south down Chile in the 1990s.  The book has given me some good insight into pieces of the country.  I feel as if I know less about Chile than I have about other countries I have visited in the past.  I hope to do a bit more reading before we take off.

I guess right now I am more anxious about the trip than I am excited.  I think that comes from feeling behind in my preparation right now.  I am sure that the anxiety will go down and the excitement will go up as I get closer and stuff actually makes it into my suitcase.  

I am curious to see what we will actually be doing once we get there.  I have little idea how the research portion of the trip is going to play itself out.  I am excited though about actually getting involved, I think this makes travel so much more meaningful.

I am not looking forward to the flight.  I just figured out the trip from Dallas to Santiago is 9.5 hours.  Yuck!  At least there is only one hour of time change so jet lag should not be an issue.

Last Weekend before Chile

I spent my final weekend in the states on a backpacking/climbing expedition here in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We hiked the entire Flume Trail (12 miles total) and enjoyed the scenery with our dog Turbo and some friends. When we finished on the trail, we hoped on a classic climb of the hills, The Conn Diagonal. It is a 3 pitch climb (picture at right is me, yellow helmet, and friends at the top of the 1st pitch). It was a nice way to get out and enjoy the outdoors before heading down to the Southern Hemisphere.

As for packing for Chile, I have a pile of things I think need to come with me, not sure if it will all make the final cut. I am working on trying to get final touches done here at home to help out since I will be gone for 4 weeks when this trip is over. It is amazing how this little things add up during the school year!

I am excited about the trip, but have little time to really dwell on it. I have a jam packed week this week, I am sure it will all hit me on Thursday. I have done little particulars (i.e. make sure I have my passport), but for the most part am saving it all until later in the week. I am not excited about the overnight flight, but I have some earplugs already set aside.

Here we go!

Let's go ahead and kick it off. Today is a big packing and prep day for Chile. Even though we are still around a week out everything becomes more complex after today. Sunday afternoon I will be traveling to the White Earth Reservation in North Central Minnesota to wrap up the 5th and final week of our summer STEM program with Anishinabe youth. It should be a great week with trike exploration and races. We will race back Thursday afternoon to Minneapolis (about a 4 hour drive) to put the final preparations on our trip to South Dakota on the 4th of July. On the 5th we fly out of Rapid City for Chile. Meeting Jennifer in Dallas for the overnight to Santiago. I am ultra excited about the upcoming 3 weeks in Chile and the beginning of so many possibilities.