South Africa pre-departure
Well. My shit's packed. I'm leaving in about 9.5 hours. I'm excited and can't sleep, despite being tired.
That's okay. On the flights over, I'll hopefully be tired enough to sleep most of the time, so I can ignore how cramped and stiff my knees are getting. And during the layovers, so I don't have to think about the fact that my next flight is probably hours away from even boarding. It's really too bad my longest layover is in LAX, which, the last time I was there, reminded me of what Hell must be like. I guess a 5-hour layover isn't as awful as it could be (in fact, I've had longer in the past), but the fact that it's there multiplies the torture by at least 3.
I'm probably not sleeping due to anxiety about the flights/airports. I might die in a plane crash, or lose precious limbs. Or some security dude at the airport might confiscate something essential from me because it could potentially cause harm, like all my underwear (HARMFUL UNDERWEAR!), and I'll be underwear-less for the remainder of the trip, or at least until I buy some more, which I guess could only be like 15 minutes. Or I'll get food poisoning again, or someone will steal my shit when I'm not looking, or ...
Honestly, I've probably put more imagination into the flight over there than into what wondrous and/or terrible and/or life-changing experiences I might actually have South Africa. I've also put a lot of thought into how much I'll miss my cats and Nik, and how much they might miss me. Honestly, I am more concerned about my cats missing me than Nik, because unlike Nik, my cats do not understand English and, despite my warnings, don't know that I'm about to disappear for 7 weeks. Here at my parents' house, they only leave the bedroom if I do, and isolate themselves in there when I'm not around. However, recently Priya has ventured downstairs alone to nap on the back of the couch, and Maverick has occasionally left to steal things from my mom's nightstand and break plant pots downstairs (though he's never been witnessed doing this). I predict they'll soon they'll be cuddling with family members and being like "shit, we got this WHOLE BEDROOM to OURSELVES, man!" and throw parties in there with Pluto and Mitch (because, of course, I left them with a bag of catnip).
I'm not quite clear on how consistently I'll have internet access, or time to update or anything. If I can't post a lot while I'm there, upon my return I will post some hilights from my travel journal, which I am sure will be the most exciting thing ever ("Today we examined rhino dung and identified what plants they've been eating! Later I had my first shower in 2 weeks!")
See you in mid-November.
That's okay. On the flights over, I'll hopefully be tired enough to sleep most of the time, so I can ignore how cramped and stiff my knees are getting. And during the layovers, so I don't have to think about the fact that my next flight is probably hours away from even boarding. It's really too bad my longest layover is in LAX, which, the last time I was there, reminded me of what Hell must be like. I guess a 5-hour layover isn't as awful as it could be (in fact, I've had longer in the past), but the fact that it's there multiplies the torture by at least 3.
I'm probably not sleeping due to anxiety about the flights/airports. I might die in a plane crash, or lose precious limbs. Or some security dude at the airport might confiscate something essential from me because it could potentially cause harm, like all my underwear (HARMFUL UNDERWEAR!), and I'll be underwear-less for the remainder of the trip, or at least until I buy some more, which I guess could only be like 15 minutes. Or I'll get food poisoning again, or someone will steal my shit when I'm not looking, or ...
Honestly, I've probably put more imagination into the flight over there than into what wondrous and/or terrible and/or life-changing experiences I might actually have South Africa. I've also put a lot of thought into how much I'll miss my cats and Nik, and how much they might miss me. Honestly, I am more concerned about my cats missing me than Nik, because unlike Nik, my cats do not understand English and, despite my warnings, don't know that I'm about to disappear for 7 weeks. Here at my parents' house, they only leave the bedroom if I do, and isolate themselves in there when I'm not around. However, recently Priya has ventured downstairs alone to nap on the back of the couch, and Maverick has occasionally left to steal things from my mom's nightstand and break plant pots downstairs (though he's never been witnessed doing this). I predict they'll soon they'll be cuddling with family members and being like "shit, we got this WHOLE BEDROOM to OURSELVES, man!" and throw parties in there with Pluto and Mitch (because, of course, I left them with a bag of catnip).
I'm not quite clear on how consistently I'll have internet access, or time to update or anything. If I can't post a lot while I'm there, upon my return I will post some hilights from my travel journal, which I am sure will be the most exciting thing ever ("Today we examined rhino dung and identified what plants they've been eating! Later I had my first shower in 2 weeks!")
See you in mid-November.
