Ready to Go

Well, the journey has begun. My bags are checked all the way to Bangkok and there’s no turning back now. Not that I would turn back, but there’s always that fleeting moment just before you leave where you think about everything you’re forgetting to do or bring, and the things that would stop you from getting on the plane. But as I said, it’s too late now. OK, maybe not too late. After all, I could hear my name over the loud-speaker announcing that my dogs have escaped and are running wild through the neighborhood, or that my house has been destroyed by a very isolated tornado. I guess that’s why I have my earphones and listening to Rage Against the Machine.

I’ve sat in the North Satellite terminal many times, but this morning it’s different. As I look around at this mass of transient bodies, a sense of liberty fills me. Perhaps it’s the feeling of victory I feel for packing three weeks worth of stuff in one backpack – no that’s not it, although that small accomplishment did make me feel like a packing goddess. But seriously, I think it’s the idea that I’m about to embark on this incredible adventure…and they aren’t. They’re preparing for points “known” like Minneapolis and Denver. I’m journeying to points quite “unknown”.

Some people think I’m crazy – I mean I’m heading to a third world country which was recently stricken by civil war, a Communist country who’s mere name strikes discord in the hearts and minds of many Americans…and it’s monsoon season for crying out loud! What the hell am I thinking? But regardless of these quiet warnings, I’m exhilarated by the prospects of venturing through Cambodia and Vietnam. So, as I swallow another gulp of the last Starbucks latte I’ll have in the next three weeks, I thumb though my Lonely Planet and contemplate what might be in-store for me in Southeast Asia.