Mucho Dinero

I just wrote a check for the remainder of the payment for the Antarctica trip. I'll put it in the mail in a few minutes. I've never written a check for that much money. This better be a life-changing experience.

On Holiday During the Holidays

I went to Charlotte, NC, this past weekend to visit my family once more before the trip. This will be the first time in 30 years that I won't be with my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas. And mom's not happy about it. The trip home was exhausting. Drove an hour & a half north of Charlotte to visit one set of grandparents the first day. That night I went to a concert with my parents and the other set of grandparents. The next day we were all up early to go see a house my parents may be buying while I'm away. So next year the holidays won't even be in the same house. That was another hour plus drive, and it took most of the day. Then home where I spent the better portion of the evening smoking cigars and watching college football & DVDs on the history of trains with my grandfather in his shed. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

The last day I drove all over Charlotte buying last minute things for the trip. I got home just in time for a rushed dinner with the whole family before having to run out to the airport. *whew*

I don't feel like it was enough time. Especially since I won't be with them for the holidays. But what can you do? Thanksgiving and Christmas will be tough this year. On the first holiday I'll be on a yacht sailing around the Galapagos (okay, so maybe not that tough). And on the latter holiday I'll be in Bolivia celebrating with a friend's extended family. I was warned that I better find a phone on those two days. That's a given.

Need More Time

Seventeen days. I leave in only seventeen days. I have so much left to do! My replacement at 226 came over last night to provide guidance on what needed to be removed from my room before she moves in. I was hoping it would be less. I had no idea I had so much stuff in that room. Where do I put it all? And I really need to sit down and do an inventory of everything I'm taking. I've just been tossing things into a large bucket without really making note of what's going in there. Looks like I have plenty of wool socks.

And tomorrow I leave for my parents house for three days. That may be a good time to rush around and buy everything I still need. If I can finish all the freelance work I'm taking with me. Two months ago the days couldn't pass quickly enough. Now they're passing too quickly.

And....

Just called the Bolivian consulate to ask about visa requirements. They're out of applications until the end of October. Awesome.

Visa? But I'm a US citizen! Oh....

Bolivia recently enacted visa requirements on all U.S. citizens. Recently as in last month. And this visa costs $135. Great. More unexpected expenses.

Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, has decided that since the U.S. requires Bolivians entering the U.S. to have a visa at the same cost, Bolivia should reciprocate the favor. Perfect timing.

Brazil has done the exact same thing to the U.S. But they're Brazil. People want to go to Brazil. They have great beaches and Carnival. Bolivia has....salt flats.

Okay, I'm sure Bolivia will be worth the visa, whatever the cost. After all, they also have, um.... Well, I hear my Bolivian friend's family is a lot of fun.

Ugh

Nineteen more work days. Nineteen too many...

Change for Change

I just spent the last couple of hours rolling all the coins that have been collecting in the water jug in my room for the past four years. Yes, I know there are now machines in which one can dump large quantities of change and it counts it all for you then spits out bills. But I wanted to go old school. Plus, and this is the main reason, I'm cheap. Those machines take like 10%, right? The total came out to just under $150. That would be $15! You know what I can buy in Bolivia for $15? At the very least, several beers. Actually, I'm going to use this money to pay for my first week of Spanish classes in Ecuador (I'll even have money left over for 2 nights in a hostel!). I plan on taking two weeks of spanish, 4 hours a day for 10 days. Hopefully that will get me through the subjunctive tense. If so, four years of saving change will make quite a change.

Broke (but not broken)

*whew*

My credit card is breathin' heavy. It's gotten a good work out this week. I just returned from a three day weekend in Boston to visit a college friend. While not an expensive trip, it did add to the balance. On Monday I paid off my balance for the Galapagos trip (and flight). Then on Tuesday I put down a deposit on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu AND bought that travel insurance I've been trying not to think about. And last night I paid for a Typhoid vaccine. Done?

Not quite. The mother of all payments comes next month when I pay the balance for the Antarctica trip. Expenses on the actual trip will seem cheap with all of this paid in advance. I hope.

Uno Más

After a happy hour one night a few weeks ago I came home and started flipping through my Lonely Planet guide to South America. This happy hour included several drinks and I was fairly inebriated. As I flipped through the guide, the thought occurred to me that if I had only two more weeks I could be a bit more leisurely in my travels instead of rushing around to everything. I could better acclimatize myself in Cusco before the hike to Machu Picchu; there would be no rush from Titicaca to La Paz to meet my friend and make the most of his short vacation; and after Antarctica, I could slowly make my way back to Buenos Aires with a few more days spent in the Lake District. It made perfect sense at the time – and I was sure my boss would agree. And so, at 2am, I shot off an email to her work address stating as much. Mind you, I was still inebriated. I passed out shortly afterwards content in my genius.

The next morning, quite sober, I immediately recalled what I had done the night before. My boss was already kind enough to A) give me 3.5 months of leave to take, as she put it, a "sabbatication"; and B) extend that 3.5 month sabbatication, once before, by an extra week to accommodate my trip to Antarctica. Now I had the nerve to ask for two more weeks?

I sat sheepishly behind my desk later that morning as she walked into my office staring at me with what appeared to be disbelief (if not amusement). I half grinned and started to say something before she cut me off with a retelling of how bad the last few days had been on her side of the company. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Then she said she received my email and would give it some thought and get back to me.

Monday she got back to me. She thought an extra week was fair. I whole-heartedly agreed and wanted to hug her for not firing me on the spot. My return date is now March 1st. But with the leap year I get an extra day at that. And now I have an extra day to acclimatize in Cusco...

Yuppie Trekker

I have made the obligatory trip to REI. I am now the proud owner of a new fleece, a pair of water proof pants, a rain jacket (first one I've owned in years), flip-flops with a built in bottle opener (seriously), a pocket knife, and, of course, a new water bottle. Is it possible to go on a shopping spree at an outdoors store and not buy a water bottle?

I should contrast well with the porters hired to carry this equipment for us on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I've read most wear sandals made of old tires - more importantly, they hike for four days in sandals. I'll be trying to keep up in boots that were designed to hike mountains. At least I'll look like I can conquer a mountain.