The Countdown

It's been on my list for far too long to get this blog started. I leave in 5 days and am nearly paralyzed by the endless tasks, which instead of shrinking seem to be multiplying like springtime bunnies. Mix my high level of excitement about this trip with too much to do, and you get, well, me. Obsessing in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, for instance.

Where am I going, you may ask?

Well, falling under the category of Dream Job, I'm taking a group of women to Burma (Myanmar) for two weeks. These women are all members of the nonprofit that I work for, Dining for Women (diningforwomen.org, for any of you that haven't either been indoctrinated or bored silly of me talking about this group yet). I'm their Travel Program Director. (Did I say Dream Job?) We're going to visit one of the organizations that we've supported in the past, Girl Determined. More about this as time goes on. Back to me.

After the group ends, I'm taking the plunge to travel on my own for a month, to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Nope, I've never been to any of these countries, except a six-hour layover in Bangkok in 2011 during which my friend Susan and I did a whirlwind taxi tour of the downtown area, visiting a spectacular temple but then dumped at a tourist tchotchke store, much to our disappointment. Since I actually left the airport, I allow myself to count Thailand among the countries I've already visited. Some may call this a low bar.

Optimist (or perhaps fool) that I am, I've made a commitment to myself to only bring one carry-on suitcase for the seven-plus weeks I'll be gone. For the past two weeks I've just been throwing things to bring on top of this little satchel, and am amazed to find that I actually believe I'll be able to cram it all in there. We'll see. I haven't tried to zip it yet.

I'm also a bit mortified to find how anal I've become about details and getting things set up ahead of time. Long gone is my "let's just get over there and see what happens" mentality. Does this mean I am old? I must say though that I get great satisfaction from having all my proverbial ducks in a row so I can count them. Over and over.

But I guess this is a good quality for a trip leader, no? Let's hope the travelers think so...