for drew and liddy

I did the chant, but it just wasn’t the same without you.

Lower maintenance…lower…lower…good.

This is what I thought I needed for three months of traveling:

Ha.

Unfortunately, that does not equal this:

So after a redefinition of “essential”, I packed about half of what was originally on my bed. And I’m ready!

To all of you who have made this place such a precious home to me, thank you for making it bittersweet to leave it even for just a few months. Who knew…this flighty girl started to grow roots when I wasn’t paying attention! Thank you for all of your sweet, thoughtful goodbyes. I will miss you very, very much!

a last little bit of home

September 23.

That’s the day I plan to hop in my car, headed for a new adventure. You know, I’m pretty sure that this will be the most adventurous thing I’ve ever done. Other than braving Drew’s trampoline mode. That certainly is not for the faint of heart.

So my itinerary. First I’ll head to Washington DC to get my visas. Barring any visa disasters, I will go from DC to Massachusetts to see family and friends, then to NYC on October 5 to fly to Delhi, India.

My sweet friend Laura and her husband Jon will be letting me stay with them in Delhi for a few weeks. The last week of October, we will head together to Goa, India, to take advantage of the beaches and the beautiful old Portuguese architecture. When we get back from that, I’ll travel to Kolkata, India. I don’t know anyone in Kolkata, but I’ve been told that if you get off a plane and ask anyone on the street how to get to the “mother house”, they will direct you to Missionaries of Charity, the ministry that Mother Theresa established. Missionaries of Charity will help me find a place to stay, and I’ll be volunteering there for three weeks.

At the end of November, I will head off to Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’ll spend a few days exploring this cool little city, but I’ll spend the majority of my time there volunteering at an elephant park for a week. Yep. I said elephant park. Thanksgiving with the baby elephants? Yes, please.

After that, I’ll be going to Kunming, China, to visit my friends David & Marianne for a week, and then to Shanghai, China to visit my other friends Dennis, Lisa, & their phenomenally cute little boy Will. And also to eat some jiaozi. Mmmm. That’s really why I’m going to China. Friends are great and everything, but there’s nothing better than jiaozi. On Christmas Eve, I will leave China to come home again, flying into Boston first thing Christmas morning.

Lots of people have wanted to know how to keep up with what I’m doing, and this is the place. I’ll try to post stories and pictures as I go along. Then again, life doesn’t always stop for blogging, but I’ll do my best.

September 23. It’s going to come so, so quickly! Until then, I’ll be enjoying as much home as I can get.