Two months to take off

Merry belated Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and Hanukkah,

It's almost the new year and I'm so excited to be off on my adventure. It looks like my thesis will be done in late February/ early March but my human subjects approval was delayed so it's going to be a push to the end. I just cut my hair in preparation for the heat in Vietnam and will post a photo once I get a good one.

I'm completely moved out of my apartment, which is a relief, and one other thing to check off my list. Now I just have a week and a half left of work and my thesis... oh and planning the other parts of my trip. I guess I'll get to that when I leave for Hawaii on January 12th for 9 days of hiking, scuba diving and relaxing. I have my final half marathon before my trip on February 7th and my 27th birthday on February 12th.  It's been 7 years since I first started planning this trip, and it looks nothing like it did then, but I'm sure it will be an experience of a lifetime.

Inching toward takeoff

I've been asked for more details about my trip, so here is my itinerary as it currently stands:

February 21st- Fly from San Francisco to Auckland arriving February 23rd
February 23rd through March 15th, backpack around the North Island and north part of the South Island of the South Island
March 15th or 16th- Fly to Sydney, spend 10 days between Sydney, Hunter Valley and Canberra visiting friends and seeing that area of the (massive) country.
March 25th- Fly to Bangkok, Thailand
March 25th-April 29th- Travel around Thailand, Laos, Cambodia
April 30th- Arrive in Da Nang for my orientation
May 1st- August 15th- Teach at Duy Tan University
For more information about my placement, visit: http://www.globalvolunteernetwork.org/resources/guides/vietnam_uni.php
August 15- September 8th- Travel for three more weeks in SE Asia
Fly home
September 20th (or thereabouts)- Fly to Europe
September 20th-November 15- Backpack the Balkan states, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland (or some selection of these places)
Fly home
Look for another job :-)

Welcome to my blog

Well it's Thursday, November 5th and I have begun the countdown. I have given my notice at my job and started the tedious process of moving my stuff and my kitties back to my parents house.

Giving notice has been much harder then I expected because I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss my students, faculty and friends here at HRP and at Stanford. I've received so many wonderful comments and emails since I told everyone I was leaving.

I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming blogs. If you would like to get together prior to my trip, please give me a call or email me.

~Erika