This Is It

Friday, April 9th, 2004 | Uncategorized

My absolute last stop, if you can call it that is a layover in Miami. It’s currently 7:33AM (which is really 4:33AM by LA time) and I board my plane in 12 minutes. Then I’m off to Bogotá.

I have to admit I am a little scared. After six months of having pretty much the same plan, it’s kind of suprising to feel that emotion about this trip, but it’s there. It’s not alone though. As I look forward to the completely foreign and unknown South American soil, I feel excited, nervous, hopeful, scared, happy, sad, lonely. I can’t wait to be walking from the airplane. I also can’t wait to have maybe a week without incident under my belt. I think I’ll feel a bit more secure then.

Really, I should be fine. I’ve been in dangerous cities before, cities like New York, South Central LA, London, Paris, Rome, Istanbul all have their particular breeds of crime and pickpockets. If you’re not an idiot, and are always aware of your surroundings you’re usually fine. I suspect that this will be the same in South America (even in Columbia). And as my stepfather would say, a healthy dose of fear is a good thing, and I am inclined to agree.

/>BTW, my packing kicks ass. This is all I’m taking. Besides what I’m wearing:

  • 2 shirts
  • 1 superthin fleece
  • 5 socks
  • 1 pair of khaki pants
  • bathroom stuff
  • digital camera (canon s400)
  • laptop (12” powerbook)
  • ipod (40G)
  • flashlight
  • documents (passport, immunization record, copies)
  • wallet (driver’s license & 2 credit cards)

I’ll buy some more stuff once I get there, like a knife and whatnot, didn’t want to try to smuggle that across. My shoes as you can tell are pretty old, so I might get some new ones once I’m there, and I’ll also need something for the rain. I kinda want to see what people are using there and follow suit. I want as much as possible to NOT look like an American tourist.

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