Ready or Not, Here I Come!

They day has finally come. It is August 5th. In just 45min I will be closing the door behind me and heading to the airport. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I'm leaving Spain. It's been six and a half months. It's been 201 days. Wow.

I am so excited to get back, but I am also sad to be leaving. It's been an incredible experience. I tell everyone that my time here has been exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. I have a much better idea of who I am now and who I want to be.

I'm going to get to the airport at 1:30p and Jenny will be there to keep me company before my flight. She has been a great friend to while I've been here and I don't know what I would have done had we not met. Yesterday I met her in the center of Madrid and kept her company while she ran a bunch of errands. Her last day in Madrid is tomorrow and she had a ton to do. Then we had dinner at her house and just talked for a long time. Later we went out for some Sangria and an ice cream. I got home later than I had planned (3am), but it was good to have one last night out with Jenny and in Madrid.

I'm working really hard on not turning on the autopilot that I often use when I travel. I want to feel the emotions. I want to be excited and sad. I want to think about all the good and bad times here. But I'm sort of just feeling very calm right now. My suitcase (about 70lbs) and backpack (about 18lbs) are waiting upstairs by the door. And I'm just hanging out, listening to a CD Consuelo made for Carlos' birthday.

AH! There! I felt a pang of excitement! I just saw an airplane flying overhead. That's going to be me in four hours. Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, San Francisco, Northern California, and Southern Oregon. There is so much awesomeness planned for this month that I don't know what to do with it all.

I'm going to have to do some journaling on the airplane. I just can't think straight right now. I just want to start walking (the 3/4 of a mile) to the bus stop, but it's too soon. I'll have plenty of time on the bus, on the flight, on my layover in Paris, and on my flight to Boston to try and get some thoughts on paper.

I'm going to try to post regularly while on vacation. We have a lot of fun things planned and I want to be sure I document the adventure. We also plan on taking lots of pictures.

Well this hasn't been a very thrilling blog, but it's the best I can do right now. I think I'm going to go pack a little lunch to eat at the airport. I'll check back soon!

P.S. Moving a 70lb suitcase upstairs in bare feet is a BAD plan.