The countdown to my trip has now officially started. I will be leaving in exactly 30 days!! I am getting very excited, but also very nervous. It is going to be a big change and I know I am going to miss a lot of people. A lot can happen in a year!

Preparations are going very well as I have a lot of things already in order. I got my travel insurance and all of my vaccinations. I got my malaria prescription and some prescription antibiotics last week. I made my first bookings. One in Moscow, my first stop, one in Beijing, which I needed to get a Chinese Visa and one more in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the Loy Krathong festival in November. Other bookings I will make along the way as I go or I will just show up in places and hope I can find a room. (Don't worry, I have done it before!) I received my Russian visa a few days ago and I sent out my passport yesterday for my Chinese visa. I even got an international sim card, so that I could use my cell phone abroad, without being charged like $4 a minute.

There are only a few more things that I need to take care of before I leave, such as selling my truck and a few other items. Also, I have to pack up all of stuff and figure where I am going to store it all while I am gone. I have to change some things over in my banking accounts and buy some foreign currency, but other than packing I am pretty much ready to go. Oh yeah, one last thing I will need to do is to have a going away party! My roommate and I have talked a little about it, but no definite plans have come up just yet, but we will be having some kind of sendoff in a few weeks!

It is so hard to believe that the day is coming so quickly! Even though, I have most preparations squared away, I still feel like I have so much stuff to do before I leave. Either way, I really do I hope I enjoy this last month here in Arizona, before I start my journey.