T-31 Days 22 Hours

So, "Operation Awesome" is already taken as a blog URL.. and hence I've ended up with this one :p

The tickets are paid for and the Visas are on their way. Things are getting scary close!
I fly out on the 8th of August to visit the Snaz in J.burg and then onto Egypt. Last minute adjustments, but these have to be allowed for. Hopefully I won't have to make any more major adjustments.

I've started making lists of things that I have to do before I leave and I'm still trying to squeeze every cent that I can out of my budget. It's gotten to the point that I hope my Tax Return is ~Whopping~ or spending money is going to be a little short. I hope that I can get some good hours in at work, it would be nice to finish the projects I'm on and earn a little extra coin. Handling my finances when I get back is going to be "interesting", but I think I'll just have to leave that till when I get home.

Trying to fit in my physical rehab has been a real pain as well as language practice. I've resorted to trying to listen to the audio tracks while on the bus and at the gym. I don't ENTIRELY suck at Mandarin, but my Russian and Arabic really are failing. Trying to sit down in front of the books has been almost impossible. It occurred to me that I'm now down to 2 evenings a weeks where I'm not already committed to something.. even then, the Monday is spent ironing uniforms and Friday usually devolves into some form of "therapy" be it movie, beer or retail. It's great having all of these things to do, but really really sucks when there are so many extra opportunities that I've had to pass up because there just aren't the physical hours in the day! that said, no regrets :D

I've been excitedly reading Emma and Snazzy's blogs about their adventures, I'm certainly more than a little jealous. I know my epic journey is going to be *AWESOME*, but I would have liked to have been in Greece or walking through Spain instead of suffering the cold and work-stress of life in Perth :p
With everything that's happened this year, it's uncanny how many things have synchronised to open up some really awesome opportunities. If I hadn't screwed my knee on that fateful date in January, I think I'd be stuck in some really crappy situations.. and probably be unemployed.

I'm going to have some epic karma debt to pay back before too long :p

Now it's down to trying to sort out my life before I leave.. running through what to pack, sorting out phones and rent, suspending accounts and services. So far everyone has been pretty helpful. I'm still deciding on what to pack or not pack. I think I'll go with the philosophy that I won't be coming back with a lot of the stuff that I leave with. Seeing as I'll be going straight to the Middle East, then Starting at Autumn in Russia with the teeth of winter chasing me the whole way to the equator.. Finishing with Summer in S.E. Asia.. by the looks of it, I'll even be in Vietnam for Monsoon Season! As much as I'd like to (and have been trying to), I won't be able to pack for "every situation". I think that the part of me that hates throwing anything away is going to have to get over itself.

The only real dilemma that remains, is trying to think of a "thing" for this trip..
Emma and I were going to have a collapsible TARDIS for the trip, no go there.
Jessica took a teddy bear everywhere, that's a possibility.. I was think about turning a travel pillow into a stuffed tiger and solve two problems..
Marianne suggested photographing and documenting graffetti art everywhere, but it's not entirely my thing.

Any suggestions would be appreciated :p