gainesville in the a.m….slowly i turn in a 360 degree circle scanning the tops of the shelves, stacks of books and generally any surface that a driver’s license may have been laid with care…surely that sucker is around somewhere…as my eyes scan across the dresser i see the clock shift from 2:45 to 2:46 a.m…sigh…that 7 o’clock run was looking less and less appealing (not, mind you, that 7 am runs are super appealing in their own right but a run before a 24 hr flight holds a bit of charm regardless of the hour). i stop for a moment and think…if i were a driver’s license where would i be? then i consider, really who needs a driver’s license to travel internationally - all i need is my passport…and with that thought i slide to double check that item of current focus is indeed in the correct location. suddenly it dawns on me and i reach across the bed, behind the pillows for the sweatshirt i threw over there earlier in the evening…in the pocket sits my license. brilliant. i am on my way…

little bit later (let’s say nine-thirty-ish am)…all bags are packed (mostly) and i am figuring out where to put the rest of the random knick knacks that obviously need to come along for the ride. patrick graciously loads the bags into the car claiming there is no way i am going to pass the weight test at check in… would have preferred to travel light but no matter how much i prefer that means of travel it is a rare thing on trips such as this…as such i lug over to the check in counter my wonderful, awesome, so happy for the investment rolly duffel, and another duffel of equal size holding a bunch of soccer balls and other assorted gear. on my back is another pack, along with my camera bag, and a map container that weighs way too much to be holding maps. oh and a jacket. needless to say way too much stuff…it was a good thing i was checking in at a small airport. i went to put the rolly duffel on the scale and a 56 steadied on the screen. awesome. ok, i can handle that…opening the duffel i pull out some stuff to transfer to the other bag and weigh it again. 51. oh for pete sake. so pull out the shampoo (really, who needs shampoo? way overrated…and i hear they have might have some in africa)…finally zip it all up to try to keep the check in counter from looking like the sprawling mess that one might call our bedroom at home (noting for the record 99% my mess…ok, fine 100%). anticipation mounting and on the scale goes the bag - 49.5 lbs. yay. 1-0 me.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Africa 08. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.