It finally hit me as I lay in bed last night.
I woke up from that half dream mode you’re in right before sleep and sat up in the dark. This was the last night I’ll be sleeping in my bed. The next two nights I will spend on an airplane and then, after two plus days of traveling, we will be in Africa.
It’s taken five months to get to this point and now standing in my way between here and Kilimanjaro is the longest travel itineray I’ve ever had.
Two and a half straight days of traveling, 12 time zones, three flights and one 8 hour bus ride are all it takes to get to Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Spending the last five months talking about the climb, raising over $5,300 to date, sending countless emails, holding dozens of meetings, selling 100’s of brownies and even auctioning off myself and others to raise money has brought us to this point.
Now we finally start the journey and I can’t wait.
I can’t wait for the sunset and the sunrise, the sounds, the smells, the sights, the surprises and the summit.
I will try my best to post pictures and thoughts from our following three weeks in Tanzania, one of which will be spent volunteering, another is devoted to the climb and we will be going on a safari and volunteering some more.
Before I left I wanted to thank all of the people who’ve made it possible. Instead of embarrassing myself and forgetting someone, I will just say, that if you’ve done anything to help – a word of encouragement, a donation a retweet, a ride to NYC, anything- you’ve helped us more than you know.
As I sit here in my parents living room looking out into the next three weeks, the next semester, the next year, the next decade, one thought keeps going through my head:
This is only the beginning. Wish us luck.
