Counting down the hours...

Less than 16 hours before my first flight. I am glad that I was able to hang out with a lot of my friends the past few days. New years and the past couple nights have been a lot of fun.

I am having waves of anxiety about going. I am really excited but still pretty nervous. I don't think it will really hit me until I land in Tokyo and I can't read or understand anything. The biggest thing I am really concerned with now is making my flights and getting to my final destination. I have less than an hour to make my connection in ATL. Also my flight from Tokyo to Bangkok will arrive at midnight, and finding my way to the hostel would be a challenge. I'm going to get the flight changed to the next day but I"ve heard it's cheapest to do it at the airport.

I spent this morning going down a combination of check lists from Argentina and other ideas that have popped in my head the past few weeks. I got everything laid out and (very) organized. Nothing is packed loose. Everything is put into quart size zip lock bags or compression sacks. It makes life so much easier, especially airports. I packed the zip locks based on category - bathroom (toothbrush, soap, etc), technology (chargers, batteries, cords etc)... you get the idea. I will post my full pack checklist.

I assembled everything, double checked my list and starting packing... I finished in less than 2 minutes and was left with the feeling... Is that it? I checked my list again and guessed I did a good job packing. I am fighting the temptation to pack more since I have soooo much room in my pack. I am taking more than I did to Argentina but my pack weighs less. Weighed out I'm only carrying 23 lbs! Argentina bag weighed about 26lbs. Anyway, I'm really excited, I"ll be able to carry on my bag and I'll have plenty of room to pick up stuff along the way. Having everything packed and ready to go is giving me a lot more peace of mind.

I have several other errands to do before the day is over - load up a prepaid debit card, get an international drivers license, and a number of other odds and ends.

I guess there's not much more to talk about until the flights... :)