Countdown begins, T-Minus 2.5 hours.

It is now 1:32.

In 2 1/2 hours I leave for Sea-Tac and a 20+ hour plane ride to South Africa.

I am nervous and anxious, I've never done anything like this and don't know what to expect. I keep wondering about traveling, and what it will be like, what it will look like, who I'll meet. How hard will it be to live away from home? How will I deal with missing family and friends? The familiar? What will I learn? Am I completely insane??

But I'm also bubbling with excitement. Because with all that anxiousness I'm also envisioning the adventures, kodak moments, stories, memories, laughter, tears and experiences that will come back with me.

Here goes a big giant step into the unknown...(and I feel rather small).