It’s the Final Countdown

I have two weeks left in Austin and ten days in Boston. When we first decided to go on the trip six months ago it seemed like it would take forever. Now every day seems to fly by before I can make any progress on my list of stuff-I-must-do-before-I-go.

Of course, the one thing I’ve had no problem doing is buying the gear necessary to leave. I’ll post a complete list of every single thing I’m bringing with me… some of which will probably surprise people.

We still haven’t found anywhere to live in Panama yet. I send e-mails to people on Craigslist in Panama, but nothing good has surfaced yet.

Today I’m getting my car ready to sell. I have to get the oil changed and get it washed. There are two very interested people and a few less interested people. One of the guys is a car collector so I hope he buys it. I’m selling it for way less than its worth because I want to sell it before I go to Boston in four days.

I have a few buyers for the RV too. They’re all associated with Casa de Luz, the restaurant I park near, so hopefully one of them will buy it and it will stay there on the street where it’s been.

I’m really going to miss living in the RV. Even though I’ve had it now for almost eight months, I still love living in it.

I should probably say that I’ll miss people the most, but I won’t. I’ll still have a local phone number and IM and e-mail, so I know I’ll keep in touch with everyone. A lot of people are going to come visit (or at least say they will…) and I’ll probably end up coming back to visit a few times.

What I’ll miss most is the food. I have a great roster of restaurants I eat at, all perfectly healthy and delicious. Who knows what I’ll have to eat when I get to Panama?

It’s strange to start having lasts. From the insignificant (last time I’ll fill up the RV) to the significant (last time I’ll see my friend Hayden). I only have two tazeroke nights left. One Indian night at Casa left.

Of course all of these little things pale in comparison to the excitement I have for going on the trip. I daydream during the day of getting on that plane. I can’t wait to land in Panama knowing no one and having to explore and make friends and find places to eat.

I haven’t had too much to write about recently because all I’ve been doing is working and getting ready for the trip.

Oh… actually I went skydiving the other day.

I’ve been a couple times before, but always as a tandem jump with an instructor on my back. This time I did an AFF which basically means that two instructors grab on to me as I jump, one on each side. Once I pull my rip cord they leave and the rest is up to me.

For anyone who hasn’t gone skydiving, you really should. It’s far less scary than you think it will be (my friends Todd and Doug went too and neither was scared). It’s definitely a feeling unlike any other you’ll ever have.

Imagine jumping out of a plane and falling for thirty seconds with nothing connected to you other than a small backpack. It doesn’t feel like falling, though – it feels like floating. When I jumped I fell through a cloud.

The whole jump went without incident for me, but Todd went the wrong way and almost landed on the highway. He was three feet away and his chute was actually on the highway. Pretty awesome.