50 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds...

...until I depart for Nassau (August 27th)! I only know this because I have a countdown clock on Google. Good old Google is useful for something I suppose. Ah, already I am off topic! Seriously, I am starting to go absolutely stir crazy. Knowing that I have 52 days until departure (August 29th) is bitter sweet really. On the one hand, I am well past the 2 month mark, but on the other hand, I am so far away from the one month hump. My emotions are mixed as well. One minute I am more excited than I have ever been and than the next minute, I am frustrated beyond belief! The amount of paperwork that I have seen in the past few months from SAS rivals the amount of paperwork I received before beginning my application process to college. I must say though, Semester at Sea has been extremely organized and reliable. So far it's been smooth sailing (no pun intended). I've known for (hold on, I have to count on my fingers for this one) almost the length of a full-term pregnancy now that I was and am going on this trip! An entire 9 months! Now I look back on the past two semesters and don't have to wonder why I didn't do as well as I should have. I was distracted beyond belief. I can't tell you how many nights I stayed up well past midnight searching the internet for SAS, Semester at Sea, Institute for Shipboard Education, SASF08, SAS Alumni, SAS hints and tips, Semester at Sea packing lists...etc etc etc. I must have conducted thousands of SAS related searches in the last 9 months, and you know what? I'm still finding new information, new pictures, new blogs from past alumni. It's STILL overwhelming and incredibly distracting!

As I sit here now, I have all SAS related windows open on my computer. SAS current voyage, SAS F07 MSN group, SAS F08 Facebook group (this has been my lifeline to all my peers and probably the greatest godsend I could have stumbled upon...thank you Facebook). It's become an addiction really. I think I think about this trip more than is healthy, but hey, who really cares anyway? Probably my mom figuring I don't stop talking about SAS this SAS that all day. "Oh! I just remembered, I should pick up a compression sack" or "Oh! I have to mail in an updated transcript!" or "Crap! I forgot to get my Medical History Update form filled out when I was at the Doctor last week!" are just a few of the many SAS related comments I've made in the past few days.

It seems that crunch time is starting to set in. I received my pre-departure field trip booklet the other day and that in itself is completely and utterly overwhelming. I know that I want to do a majority of my trips independently, but there are a couple that I am most definitely doing through SAS. Because I am an outdoor adventure junky, the Lencois trip in Brazil peaked my interest. Who wouldn't want to spend 4 days in the Diamond Highlands of Brazil, hiking and sweating, and getting dirty...and then sliding down a natural rock face that has formed into a slide into crystal clear rivers? Okay, maybe there's quite a few people who would prefer not to sweat and get dirty, but hell, I live for that kind of stuff.

As I flip through the pages in the field excursion packets, I wish that we had more time in all these places. Unfortunately that won't happen, but a girl can dream right? I have Brazil covered, and when in Namibia, I'm going to go completely Indy travel. The SAS trips look awesome, but there's none that peak my interest enough to plan way in advance for. I'll probably do sand boarding, a desert 4x4 overnight tour, and maybe kayaking on the bay. Other than that, I'll let the wind guide me. As for South Africa...that is a completely different story! Yes, I would love to take a 4 day safari in Kruger, BUT I don't feel like paying $1500 OR using up 4 out of 6 days in Cape Town. Therefore, I will (hopefully) be taking part in an overnight jeep and horseback safari that is 2 hours from CT at the Aquila Reserve. In addition to this, I want to bungee jump, climb Table Mountain, take a wine tour or two through the winelands, and maybe just get lost for a while and meander back to the ship.

I don't have too much of a plan for India or Malaysia right now, but I am most definitely doing the Phenm Phen and Angkor Wat trip to Cambodia from Viet Nam. This has to be taken through Sas, but it's less than a grand and I have a feeling it will be worth every penny spent. As for China, there are so many things to do and see but I think I will get to Xi'an and Shanghai. Japan will be done independently as well and I will probably buy a rail pass so I can travel around the country whenever and where ever my friends and I want to go. It's a shame we only get a day in Honolulu, but it's awesome that we'll be on American soil for Thanksgiving. Pig roast anyone? Costa Rica is going to be an awesome time too...even if we're there for a very short amount of time (2 days I believe).

Speaking of all these countries...I got my shots the other day. They weren't that bad really, but I got a Polio booster, Hep A, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever (2 in each arm) and then four hours later, I had blood taken at a second doctors appointment. I felt like a walking pincushion! I was slightly worried that getting all those shots would be dangerous, but my doctor reassured me that 4 shots at once was nothing compared to travellers who go into the heart of Africa for extended periods of time. 6 or 7 shots are typical for them! No thanks! Thankfully, I didn't have any nasty side effects. Just two sore arms for 48 hours. No biggy.

I'm almost done buying things that I need so all I have left to do is pack really. I'll probably pack all my clothes in one duffel and all my "stuff" in my other duffel. Space saver bags are going to be my best friends by the time I leave. I have about 8 of them ranging from small to large so I should be set. I've travelled overseas enough now to know what I really need and what I really don't need. Plus, it helps that I'll have access to buy toiletries and things like that so I don't have to load up on 3 and a half months worth of supplies while packing. That alone will save like 20 pounds in my luggage! Maybe I'll just pack snacks in place of unneeded items :) Well, I believe that's it for now. If I think of anything else exciting, I'll be sure to post!

-Amanda