Let the packing begin!

It has finally hit me that I need to begin packing for this trip.  I leave in less than a week, which still hasnt set  in..I feel like I will just keep waking up, eating breakfast and going to work.  Its strange to think that I will finally be leaving after months and months of preparing for this trip.
I have bought every travel size bottle Target sells, $40 worth to be exact. haha My plan is to pack all of my necessities into my carry on, like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant  face wash, soap, and three changes of clothes in case my check luggage gets lost.  So the travel size bottles are for my shampoo, conditioner, face wash, etc.  Hopefully this will cover me if my luggage is lost!  (Im crossing my fingers that everything will go smoothly.)  I also bought tons of "just in case stuff"..like Advil, "in case" I get a headache while traveling, new head phones, " in case" mine break while traveling, and even a new debit card, in case in case mine is stolen (HOPEFULLY NOT) or I loose it.  Im doing my absolute best to prepare for the unexpected, because having bad things happen while traveling is the worst!

I have also had the luxury of going online and selecting what I want to eat on my international flight, and where I want to sit on all my flights.  I had never gotten to do this before, so that was kind of fun!  I have window seat on all of the trips to South Africa and then, on the way back, my roommate, Heidi, has the window seat.  I have never been on a flight longer than 4 hours, and this one will be at least 21, so I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet...there will probably be more to come on that! haha

Travel Plans from the U.S to S.A

As of now, it looks like we will be leaving Minneapolis at 12:30 on Tuesday, January 29th, arriving in Washington D.C at around 2:30, getting on our international flight, that is through South African airlines, and then take the 21 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.  We will stay the night in Johannesburg, and then drive to Port Elizabeth, 10 hours away.  For those of you who are not familiar with the geography of South Africa, Johannesburg is kind of in the East-Central part of South Africa, and Port Elizabeth is 10 hours south of it on the very southern coast of S. Africa.  Once in Port Elizabeth, we have already been signed up for a week long orientation, where we will be doing fun stuff like zip-lining, hiking, and getting to know other international students.  Im pretty excited for this, because not only will I get to meet other international students, but I will also, finally be in South Africa!

Emotions before leaving...

A lot of my friends that have studied abroad have told me that they felt like they didnt want to go, as soon as it was time to go, or that they were extremely home sick the entire time they were overseas.  I guess I expect to be homesick, Im homesick even when I am away in St. Cloud only and hour and a half from home, but I think the fact that I already expect it helps.  I plan to bring little things that remind me of home, to help out if  Im feeling homesick.  What surprises me most, is that thus far anyway, Im not afraid, worried, scared, or sad when I think of leaving.  Of course I will miss my family and friends, that is a given, but Im not scared to be in a different place, or so far from home, to me, that is what is so exciting, seeing something new and unexpected.  I know I will probably have an emotional time saying goodbye at the airport, and as Im flying away, but I am mostly excited to finally be there!  The biggest thing I DONT want to do is spend my entire time overseas being sad, homesick and depressed.  I want to live it up and not think too much about what is going on back home, other wise, this experience wont be what I want it to.  Overall,  I just have this overwhelming feeling that everything is just going to be alright, and Im 100% fine with that!