Friday 23 November 2007

Time to go

I can't quite believe how quickly the last 3 months have passed since I made my decision to swap my very comfortable life in Plymouth for the poverty of India, Thailand and South America.
Not long now until I leave Heathrow to begin my journey of a lifetime and I'm unsure whether I feel more excited or terrified at what lies ahead.
After a month of goodbyes, listening to much advice from well travelled friends & family, I'm ready to go it alone.

On Monday, I will land in the extreme heat of Mumbai and Plymouth will be a distant memory.
Working with the children in Goa is sure to pull at my heart strings and I know it will be difficult to leave them behind.

But on to Thailand where I'll experience Thai cooking lessons and will hopefully become an expert in Thai massage.
Perhaps one of the highlights will be living alongside the Thai monks to learn about the teachings of Buddhism, meditation and their way of life.
Australia and New Zealand will allow me to catch up with family and friends before moving onto
possibly the most challenging part of the trip ­ South America - when I totally immerse myself into
the Bolivian way of life, living with a local family and improving my incredibly poor Spanish.

A month of intense language and culture sessions will help me integrate with the locals and move onto my next project, working in an orphanage where volunteers are desperately needed. I have promised my mother I will not smuggle any orphans through customs but leaving the children will again be incredibly difficult.
Trekking through Peru will cover much of the Inca Empire, including the breathtaking scenery of the mighty snow capped Andes Mountains, the Incas and their ancient empire and the driest desert in the world.

By the time I reach Ecuador I will be ready for the next challenge on a marine conservation and investigation project working with research scientists. I could be involved in anything from identification of humpback whales to a shark fishery monitoring programme, depending on what is required when I arrive.
My adventure will end on the Galapagos Islands working to aid the Darwin Foundation and Galapagos Park Services with their breeding and research programmes to safeguard the future of
the Giant Tortoise.
Who knows what opportunities will present themselves during the year? How I will ever return to normal life? Questions I look foward to answering.