In exactly one week I will be in the air towards Lima via Houston. My preparations are nearly complete, tonight I head to REI to pick up a SPOT satellite messenger and tomorrow I will head back to AAA and get a new International Driver's Permit with the proper Category A stamp that they missed on the last one. Work stuff has been completely transitioned and I'm confident they'll hardly notice I'm missing.
I've made some loose plans for the beginning of my route from Huancayo, expecting to include one of the world's highest roads and well as most likely the road of death. Research has indicated that the first few days will be by far the hardest, slowest, and most dangerous as well as the most interesting - this is actually pretty great. Making this trip in the other direction would suck, but this way I get the insane stuff out of the way while I still have energy then get to relax and enjoy the second week at cruising speeds. The image here gives you an idea of the scale of the trip, though it doesn't necessarily show the route I'll be taking (I want to hit that white spot SW of Sucre, it's a huge salt flat).
So now I have seven days to finish packing and organizing and to hang out with my buds and have a good time just in case. I'm not worried but nobody really knows how all this is going to play out!
Fundraising, on the other hand, is totally kicking my ass. Apparently it's very easy to get people to say they are stoked and will donate for sure... not so easy to actually get them to follow through. ;) (word to Jeremy and Jau, you guys rule!) On the other hand, I came into this half planning to pay the entire charity donation out of my own pocket because I didn't want to be "that guy raising funds" that everyone is sick of hearing from... so I figure one e-mail blast to my friends and coworkers and maybe a facebook update or two and we'll call it a day before the trip.
After the trip, if all goes well, maybe I'll bring back extra trinkets and have a raffle or something. Even if I have to pay most of it myself the children get their surgery and that's what's most important right?
Wicked.
I've made some loose plans for the beginning of my route from Huancayo, expecting to include one of the world's highest roads and well as most likely the road of death. Research has indicated that the first few days will be by far the hardest, slowest, and most dangerous as well as the most interesting - this is actually pretty great. Making this trip in the other direction would suck, but this way I get the insane stuff out of the way while I still have energy then get to relax and enjoy the second week at cruising speeds. The image here gives you an idea of the scale of the trip, though it doesn't necessarily show the route I'll be taking (I want to hit that white spot SW of Sucre, it's a huge salt flat).
So now I have seven days to finish packing and organizing and to hang out with my buds and have a good time just in case. I'm not worried but nobody really knows how all this is going to play out!
Fundraising, on the other hand, is totally kicking my ass. Apparently it's very easy to get people to say they are stoked and will donate for sure... not so easy to actually get them to follow through. ;) (word to Jeremy and Jau, you guys rule!) On the other hand, I came into this half planning to pay the entire charity donation out of my own pocket because I didn't want to be "that guy raising funds" that everyone is sick of hearing from... so I figure one e-mail blast to my friends and coworkers and maybe a facebook update or two and we'll call it a day before the trip.
After the trip, if all goes well, maybe I'll bring back extra trinkets and have a raffle or something. Even if I have to pay most of it myself the children get their surgery and that's what's most important right?
Wicked.
Comments
It's also interesting how you only need them in less developed countries - the more westernized ones will just accept your US drivers' license by itself.