minor victories

Sometimes I surprise myself and today was one of those days to celebrate the minor victories in life: my packed suitcase weighed 49.6 pounds. I'd say after traveling back and forth to Madison I have learned a few tricks about packing- a now seasoned traveler and a far cry from my early college days. Battered and torn from finals week, I headed to the airport at the end of freshman year more than ready for summer vacation, leisure and rest. I threw my suitcase on the scale when I checked in at the airport and saw that it weighed 57 pounds. Refusing to pay 100 dollars for 7 lousy extra pounds, I ravaged through my bag, searching for the heaviest items. I attached shoes by their laces to my backpack (which was already bursting at the seams) and began to throw on god knows how many sweatshirts, piling layers upon layers of clothing. Uncomfortable, stifling hot and weighed down by the shoes hanging from my backpack, I am pretty sure I looked like a homeless man walking through the Milwaukee airport. I saved 100 bucks, but learned an important lesson: always weigh your bag before arriving at the airport.
Another minor victory worth celebrating is that I finished packing my bags LAST night, a whole 48 hours in advance. Unbelievable. Its amazing how productive you can be when trying to avoid writing the proposal which your senior thesis hinges on. Its starting to look like androgen receptors, rats and ultrasonic vocalizations will be my “in-flight” entertainment.
Speaking of flights I leave at 8:15 on Wed morning and arrive in London after a 6 hour flight then leave London at 9:50 and arrive in Cape Town 12 (!) hours later at 11:30 am. I'm disappointed that Midwest doesn't fly to Africa. This means one thing: no baked on-board chocolate chip cookies. And I sure hope I like the person who sits next to me. Knowing my luck it will be some overweight man who can barely fit into the seat and snores. OR better yet a screaming baby.

This marks the end of my pre-departure babble.


Let the adventure begin!!!