Preparations

I will be trying to publish these post on the original dates from the trip. Since I started my trip journal in January during the planning stage but didn't leave until May there will be some more time until the next post. But come May they'll be fast and furious.

Most of my musings from that time have little or nothing to do with the actual logistics. What I do remember preparing for though consisted of emailing and calling friends and family with potential dates that I would like to stay with them. I did make a small note in the journal about having issues with some family members from my mothers side which turned out prophetic since the only person from that side I ended up even seeing was my Aunt. Anyway, it was all rather complicated and I had to change my plans with people fairly often as dates for my stay up and down the schedule changed convenience for people.

For my birthday the preceding fall I received a digital camera, and then for Christmas I got an IBM ThinkPad. That spring I purchased the last piece of hardware I felt I really needed: a BlauPunkt stereo/CD player for my car. I also had to gather dial-up numbers along the route for my ISP, update my car insurance, gather emergency gear and camping equipment for the road, and begin packing up everything from the house I was living to be moved by the day I left on my trip.

Finally, the last piece of planning was almost by accident. Sometime in the fall my dad heard of a new new product for treating psoriasis. I've had it all my life. At some point in high school I found a really effective treatment but during my freshman year it was temporarily outlawed by the FDA. During the next couple years the psoriasis spread almost unchecked across my body and in a large part it severely affected my social life. After hearing about this new product from my dad I jumped on it and began treatment immediately. It wasn't quite as effective as the old product but it did the trick because by the time I was ready to leave the psoriasis was almost totally gone. It was a huge improvement from just a couple months earlier and it gave me a major boost in my confidence which was going to serve me well.

It was a good thing I had started the initial planning in early 2000, otherwise I would not have completed it all in time. I was young, unmotivated, and drunk most of the time.