We arrived in Lima late last night . Wayruros Backpackers hostel is sort of a casual affair, half outdoors, and graffit from previous guests on the walls - a majority of whom seem to be from Israel. Our room upstairs has about 4 bunks, 8 beds. The only occupants when we arrived last night were two men..one of which looked like he hadn´t planned on staying at the hostel, had just drunk too much and wrapped himself in towels. Also his mattress was covered in plastic so we assumed there might be a chance he´d stayed at Wayruros before and wet the bed. We were both too exhausted to mind much and slept really soundly albeit with our backpacks an arms reach away.

This morning, things were a lot brighter. We had delicious coffee and tea and fluffy rolls with jam and butter that the hostel provides, got some good advice from Dayro, the hostel do-everything teenager who´s English rocks and we´re discovering Lima by foot.

Too, phone is working now thanks to my wonderful father and a very calm and collected person at Verizon.

Goodbye Sweet South!

It's past midnight. We leave tomorrow at ten - wake up is at 7. Krista is sitting at the computer making our INCREDIBLE contact sheet, weeding out contacts we deem necessary as it gets later into the night! I've updated and "neatened" our itinerary (it's still full of gaps and pretty ugly!), but we're going... Tomorrow we fly to Lima and stay there for a couple of nights before our volunteering in Cuzco begins. We're staying at Wayruros Backpackers Hostel at the beach - the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima- and they've promised a man with a sign at the airport. Oh man with a sign, see you soon in the land of summer.

Farewell/Fundraising Party!

THANK YOU!

To everyone who came out to see us off,
asked about our plans,
bought a raffle ticket,
drank "peru punch",
contributed,
and left us crazy tips!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
You guys are amazing,
and I hope you had as much fun as we did!
We raised over $700!

Fun-draising!

The flights are booked. The vaccines have been injected. The visas are being issued. We have contacted far-flung friends of far-flung friends seeking couches and advice and have been devouring guides for South America, Africa, India, and New Zealand.

And we have also committed to two of the three volunteering stints we have planned, in Peru and Kenya. (Still trying to decide on a program for India, suggestions welcome!)

We'll be volunteering with the Global Volunteer Network, which pairs you with local a NGO (non-governmental organization) in the area who is more in tune with the needs of the community. In March we'll be working with a local organization called Maximo Nivel for two weeks in Cusco, Peru. Cate will be teaching English to locals, and I will be helping in a health clinic for low-income families.

In Kenya, we'll be working with Volunteer International Community Development Africa for two weeks in May. Cate will be assisting in an orphanage, teaching, encouraging and caring for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. I will be volunteering with an HIV/AIDS program helping with both prevention and treatment of patients.

And so, we've also begun in earnest...fundraising for these programs. Volunteering programs charge fees for food and lodging during your stay, administration, and a donation to the community. We've done a lot of research and found that GVN offered some of the more affordable options while still allowing for a meaningful, effective volunteering placement.

And now I have a confession. Fundraising makes me squeamish. That's right, I'm signing up for 4 years of blood and guts in med school, but fundraising makes me squeamish. My American, hyper-individualistic self-reliance dictates that not having saved enough money or worked out some sort of scheme to pay for this myself constitutes a failure. However, after some of the experiences I had last fall and what I hope to experience on this trip, I'm trying to re-think the value of doing everything on my own. As Bill McKibbon writes in his book Deep Economy (highly recommended), "We don't need each other for anything anymore. If we have enough money, we're insulated from depending on those around us-which is at least as much a loss as a gain."

The italics are mine. I'm not promoting a dependence on others but suggesting that maybe a little more interdependence, a little more connectedness might be okay. You see, Cate and I could go on this trip all on our own means and have, as I'm sure we will, amazing, life-changing experiences and return home with the dust kicked up in our souls and a new, fresh brand of inspiration to get us going on our lives. And that will be great, for us. But how much more could be gained if we can parcel out the ownership of this trip? If a community of people is invested in our trip and we can return that investment by sharing what we see and learn? We will get to share the connections we make in the global community and also illuminate how some of our choices in the USA affect other people around the world. And hopefully that dust-kicking, soul-stirring inspiration will be transmitted to many instead of just two.

And so, in this post-modern world, we're reaching out to our community, which is no longer necessarily defined by a geographical location, but are all those people who have come (or are yet to come!) into our lives and have helped shape and support us. If you're interested in "investing" in our volunteering experiences, you can do so here. And if you have children, check out our Fairy Trail Adventures postcard subscription service from Nie, the travel fairy. We hope to repay you in sharing in something larger than us or this trip and in passing on some knowledge, awareness and inspiration.

OUR ITINERARY!!! - It's very official!

Day Date       Flight     Status Class       City        Time  Other  Cabin
--- ----- --------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ------ -------
Tue 24FEB CONTINENTAL AIR   OK     G   LV ATLANTA       1020A          **
          LINES 1628                  AR HOUSTON-INT   1145A        

Tue 24FEB CONTINENTAL AIR   OK     G   LV HOUSTON-INT   355P           **
          LINES 590                   AR LIMA          1129P        

Mon 06APR AIR FRANCE        OK     X   LV S PAULO-GUAR  425P           **
         455                             ULHOS                      
                                      AR PARIS-DEGAUL  830A#      
                                         LE           

Tue 07APR AIR FRANCE        OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL  1255P          **
         2496                            LE                         
                                      AR CASABLANCA    200P       

Sun 12APR AIR FRANCE        OK     X   LV CASABLANCA    940A           **
         2197                         AR PARIS-DEGAUL  240P         
                                         LE           

Sun 12APR AIR FRANCE        OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL  325P           **
         2040                            LE                         
                                      AR AMSTERDAM     440P       

Mon 13APR KLM ROYAL DUTCH   OK     W   LV AMSTERDAM     955A     M     **
          AIRLINES 597                AR CAPE TOWN     915P         

Tue 02JUN KENYA AIRWAYS     OK     W   LV NAIROBI       955P           **
         112                          AR PARIS-DEGAUL  545A#        
                                         LE           

Wed 03JUN AIR FRANCE        OK     X   LV PARIS-DEGAUL  1050A          **
         134                             LE                         
                                      AR MUMBAI/BOMBAY 1125P      

Thu 25JUN KOREAN AIR        OK     U   LV MUMBAI/BOMBAY 330A           **
         656                          AR INCHEON KORE  230P         
                                         A SO         

Thu 25JUN KOREAN AIR        OK     U   LV INCHEON KORE  710P           **
         121                             A SO                       
                                      AR SYDNEY        610A#      

Thu 16JUL KOREAN AIR        OK     U   LV AUCKLAND      1115A          **
         130                          AR INCHEON KORE  810P         
                                         A SO         

Fri 17JUL KOREAN AIR        OK     U   LV INCHEON KORE  1000A          **
         35                              A SO                       
                                      AR ATLANTA       1030A      

Just want to say a quick, but very very big thank you to the people that donated miles to me!! Thanks to Gareth John (a long lost cousin), Ben Walker (a fellow and much more intrepid traveler!), The Washburn's, and the Hurteau's and their generous donations the trip has become a possibility for me! :) :) Thank you again. Please watch this space as our plans finally begin to come together. Just a few more conversations with very patient Delta employees and we should have an itinerary to send out.....

I must be traveling on now...

It should not be denied. . . that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations, with absolute freedom.

--Wallace Stegner

I won't deny that, for me, much of the allure of traveling lies solely in the act of traveling. Of moving with no fixed plans, of shifting off the map, the grind, the formula and waking up each day solely to live and explore and truly experience. That life becomes about the roses instead of just hoping you stop briefly enough to smell them.

And that's always been enough to make me get up and go, I didn't need any other reason. So I distinctly remember my friend Michael asking me a couple years ago why I wanted to go traveling.

Because I love traveling.



Right, but don't you want to like get something specific out of it? Like something you want to learn?

Huh, I never really thought about it.

Well, now I can say I understand what he meant. While traveling for the love of traveling is a reason, and I don't think you ever have to apologize for living how you want, this trip has more of a purpose than ones in the past.

I'm applying to medical school for next fall. So besides the fact that this is probably the last time I can do this sort of thing before I sign my life away, I want to learn what I can about healthcare around the world. I want to get some first-hand exposure. I want to see how other countries approach healthcare. I want to see the challenges facing third world countries so I can better tailor my education. And I want to see the faces of patients so that when I'm buried in the library studying immunology at 2am, I'll remember why I'm doing it.

So that's why I want to go on this trip. Well, that and the chance to get dreadlocks.