3 Days to go

I doubt that I've ever planned any trip to the degree I've planned my upcoming trip to Africa. And I'm a definite planner so that says a lot - but to be fair, it is the longest trip I've taken, and the furthest as well so I suppose it's to be expected. But with only three days to go I'm anxious to get underway. Countless immunizations, serious shopping at REI, lists and notes galore and of course reassuring loved ones that I will be careful and no, thankfully I should not be close to the areas suffering from the terrible ebola outbreak.

A significant motivation for my trip was to really experience life in a different way and to prioritize my impact on the world around me. My mother had always encouraged me to volunteer and I always had the best of intentions - as soon as I get settled into this new job, city, etc. It seemed that volunteering was always on my list, just not at the top of my list with my various moves; after I was completely settled into my new place and my social life was full I would try to find a way to fit it in. And I did find ways, a beach clean up here, a little tutoring there and so on and so forth. But I implicitly knew that there was more I could do, more that I should do.

When I moved to Portland I switched the order of my to-do lists and put volunteering at the top; I found a non-profit called Breast Friends that provides support to women undergoing breast, ovarian and other womens' cancers. I spent a few days each week at Breast Friends working on a project to improve their digital presence and met some truly amazing women. I was inspired by their commitment, passion and empathy and I look forward to staying active with Breast Friends when I return from abroad.

So when I decided to travel to somewhere far, far away I knew volunteering had to be the main goal; I had the chance to take a large chunk of time for this trip and may not have this much time to travel again until I retire (ack!) so I had to make it count. Of course the anthropologist in me also wanted to go somewhere really different, I wanted to get a little uncomfortable, physically and mentally. There is a part of me that will probably always regret not pursuing anthropology beyond a bachelors and every now and then something really reminds me of this - most recently it was a focus group back in D.C. and looking at Dr. Bob's pictures from his fieldwork in New Guinea. So yeah, significant culture difference was a priority and as much as I love southeast asian food and culture, Russ and I had visited Vietnam and Thailand in 2013 so I was inclined to go somewhere different. Africa it was!

It's not that I need to go to Africa to appreciate what I have - I recognize that I'm more fortunate than many Americans, let alone compare my circumstances to people on a continent that has faced centuries of discord. But I found those nagging thoughts of consumer culture eating away at me; it wasn't just (ahem) marketers doing their/our job - it was our culture as a whole. I was reading an article in Wired about how some people find it more efficient to use different devices for different tasks to increase productivity (i.e. "I only look at Facebook on my iPad so I don't get distracted while I'm working on my laptop"). Of course I got it, but I was also slightly horrified at how casually obvious this idea seemed - that it should be normal for everyone to have a tablet and a laptop. Now if you're reading this, or you read Wired, yes, you probably have at least both and I'm not judging anyone for it - I do too. But I recognized that maybe I was taking things for granted more than I wanted to admit. I'm not about to start giving away all of my worldly possessions, but I can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind.

I felt a big difference when I left the east coast - even during the trip across the U.S. and certainly since I arrived in Portland. I don't even know if I'll have internet access on the tiny island off the coast of Madagascar that I'll be living on for three weeks  - I somehow doubt it. I hope I'll find access to stay in touch and let people know I arrived safely and check in periodically and blog of course, duh. But I'm seriously excited to get away from Facebook and Twitter and Buzzfeed and email spam. I won't pretend that I didn't pack some very first world OTC medicinals because once you've had an awful head cold on vacation you realize there are some things worth being prepared for. But Pepto and Immodium aside, I can honestly say that I've never been more excited to be uncomfortable in my life.