TRIP AROUND THE WORLD

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Trip Start Aug 16, 2005 Trip End May 02, 2006 Next
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  Still in the U.S, Kansas, United States
Wednesday, August 10, 2005

O.K guys, this is kind of a test run to see if I can figure this website out! And also to give you a brief summary of my travel plans, etc.
Today is August 10th. I leave in 6 days! My first night will be spent in Miami unfortunately, that was a must in order to save substantially on the airfare. I will leave Miami for Costa Rica on August 17 very, very early in the morning. As most of you know I spent about 9 years of my life in Costa Rica so this will be a nice easy beginning to what I anticipate will not be an "easy" trip. I will spend just under 2 weeks in Costa Rica and from there I will continue to Peru where I plan to be for about 3 weeks. My estimated list of countries to visit goes as follows: Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Malta, Egypt, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia (yes, again), New Zealand, and Tahiti. I will take just under 10 months to do all this. This is only a rough itinerary although some of those places are a definite must, Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand. Some may come off the list, and other countries may be added. That's part of the allure for me, the UNKNOWN.
Some of you may be thinking, "wow, how nice, wish I could take 10 months off from work and travel the world." Well, yes, it is nice but is has taken 3 years of diligent saving. I started saving for this trip while working at Truman Medical Center in January of 2003 and have put money away every month since.

Farewell Party 08/12

A couple of snags along the way, a foot surgery, a one-year reign as Miss Latina U.S 2004 (a little unexpected), lack of funds, etc. In other words, I planned on leaving about 6 months ago. But all things happen for a reason and now I feel as prepared as I'm ever gonna be, well financially at least. Hard to really feel "ready" mentally...ever. This seems to be one of those things you just say "I'm gonna do it" and you kind of go into auto pilot mode. And that is precisely what it has been for me. And now that I find myself less than a week away, I'm thinking..."What the *%#@* am I thinking?!" But there's no turning back folks! I'm too cheap to do that if for no other reason!
Truth be told, despite my complete and utter mess of emotions right now, I am excited beyond belief, scared (terrified really), anxious, eager, sad, happy, and so many more things I can't put into words. I hope that this will be a life changing experience (in a good way, of course) and I fully expect it to be. I can't possibly return the same Graciela that I am today and I look forward to that. I am one of those sappy fools who cries at the sight of beautiful things and whose heart beats noticeably faster when I am gazing upon one of the many incredibly beautiful things God has put on this earth. I have specifically selected places that I believe will inspire me in many ways and I have consciously picked developing nations almost entirely rather than more developed countries such as in Western Europe and such. Of course, I'm sure I will have those stamps on my passport sometime in the future as well!
I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me, helped me in so many ways to make this dream a reality, and who has stood by me despite their understandable reservations about this Journey, especially my parents. I know they will struggle to stay sane while I am gone and I will do my best to help them do just that by keeping this little travel log active on a frequent basis.
I love you all and WISH ME LUCK!

Graciela
Chela
G-Dog
Gabriella

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Farewell Party 08/2005	Goodbye Party	Me in August of 2005	Party
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