"For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

If that mantra is true, I think I've earned about three and a half hours. Considering I'm planning on going for about 2/3 months, the maths isn't adding up somewhere. That's not to say that I'm under-prepared though, I think I've sufficiently prepared to ensure that I'll have a good time. I'm not going a tour, and so not entirely sure where I'm going to go in the trip. If I wanted to go on a normal holiday I would have gone to Butlins right?

I've found that the best things happen when you're flexible. Take our trip to Uganda for example, the best bit for me was a stay at an idyllic island in the middle of the Nile called the Hairy Lemon - the decision to go was largely impromptu and based on advice from a local. So, that leads me to ask, why scour over a Lonely Planet guide in the UK, when you can decide when you're in the country? I'm not planning on looking like this guy.

I'll be leaving on Tuesday 7th June, with a stopover in Miami. I don't speak Spanish, and I don't know what I'll be doing, but if I wanted it easy, I know that Slough is particularly delightful at this time of year.What I do know is that I need to make my way to a farm where I'll be spending my first two weeks in Costa Rica, which is near a town called San Isidro. I'm grateful for the fact that my Dad works for BA, which has meant that the tickets are open and gives me greater flexibility of when I want to come back - thanks!

One of the things the Big D has taught me is to talk about my aims and objectives before entering into a project; well, I think I might have to get a 'Below expected level' in Leadership Effectiveness this time, because I don't really know what I want to achieve or what I want to get out of this. It may sound really cheesy, but I guess I want to see wag1 (what's going on) in other countries and how I react in different situations.

The packing is now done - I thought it might be useful for me to list everything I've packed out (and so I can also compare with what I come back with). Here the list:

1x Rucksack
1x Daysack
1x Sleeping Bag


1x Money Belt
1x Caxton FX Card (thanks Chumpneet)
1x Passport

1x Kindle + charger
1x iPod + headphones + charger
1x Camera + Charger
1x Phone + Charger
1x Solar Charger
1x Watch

Toiletries

4x T-Shirts
Underwear
4x Socks
2x Shirts
2x Shorts
2x Trousers

2x Tesco Value Milk Chocolate
1x Terrys chocolate orange

3x Water Bottles

1x Hiking Boots
1x Sandals
1x Shoes

1x Duct Tape (Always useful)
1x String
2x Clothes Pegs
1x Compass
1x Cuticle

I will be flying out tomorrow, I don't know when my next post will be, but I'll be writing it all down and update it when I can.

Feel free to leave a comment so I know who's actually reading this thing!