Hello Young Adventurers!

Today is my last day in the United States, which means my final pack, enjoying my favorite American foods, and quality time with my dogs.  Right now I am feeling a crazy combination of excitement, fear, anticipation, hope, and nerves.  It  honestly just does not feel real yet.  I’m sure when my plane takes off in the morning, it will hit me like a ton of bricks.  Big changes are scary, but they also bring a lot of amazing new things.  I know this will be worth every second.

Last night I got dinner with my family, and we had a small going-away party with my favorite coconut cake!

This morning I got to work out and take my old Body Pump class that I used to teach at the gym!  It was nice to get one more work out in before leaving, and it definitely helped me calm my nerves.  The rest of my day has been laundry and packing my new home for the next year.  Fortunately, Shrek was on TV and kept me entertained.

For the adult adventurers out there who want to know more about my gear, here’s what I have outside of clothes and toiletries:

• Osprey 46L Porter backpack.
• Osprey Daylite Plus daypack.
• Osprey packing cubes.
• My tamagotchi (His name is Timmy)
• Macbook Pro
• Iphone and a regular phone for SIMcards.
• Beats Headphones
• Stink the Unicorn (a travel companion from one of my amazing students)
• Salem the BeatBuddy Border Collie
• Carabiners
• Anti-microbial towels
• Malaria tablets
• Packing Cubes of every shape and size

…I probably packed way too much.  This is going to be a learning experience as I learn to live with less.  I have a feeling I’m going to have to have a purge once I get to Europe.  Here’s a glimpse at what this all looked like when it all started:

Fortunately, I had some help from Roxy 😅

Here is everything nice and neat in the packing cubes.  Y’all, these things are GAMECHANGERS if you ever go on a trip.  They made it so easy to find a home for everything, and will be the one thing that could possibly keep me organized.  I’m typically a pretty chaotic packer, and this almost makes me look like I know how to be organized. I normally just monster-truck my things into a bag and hope it all makes it there with me in the end.

Here is everything all packed and ready to go!  My big bag, and my daybag with my first travel patch thanks to Mrs. Garrison at Archdale Elementary!  Thank you, friend- it looks perfect there!

I head out first thing in the morning!  If you’d like me to break down and show more about what I packed and how, let me know and I can write it all up.  I’ll make another post once I land in Amsterdam with more information once I can take some time to stop and write.  See you guys overseas!

Have Courage, & Be Kind,

Mr. Weavil