i must be dreaming.

as i have said in practically every blog thus far, i have a lot to do.

i am so ready to be on my way, and i have quite the to-do list to tackle before i board my plane to nassau in just 14 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes.

it feels like i have been in prep mode for months now, and the waiting is driving me nuts. however, at the same time, i feel like i am being rushed. its hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is truly happening. it was a long fall semester, and i am relieved its over. so much happened. being able to focus on the trip has made all the difference in the world. but here i am today and i have visas in my passport, suitcases next to my bed, lists on scraps of paper stuffed in my purse, a list of emails and addresses a mile long, new clothes, and a new video camera ready to record the whole thing. i have all these things that make the trip real, but i can't help but feel the need to pinch myself. i guess it is supposed to be hard to be mentally prepared for a chance like this. this trip has been a dream of mine since i first discovered semester at sea on the unh study abroad website. never would i have believed that i would be here. two weeks from departure day.

this post sounds similar to some of my old ones, but i cannot help but to return to this feeling of overwhelming gratitude. i get sentimental. i'm overly emotional. i can't help it, that's me. i don't have the right words to tell anyone how i'm feeling when they ask me about this trip. there will never be enough words to truly thank all of my family and friends for supporting me.

i am leaving behind all i know for a ship filled with strangers. when i come home in may, the strangers will have turned to family, just as those strangers at unh have become. it has been important to remind myself that this is not the only adventure of my lifetime, more another chapter; though an amazing one at that. so much of my life has already been shaped by semester at sea, and i know that will only increase as my 100 days go by.