The Countdown Begins - 3 days

As this week has unfolded I've started to see how this trip is, in many ways, like moving (if only because I suddenly have to fit my blessedly small wardrobe into the trunk of a car). I'm a big ball of emotions, a lot of "OHMYGODI'MSOEXCITEDFORTHISTRIP!" mixed with "I can't believe I'm crazy enough to leave such a cool town and all of my awesome friends, even if it's only for 4 months, don't start crying now because you're in the grocery store and that's embarrassing", and a good dash of "Trip? I have waaay to much to get done, I'll pack tomorrow..."

When I was getting ready to go to Burkina I think I had unpacked and repacked all of my suitcases several times at this point. Granted, moving for 2 years with only 2 suitcases to a country an ocean away from the nearest Target encourages significantly more thoughtful packing! My strategy thus far has been to make a list on my phone that I add to whenever I think of something else that might be handy.

But that's not to say that there haven't been any preparations going on! Here's what I've been up to the past week:

 Breakfast with my wonderful friend Maddy (if we look confused it's because it's hard to take a self-photo on a phone, this was one of about 20 attempts on our two phones) ;)

 Played with Katie, an adorable cat that I'm pet sitting for

Had breakfast for lunch with my parents at The Crying Onion, home of the delicious GIANT blueberry pancakes

Shopped for roses at the nursery with Barbra and learned more about beautiful desert plants

Said hi to my favorite Siamese kitties - this is Lucy demanding some attention by flopping on my foot

Updated the GPS (a generous gift from Kim and John - thank you!) - the Zinfandel was absolutely a necessary part of the process

Before I left village to undertake the bumpy, dusty, only slightly hazardous trip to Ouaga (the capital of Burkina Faso), it kind of became a tradition to paint my toes. This turquoise blue quickly established itself as the favorite "traveling toes" color. I guess this means I'm heading back out on the road again!

I have a new friend here in Tucson who went on a road trip and took photos of "Bobble-head Jesus" at iconic locations along the way. She generously offered to lend him to me for my own adventure, but I think I have a couple of ideas and would love to have your opinion. Should I take the protective Norwegian gnome (he's pretty cute, essentially a knit hat with a nose, beard, and feet)? The solar-powered hand waving Queen Elizabeth? The MHC crew-inspired beanie baby moose? Or my childhood stuffed polar bear who once was white and fluffy but is now grey and floppy with love and travel?

Travel Updates!

As the time to leave draws nearer, I'm finally sending out those promised emails and starting to make clearer plans of where I'm going and who I'm seeing. So for those of you using this as your information source, here's the newest (subject to change) itinerary

September - Sante Fe (2-4); Denver (4-24); Ft. Collins (24-28); Salt Lake City (28-30); Seattle (30-October 3)

October - Portland (3-8); travel day 8-9 (anyone live in northern CA?); San Francisco (9-15); Las Vegas (15-16); Southern Utah somewhere (16-17); Denver (17-18); Marysville (18-20); Springfield (20-23); St. Louis (23-25); Chicago area (25-27); South Bend (27-28); Battle Creek and Detroit (28-30)

November - Cleveland (30-1); Columbus (1-3); Detroit (3-4); Syracuse (4-6); Albany (6-9); South Hadley area (9-13); Boston (13-18); NYC (18-22); Montclair (22-24); Philadelphia (24-27); Virginia Beach (28-29); DC area (29-December 5)

December - Atlanta (5-7); Orlando (7-15) Palm Harbor (15-17); Florida Keys (17-18); Miami and Pompano Beach (18-21); New Orleans (21-28); Auburn (28-30); Asheville and Fayetteville (30-4);

January - Virginia Beach (4-6); Nashville (6-8); Atlanta (8-9) New Orleans (9-10); Austin (10-12); Home!

First Post!

As I've written before in other places, first blog posts are inevitably a little odd. You're jumping into a story that's in progress, not necessarily knowing the back story that lead to this moment. But here we go!

The 30 second bio - my name is Jess, I'm 25, I grew up in a suburb outside of Denver, graduated from college in western Massachusetts in 2010, and gave in to my craziest dream and joined the Peace Corps as a Health Volunteer in the West African sub-Saharan country of Burkina Faso (check out my as-of-yet-unfinished blog over at jessgoestoburkinafaso.blogspot.com). It was the most challenging two years of my life, kind of like a growth-inspiring pressure cooker that has changed me in so many ways that I'm still figuring out. In December 2012 I moved back to Tucson where my parents generously allowed me to be one of the many college grads who moves back in after leaving the nest; for the past 8 months I've been taking classes at community college, making amazing friends in a new town, and falling in love with a new desert (with the benefit of air conditioning and a car this time). But now I'm (almost) finished with classes and getting ready to submit my first graduate school application (to UC- San Francisco to their alternate entry Women's Health/Midwife Nurse Practitioner program).

In Peace Corps the end of your service is referred to as "COS" - close of service, and it's often a time when Volunteers take some time to travel the world on their way home to "America-land". My COS trip was fairly short due to starting pre-req classes for grad school applications, so instead of flying to Indonesia or biking across Europe, I'm taking a road trip: The Great American Road Trip! I'm sad to be leaving my new family in Tucson, but I'm super excited to reconnect with friends and family across the country.

Currently I'm still a bit in the "oh my god I'm studying for finals and the GRE and I actually need to plan this trip, don't I?" stage, but the general itinerary of my trip is:
September - leaving Tucson September 2, going to Sante Fe (2-4), Denver (4-25), Ft. Collins (25-29), Salt Lake City (29-1)

October - Seattle (1-6), Portland (6-10), San Francisco (10-15), Las Vegas (15-16), Tucson (16-17), Albuquerque (NM) (17-18) Limon (CO) (18-19), Marysville (KS) (19-20), Springfield (MO) (20-22), St. Louis (MO) (22-25), Evanston (IL) (25-28), Battle Creek and Detroit (MI) (28-30) Columbus (OH) (30-1)

November - Syracuse (NY) (1-4), Albany (NY) (4-10), South Hadley (MA) (10-14), Boston (14-19), Manchester (CT) (19-20), NYC/NJ (20-25), Morristown (NJ) (25-26), Washington DC (26-30), Fairfax (VA) (30-2)

December - Virginia Beach (2-5), Asheville (NC) (5-9), Auburn (AL) (9-12), Orlando (12-17), Pompano Beach (FL) (17-19), Palm Harbor (FL) (19-23), New Orleans (23-29)

January - Austin (TX), home to Tucson

Whew! Now should you be somewhere on that general loop, you should tell me and I'll come visit you! Or if you aren't, I make side trips :) Things at the moment are fairly flexible in terms of dates and route (in September and after Christmas in particular), the only definite dates are underlined. I'd love to find someone to stay a night with between Salt Lake and Seattle (anyone in Idaho and/or eastern Washington?), between Tampa and New Orleans (around Tallahassee/Panama City, FL or Mobile, AL?), and a few more stops across Texas would be well appreciated. :D

In the meantime, I really ought to be studying for a Spanish quiz, but keep an eye out for more updates as I get closer to setting out into the great unknown, accompanied by Oliver, my trusty silver Ford Focus hatchback!