The Bon Voyage Party on Saturday was real fun! I kept drifting in and out from here to reality. And going back into shock again. More or less, I’ve been in a constant state of shock. It was awesome visiting with everyone. Allison totally hung out with us from Thursday evening at Shakespeare Pub.

I picked up dear sweet Renee (who got offended when I gave her the Forget-Me-Nots) at the airport, from Tahoe, on Thursday at 7:33 P.M. That was my initial shock transition, going to the airport to pick Renee up, knowing that I, your dear sweet beloved will be next to travel. We headed to Shakespeare Pub to celebrate my going away.

We had Guinness with Champagne (of course) and fish and chips. Jayme (my customer from Nordstrom) met us there. Darlene came later and brought me (astonishingly she knew where I was venturing off to) a map of the Czech and Slovak Republics. (Which I still have to this day! Thank you, Darlene.)

All of us travellers talked and chilled. We looked at Allison’s Thailand photo album. She had an interview the following day with J & O Travel, which landed her a job! In fact, her new travel job started with a meeting on Saturday before the Bon Voyage Party.

Getting Ready to Leave

Friday, all day, Renee helped me run a million errands. Including, but not limited to, travellers checks and international drivers license at AAA; bank and credit union; an hour at Longs trying to get a prescription filled and covered; the doctor’s office; and finally Trader Joe’s. And a beer while we waited for her mom. I’ll miss Trader Joe’s too. But it will save me money. I’ll miss buying groceries and preparing meals for me and boyfriend. I’ll miss a lot of things. But I’m positively sure to have a lot of great experiences and good times.

It’s been an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes I’ve felt sad, but mostly adventurous and excited. However, I feel it’s definitely the right thing for me to do at this point. This very point in my life is what these moments were meant for. No, it’s not a mid-life crisis. It’s a ‘life-inventory,’ according to Gale Sheehy in Passages. Not just Passages, but the New Passages mom’s been reading. That’s where I’m at, and it’s my ‘Turbulent Thirties.’

This is an excerpt from my Kosice Journal, documenting my exodus from a (relatively happy) bustling life in beautiful San Diego, to (voluntarily) take a post teaching English in the newly independent eastern capital of Slovakia  during a very cold winter 1999.