And So It Begins

It wasn’t too long ago that The Global Scavenger Hunt and I (along with my teammate, Mark) became “official.” I wrote a blog about it, which is the equivalent of setting one’s Facebook status to “Committed relationship.” And then the freakout began, as all who are in committed relationships are wont to do.

My freakout was not packing related, although that’s the NUMBER ONE QUESTION I received. “How will you know what to pack!?”* people asked.

I shrugged. “Layers?”

*ICYMI: part of the beauty of the Scavenger Hunt is that we’re taken to 10 different countries and they don’t tell us in advance where we’re going. We learn the destinations 4 hours before our flight.

The truth is I prefer not knowing the countries.  My typical MO is to wait until the night before my trip, pulling an all-nighter with my entire wardrobe on the floor, my apartment looking like the aftermath of a tornado because I forget that on a normal basis I only wear three outfits on rotation anyway. The nagging question: “But what if….?” What if it rains? What if it’s unseasonably cold? What if it’s unseasonably hot? What if I need to dress up? What if I go hiking? What if there’s an opportunity to swim? What if I find an occasion to finally wear these shoes I’ve never worn before?

I just realized: every time I’ve ever packed, I’ve packed as though I had no idea where I was going.

Therefore, last night as I stayed up until midnight packing, I embraced my natural tendencies and filled half my suitcase with exercise clothes, which are the only items excluded from the organizers’ “recommended packing list” and the only things I know with certainly I’ll wear no matter what. I added to them a dress, a pair of jeans, a couple of skirts (not the fancy kind, but the “I don’t feel like wearing pants today–or ever” kind), a pashmina/scarf, a fleece, and a raincoat. If you’re truly interested, I can write up a packing list**, but I assume most people won’t want to take packing advice from someone whose idea of dressing up involves washing her hair and putting on jeans.

**I did this just now–for fun–and I’m realizing I may have made poor choices. OR, perhaps, excellent ones. Only time will tell.

To get back to my real woes here, I have been anxious about the fundraising details and about blogging.

Yes! Blogging! That which I’m doing now!

 

In essence: I want people to be excited about this trip and to follow along. I WANT TO SHARE MY STORIES WITH YOU! But I don’t have thousands of followers, I don’t know how to get the word out, I don’t have people who owe me favors working for travel magazines. The most I can do is trust that whoever is interested will find it and, hopefully, share it.

That brings me to you. If you’re reading this, you are one of my most favorite people. You are the reason I write and will continue to write. So, I want to show you some love.

As I mentioned, I don’t know which ten countries I’ll be traveling to. But at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, our entire group will convene for the first time in San Francisco, and in the evening (I’m guessing) we will figure out our first destination.

I heard that one of the challenges is to guess which ten countries we’ll visit, and I could use your help. But I’m under a time crunch, SO here’s the deal.

BEFORE 3:30 PM TOMORROW–FRIDAY, APRIL 14th: Leave me a comment with your guess of Where In The World Jenny Will Go. Every person who gives me a correct country, I’ll pick up a postcard for you in that country***.

***Rules: Give me your top 3 guesses. You can repeat some one else’s guess (I’d like to know popular opinion!), but only the first person who guessed it will win the prize.

PS. So far, the Global Scavenger Hunt has visited 71 countries. You can eliminate war-torn countries and those that would be overtly dangerous to visit. Also, in terms of vaccinations, none were required except anti-malaria…so let that help you choose.

Please check back for more blogs, and if you have $10 to spare, visit globalscavengers.com [<–mine and Mark’s website]. Help us spread some kindness to the world.

MOST OF ALL: I’m excited to have you along for the journey! Thanks for coming along for the ride 🙂