Getting excited about every. little. thing.

Preparing for this trip has even made coming home to see what has arrived in the mail exciting again.

In the past week, my International Driver's Lisence came in the mail. You can get them with surprising ease through this website http://www.idlservice.com/. So easy, I had my suspicions that it wasn't legit. It would probably have been for the better if it weren't legitimate... since the entire world is in jeopardy now that I'm licensed to drive all over the place.

I also had the contact cards I'd had made come in today. I read in several places that it isn't a bad idea to have business cards with your personal contact info printed up so that you can exchange information with other travelers and locals you might make friends with without having to whip the iPhone out or struggle for a random piece of paper to write on. I got them for next to nothing. Really, vistaprint.com has a special where you get 250 for free so long as you can have their website on the back side and just pay for shipping.

And coming soon in the mail... getting my passport back with my Indian tourist visa in it!!! If you're going to India, you do need one to enter the country (not for Argentina), and you can only get it from Travisa Outsourcing. If you're not sure if a country you're headed to requires a visa or not, you can find out from the U.S. Department of State, which will also have other travel tips and advisories that are good for Americans to be aware of.

Whenever another piece of the puzzle comes together like this, I'm feeling increasingly pumped up. Most invigorating of all is a development as of last night... all of my flights are booked!!!!! I have an official itinerary now and it's looking good:

• February 9 - Leave in a rental car with my friend Tricia and head to Myrtle Beach, SC to see my Grandmama and our friends Alex, her husband Michael, and Kendal.
• February 13 - Tricia flies home and I continue the drive on my own toward the Florida Keys. I might stay a night in Savannah to see my Aunt Caitlyn on the way there. 
• February 14-18ish I'll be in the Florida Keys staying in hostels. Yes, I might be taking myself on a romantical dinner for 1 in paradise on Valentines Day. Worse things have happened. 
• February 18ish-22 - Visiting Sarah & John in West Palm Beach, as well as Kim & Mark and Ashley & Ray (yes all of my friends are in couples) in Miami.
• February 23 - Leave the US on a flight bound for Mumbai with my Dad (a very experienced international traveler - he's getting me to the front door of yoga camp, just like when I was a kid!)
• February 24/25 - long layover in Mumbai with Dad. We MIGHT venture out of the airport here.
• February 25 - Continue on another flight to Goa, India and enjoy a free day there before heading to Ashiyana the next day
• February 26 - March 25 - Dad goes home, and I start Yoga Teacher Training Certification 6 days a week! I'll have a full day off on Sundays and half of a day on Wednesdays to relax, catch up on communicating with the outside world, or adventuring out into Goa to hit the beach, shop the markets, or go see some of the sights like temples, spice plantations and wildlife preserves. When I'm in training, I'll be spending my days practicing yoga and meditation, eating very healthy, and learning more about the body, mind and spirit. Mostly, my own. 
• March 29 - Arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to spending time in Beunos Aires, I plan to backpack all over the country over the next month, and I might have a friend or two from home come join me for short periods of time. 
• April 29 - Arrive in San Diego, California. Rent a car. Maybe stay a couple of days with people I know out there... and then hit the open road headed back east! This is around when I'll revisit my career/employment options and depending on how that progresses as well as how I'm doing on funds, I'll determine how much time I'm going to spend on the road. I doubt I'd spend a week or less, or more than 3 weeks, so I'd probably take approximately 2 weeks to make my way back home from California. The Grand Canyon, El Paso, New Orleans, and Destin are definitely on my radar for this part of the trip, but who knows where else my travels will take me!

It's coming together more and more with each day and it doesn't stop getting more exciting!