Ou est le swimming pool?

So today I have been mostly thinking "hmm, this is pretty fucking cool" to these 3 things:


A photo of Jessica Miller


Jacques Cousteau



And this




Wistful mood is it, yeah?

Anyway, I packed today. "Black Paddy", my affirmative action promoting rucksack, has managed to fit everything I need to get through the turn of the year in style. So far so good. He has, though, acquired a musty smell that was almost certainly the work of several hundred spiders in the shed. We all know the old equation "Equater + Irish = SWEAT" so I reckon, once a few months worth of sweet, sticky perspiration has run down its spine, only Asia's finest, hardiest larcenists will want it.

Packing, however frustrating the process is, makes a trip real. It's actually happening now. The little rituals you have, whether you roll or fold, splitting certain things up, trying to get the zip, you know the one, the one that just threatened to catch your finger AGAIN, trying to get it all the way closed only to look down in dismay at your towel laughing at you from the floor. Despite all that, once its done and you've checked your list (sometimes twice), you sit back and think "shit, I'm actually going aren't I?". The realisation hit today that I don't plan to come back for some time. (eh, reading Tolkien much?)

It's a week of beginnings and endings. Graduation tomorrow somewhat confirms that its about time to get a real job. Well, I say "real" but at least teach English after a few months of travel. And the weekend is goodbye (for a while, at least) to the family and friends that I love. Some, like Peter and Karl, abandoned me before I could beat them to it, and some, like Alan and Jen will have to put up with me for at least a few more months but for everyone else (and you know who you are), I will miss you dearly.

I don't even know where I'm going to end up yet. I have a rough plan but come February, I can't truly say what I will be doing and more importantly what I will want to do, but to me, that's pretty fucking exciting...