99 Days Until Departure

As the Countdown Timer to the right indicates, I'm 99 days from expected departure! When I first set the timer up earlier in the year, I believe it was somewhere just over 200 days. While that may seem like a drop in the bucket, in reality it has been an eternity!

The waiting this year has reminded me of the months preceding my first semester of college. After the excitement of high school graduation, I found myself unable to get a summer job. Having moved to Virginia two years prior, and not done a good job at making friends, I just kept telling myself I'd start a new (and more sociable) chapter of life once I arrived at college. In the meantime though, I was simply counting down the days.

This time around, I have a career and plenty of friends, however I once again find myself simply counting down the days until the next (and most adventurous) chapter in my life. I stay in during the weekends to prevent myself from spending money. I'm not pressing myself to date. I make do with the clothes I have, rather than buying new stuff. I tune out all conversations about high-definition TV!

Regardless of how successful I am at staying in the present moment these last 99 days, it'll all be worth it when I'm swaying in the breeze on a hammock in the South Pacific, and falling asleep on the deck of a felucca while sailing down the Nile River.

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.