Day one – No Return Ticket

Currently, Sitting on a plane, I have much to look forward to and even more to accomplish. Just getting here has been a bit of a journey.

Travelling via Air Transat, the baggage weight limit was 20kg. For those not cringing, allow me to explain the importance of this. My clothes alone weigh 20 kg! Let alone the weight of luggage, tripod, mediations, computer, GPS, hard drives, books, shoes, camera, camera equipment and so on. Packing inevitably meant leaving some things behind and being a bit sneaky in order to get aboard this plane.

After what seemed like the longest two weeks of my life, the hour to leave for the airport arrived. Due to a convenient ride, I left the house at 7pm to get to my 11:50pm flight. Enough time, you think? Well, going early allowed me to do two things: first, I got my pick of seats (isle emergency seat); and secondly I was able to check my bag in for weight (19.8kg!) and then meet my sister who was wearing a vest that could make any photojournalist envious of the amount of things stuffed inside of it. This vest was loaded with 20kg of stuff! I wore the vest through security and while boarding to keeping my bag looking light. The plan worked! Thanks Dad! (Helping me out, even on Father’s Day no less!)

The wait for the flight seemed to take forever, but I had time to load my laptop full of movies and TV (Arrested Development) and charge my batteries to full. Currently I’m watching Quantum of Solace (James Bond) although I’ve been watching full screen video (the writing of this excepted) for just over two hours now there is still 3:46 hours left of battery!

Tomorrow I land in Heathrow to meet my friend Alex and spend the next two weeks in London, visiting museums and getting a feel for the place. Following that I’ll be gallivanting through western Europe, meeting with professors, Universities and friends, having a bit of a working vacation before gearing up for Africa.

Feel free to email me if you are in London over the next few weeks.