As the hot summer days keep ticking away, my time on the Vineyard draws to a close.  All summer I've been struggling with an inner battle between the conflicting feelings of never wanting this summer to end and wanting nothing more than to board that plane to London. Today marks one month until embarkation, however, and those conflicting feelings are beginning to subside.  While I'll be very sad to leave this beautiful island (and my family whom I've only got to spend a very little amount of time with), I'm so incredibly eager to start this next adventure.

A year and a half ago, I had never even stepped foot outside of the East Coast, let alone leave the country.  Today, I've got eight countries under my belt, and will be adding another twelve over the next five months.  A year and a half ago, Semester at Sea seemed only a distant, improbable dream.  Today, only one month stands between me and this dream becoming a reality.

I've done all the prep I can possibly do.  All I have left is to pack and continue obsessing over all the ports I'll be going to.  I've done a lot of research so far, and I've got a good idea of some of the things I hope to do and accomplish in each of the cities.  Here's my SAS Bucket List at this point:

England: Stroll through the different parks and gardens on the Princess Diana memorial walk
Russia:  Visit the Hermitage and Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow
Germany: Ride bikes through the countryside
Belgium:  Taste all the chocolate I can stomach, visit a concentration camp
France:  Visit a winery, go to Normandy Beach
Ireland:  Kiss the Blarney Stone, hike along Giant's Causeway
Portugal:  Visit Porto and hike through Pena National Park
Spain:  Take a picture with monkeys in Gibraltar
Morocco:  Camel trek through the Sahara and spend a night in the desert
Ghana:  Visit a village, volunteer project
South Africa:  Cage dive with great whites, safari, and hiking everywhere
Argentina:  Stroll through the Italian quarter, take a picture with a lion at the Lujan Zoo
Brazil:  Spend a few days on a riverboat on the Amazon
Cuba:  Sip a mojito on a white sandy beach, and step back in time strolling through Old Havana


I have two very exciting projects I will be working on throughout the entire semester as well.  Since my last post, I got a positing as a contributing writer for an online magazine called The Hostel Life!  I will be writing about my experiences for the site, and hopefully scouting new locations for the new show they're producing to film in!  The other project is a program called Vicarious Voyager.  In this program, I will be working with one of my high school teachers and her students, introducing them to study abroad and helping them discover a world beyond their textbooks.

One month.  The voyage of a lifetime is so close, and yet so far away.