And thus it begins

The World Tour that is...

The office is cleaned out, apartment in Jersey abandoned (Jersey, I hardly knew ya), storage unit procured, piggy bank cracked open.

So lets go through the checklist:

- Vaccinations and non-psychosis inducing malaria pills; CHECK

- Short-term apartment in Lima that does not advertise that it is "perfect for the gentlmen seeking to entertain the lovely ladies of Miraflores"; CHECK

- Figuring out what a SIM card actually does (apparently it does not allow me to simulate interest in a conversation, but merely allows me to do so without international roaming charges. disappointing); STILL WORKING ON IT

All painful attempts at humor aside, beginning in just a few short weeks, I will be flying off to Namibia to participate in a volunteer international legal observation program with Lawyers Without Borders. http://www.lwob.org/.

After that, I'll be spending some time shuttling back and forth between DC and NYC and then off to Peru y otros paises de America Sur desde Septiembre (feel free to start commenting on the atrocious Spanish now - I find brutal, unyielding criticism to be an effective learning tool - and yes I am stealing freely from Judd Apatow with that thought)

Needless to say, my my state of mind is wobbling amongst fear, joy, amusement, with a dash of pride. Pride comes up when I get to tell people I quit my job and am travelling the globe. Sure it's not entirely true, but I say let the haters have their day. I'm sure I'll be coming to some of them for job references, so might as well play along right?

For now - here's a little "Where in the World is Matt?" visual for you: