The pound (or the “lemming currency” as I now like to call it) appears to be intent on committing pecuniary suicide, and is rapidly disappearing from sight into the murky waters of insolvency. Sod’s law... just as I raise enough money to pay my trip fee the value of the pound to the dollar hits a new low of 1.48,.. bloody typical!!
But I have taken the hit and today ordered my transfer, so that’s it,.. I’m off to sail around the world for a year.
The final preparations for the trip are almost complete; yesterday I pretty much went a bought out a chemist. Going on recommendations from Maggie and previous World Voyage trainees I went and bought 14 months worth of seasickness tablets, diarrhoea tablets, rehydration powder, bandages, plasters etc as well as one of those mini first aid kits that every traveller “should” have (my first one!)… so on top of all my other Ghanaian “prescription” stuff I have, I think I am covered for pretty much every potential illness and accident barring decapitation and/or organ/appendage loss.
Other recommended items I have recently acquired include a head torch (apparently handy for going to the loo in the middle of the night - or in the middle of a storm), lightweight travel towel, a couple of rash vests (better than sunscreen for a typical pasty limey like me!) and the obligatory sun screen.
Everyone I speak to tells me how exciting it is going to be and what an experience I am going to have, and it is true I am very excited about the voyage, although as the 9th of April draws closer the excitement has begun to transform into trepidation. The realism that I am about to move into a very confined space with 40 other strangers for 14 months in an environment that is completely foreign to me with military procedures, a boss and completely disconnected from the outside world is beginning to dawn on me. No Internet? No phone? I am the first to admit that I need to disconnect, but having worked in the IT industry on and off for the last 12 years, losing the internet is going to be tantamount to a seasoned heroin addict giving up overnight… it is not going to be a pretty sight!
So I’m going cold turkey, what am I going to experience? Vomiting? Nausea? The Shakes? (On second thoughts, I’m on a boat, so chances are I’m going to experience those symptoms anyway!). Forcing myself into this environment is going to test all of my "qualities", I wonder how I am going to react.... As I have mentioned before, this trip isn’t just a voyage around the world, it is a voyage of self discovery and I am intrigued to know what it is I am going to discover.
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