No longer counting

Soooo..

I’m sitting in Gatwick airport looking pretty damned cool. I’ve got “my first waterproof rucksack”, sailing boots and a very-practical fleece on, my final Costa flat white by my side (oh I’m going to miss these). My bags have been packed, my fingers crossed that everything is in them and good byes said to my lovely family, friends and Steve.

This is it: I’m on my own and at the grand age of 27 I am FINALLY LEAVING EUROPE! *Applause please* Oh and I’m finally off to join this boat race malarkey. Yes, the one I’ve been relentlessly talking about for over a year now. Turns out its real after all.

After a somewhat frantic last week at work, this weekend has been spent feeling a little overwhelmed, a little nervous and quite excited when Visit Seattle’s arrival was live on Periscope. As anticipated, it would appear Leg 6 of the race (crossing the North Pacific) was an epic challenge so I’m very glad that I’m joining after this leg rather than before. 

What has been quite amazing though is the sheer amount of support for the crew demonstrated by the friends & family of Visit Seattle. On day 3 of the last leg, we set the challenge of getting 100 messages of support for VS and we totally smashed our target. This means I’ve spent A LOT of the last few weeks on iMovie, sacrificing my sight and hand dexterity to craft a special video. I can’t wait for the crew to see the results in Seattle now.

So, the plan for this week:

1. LA for a few days to see whether my friend Sam does actually live there or has been making it up all these years.
2. Fly up to Seattle on Thursday, say “hi!” to a few people I haven’t seen since August
3. Do some boat things. Relearn to sail in a day. Important things like that.
4. 28th April: set sail for Panama!

Before all of that, I have to try out a long-haul flight for the first time. This is currently an exciting prospect but might not be 4 hours from now. 

Sorry Sam, I am going to be so, so groggy.