Can you believe it?! Only four weeks left! I’ve been thinking of, dreaming about and planning this journey for months – years even – and now all of a sudden I’m about to board a plane with nothing but my backpack and plan. Wow!

As my departure comes closer, I find myself in two minds. Part of me wishes for time to slow down, and stop speeding up as though somebody has bewitched the clocks to go extra fast. I need more time to plan this thing, to talk some sense in the American Embassy with their crap-load-of-crazy-visa-rules, to make more money so I can insure myself of a warm and dry bed every night, to say goodbye.

A different part of me is so incredibly excited that it can’t sit still long enough to take it all in; to realize all ‘The Amazement’ is just around the corner. To finally be able to do this, on my own, with my oh-so-cool new camera and blank Moleskin notebook to capture it all.

The last few months I have been working hard to make the most of plan J. I’ve spend many more weeks on Vlieland, earning money and experiencing with my new (camera) equipment. I have acquired the perfect gear; a new winter coat that The North Face insures me will keep me warm and dry, layers of merino wool and fleece, a backpack for everyday use which is perfectly fitted to my back, sunglasses to block out the midnight sun of Alaska and like I mentioned, a new Nikon D7000 camera with a 10-20 wide angle lens to capture the extreme landscapes, and a 18-105 lens to photograph a grizzly without being eaten alive.

I have also spent many (many, many) hours trying to prepare for the various aspects, projects and work-related activity of this journey. You have to understand that this involves a helluva lot of forms, letters, pas photo’s (Dutch, American and Canadian) official meetings, phone calls, flashing of your passport, arranging with my local township to declare me ‘crime-free’, getting all of my fingerprints scanned multiple times, proving that you are not planning to blow up any country or ‘fellow citizens’, promising that I have (and I quote) “… never ordered, incited, called for, committed, assisted, helped with, or otherwise participated in the acts of killing any person” (if you answer “Yes” to any question, describe the circumstances in detail.”), and I could write a book alone on the issues with my visa.

Funny thing, some of my supportive friends and interested family members occasionally ask me “And, have you booked your trip yet?” like I just have to swipe my credit card at the local travel agency and they will take of everything, while I sit on the other side of the desk flipping through a magazine..

But, most important thing: plan J is still going strong! Booked my ticket, have the required visa to enter the States, and working on securing my spot in Denali and Gates of the Arctic National, the Husky Ranch and the Rocky Mountains in Canada! :) :)