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In 8 hours I will board a flight to Bogota, Colombia and begin a trip that will span 4.5 months and hopefully guide me through 6 countries. Despite the fact that time is really limited I still have to pack my bag and probably should not be writing haha. Post Missoula life has consisted of visiting Portland then driving to California to be with friends, family, and seeing my girlfriend Anna. She was able drive down to CA with me for a few days and we got to check out the Outside Lands Music Festival plus a Giants game. She is now back in Portland and all energy is being devoted towards the departure. Emotions and stress are rising now that the reality of leaving is on the forefront of my mind. I am pretty anxious right now and truly thankful for everyone who has supported this trip. Here are some details: The flight will be long: Leaving San Francisco at 8pm today and arriving at midnight in Houston with an 8 hour layover in Texas. Afterwards I will fly to Panama City then enter South America at 4pm on Monday August 20th. Bogota is 2 hours ahead of San Francisco and 1 hour ahead of Missoula. I have signed up to volunteer with a Bogota based volunteer organization called Emerging Voices and starting September 1st I will begin a three week homeless feeding project. The project will be with other volunteers from around the world and while working we will live together in a community house. A major goal is to take Spanish classes alongside working with Bogota homeless. There will also be a two week gap of time between landing in Bogota and commencing the food service project. My plan is to bus north to Cartegena and Santa Marta, two Caribbean bordering cities, and explore for a little over a week while staying in a few hostels. As of now I am planning on seeing Ecuador for about a week starting in late September and hanging on the coastline then going to bus down to Peru. This is a very loose idea and things might change. More updates will follow once I'm down south!