TEN DAYS!

The countdown is on.

I have only ten days, until I am landing in Patagonia. I can’t begin to describe to you how excited I am, how blessed and full of wonder I feel every single moment that I think about it.

Patagonia. The region encasing both Chilean and Argentina lands, a place of glaciers, twisted trees, clouds, rain, wind and towering peaks carved by ancient waters. Waterfalls, forests, glaciers, lakes, possibly everything a landscape photographer could hope for, is waiting for me! Here is a map, for those still confused about where it is.

Type “Patagonia” into a Google image search, you’ll see what I mean….

Source: Google Images search "Patagonia"

It’s one of those places so rugged, so out of the way that I never really expected to be going there so soon. I had always thought that it’s a place that’s inaccessible for people like myself, but no, I’m going there, in ten days.

Ten days to get everything sorted, to pack and prepare for the large unknown. I do know that it’ll be cold, windy, mountainous and rainy. I do know that I will be tested, both mentally and physically, but I am ready for that. I hope.

I have been pack training each weekend, walking up and scooting down gravelly embankments to prepare my ankles for the terrain, my brain for the many times I’ll want to give up, and my legs for the long haul. Add a 10kg sandbag (sometimes more) and there’s my reality. I am as prepared as I’ll ever be.

I have told my brain that we are not quitting, under any circumstances. I have made sure my legs can carry the weights. The brain is the first to convince us that we can do it, and also the first to tell us that we can’t. Ignore all the voices telling you that you can’t, and listen to the one that says YOU CAN. It doesn’t matter if you’re the slowest up the mountain, you got there, like everyone else.

Each time I look at the small space inside my bag, I have a little freak out. I wonder how I’m going to put food, clothing, medicines, and my journal into such a tiny space, and live with it, for up to five days. I’m going old-school. I’m taking a real journal and not relying on a computer to record my words. I’m stealing moments to enjoy that tactility of a book, of a little luxury that I don’t have to worry about charging it. It’ll be there to record a thought or keep a sketch.

Decisions about what camera gear to pack are happening now, and have been, for some months already. To take the 70-200 2.8, or not? I don’t want to miss a moment, but I don’t want to add unnecessary weight to my pack. I’m taking it, and making a judgment call along the way. Better to have it than not, surely?

I am not certain what kind of internet coverage is over there, I am still unsure if I will get a local SIM for texts and data.

I am going with some incredible photographers, people who I have looked up to for years, new friends and it’s going to be so much fun. To Tim, Jake, Robert, Craig, Jeff, Vanessa, Clair and Sarah, how time flies, and I’ll see you so soon!

TEN DAYS!