trip planning is eustressful.

Eustress is a term coined by endocrinologist Hans Selye, which is defined, in the model of Richard Lazarus (1974), as stress that is healthy, or gives one a feeling of fulfillment or other positive feelings. Eustress is a process of exploring potential gains.

Going from California to Florida (by car with three cats) to (mainland) Italy to (an island off the coast of) Italy to Kenya to Zambia to Rwanda back to Italy back to Florida is--but of course--a logistical nightmare. Not that I'm crying out poor me but this has been filling our days lately and someday I'll look back on it all and just have to smile.

A few things worth mentioning--

in Tofino, seated to my left at the winemaker's dinner, we met a couple who had just gotten back from Africa last year. And, get this--Elizabeth had lived and backpacked all over Africa for over a year. Talk about karma. Honestly, on account of the wine flowing that night I didn't think anything would come to light after we exchanged email addresses. But they have been AMAZING. Writing mini-novels outlining their itinerary and suggestions, sending us links to their incredible photos (Steve and I looked at each other and almost in unison said like let's plagiarize this trip), giving us an honest, straightforward perspective on, well, everything Africa. Everything we want to know, we have someone to ask. It just goes to show how incredibly generous people can be, and how life is full of little connections like these that make it deeply meaningful.

***

What we are hoping to do in Africa (Italy is all about family and celebrating Lambert):

go on safari. I don't have a check-off list of Animals To See (again I left that crap to my 20's)--I just want to see what happens. & ahem a hippo would be way cool. But whatever animal(s) we see, I promise to be thrilled.

see the wildebeest migration as they cross from the Maasai Mara into the Serengeti. note that wildebeests don't fall under the whole 'animals to see' thing--I would love to see gobs and gobs of them like on Planet Earth. I want to get to a point where I say, "I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't see wildebeests everywhere."

see Victoria Falls

swim at Devil's Bathtub, atop Vic Falls

see gorillas in the wild (note to self: watch read Gorillas in the Mist before we leave).

... & just take it all in. Really see it all unfold. Try not to only see it all through the viewfinder of a camera. Try not to have lens envy, which must be something like penis envy but I really wouldn't know.

After all, we'll be in Africa. Who knows when we'll be there again?
...sorry for the blurry pics. I still haven't grown a set big enough to actually pick up my new camera and learn how the hell to use it. I'm much too good at procrastinating.