The Final Countdown

It goes without saying that I've been waiting a long, long time to actually start wandering the world, but in 21 hours, I will finally start working my way towards Chile (really I'll just be waiting in JFK Airport for awhile). After so much anticipation, it's pretty surreal that I'm actually leaving the country for (at least) 5 months instead of  simply talking about it. The time has finally arrived to satisfy my wanderlust, and even though I'll be slightly limited by the "study" part of study abroad, I mostly see this as an incredibly unique opportunity to throw responsibility to the wind in order to explore an entirely new world and discover so much more than any classroom will ever teach me. High expectations? Probably. But hey, there's diem to carpe (phrase inspired by Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs) and there's no better way to make sure you do what you want than to set the bar high (I think). As a result, in the coming months (and years as I continue my travels post-academia) you'll either read highly embellished stories, or live vicariously through my global escapades, seizing the day, the Carpenter way: Carpen-Diem.(Thanks Kate Modic for helping me come up with the title)