Aloha!

13 hours....and I will be packing myself into Brad's already packed-to-the-hilt Vibe and setting off on a 15-hour (potentially longer) drive to North Carolina. That's right....my surfing trip has finally arrived :) Steph, Brad and myself are heading down to catch some waves for a few days next week.

I am:
hoping I don't drown;
hoping I don't get eaten by a shark;
hoping I don't break something;
getting nervous butterflies;
sooooo freakin' excited I can't sit still.

I know:
that this is going to be THE best trip ever, with two of my best friends;
that surfing will be a fun and - something tells me - a humbling experience;
that I can't wait to sit on the beach and soak up some rays;
that I am looking forward to the campfire dinners and toasting marshmallows;
that I really should have started packing last night....

This is the first full-on long distance road trip I am taking with friends and not my family, so I think this ads to the bubbles of excitement in my stomach right now. A little backstory: While I wasn't in on the conversation initially, what I remember is that it occured at the Honest Lawyer here in Ottawa in November over one of our happy hour get togethers. Brad and Steph must have been talking about Australia and surfing (as my flatmate had lived there for a year and had taken it upon herself to learn how to surf, smart girl) and both agreed they wanted to do a surfing trip in the near future. Why not? Locations were discussed and a few options were singled out but nothing concrete was made, other than a promise that they would indeed follow through.

Some of us throw these suggestions out with no follow through but this, this is not characteristic of either of them. I know both of them are the types when if they've set their mind to something, then its going to be done, somehow, someway, eventually. Indeed, this idea would turn out to be more than just happy hour talk, more than just a pipe dream (ba-dum-bum!) :) Surely enough, a few weeks later Steph suggested I should join them as well in planning the trip. That was all I needed :) Planning began - magazines were bought, websites consulted (a favourite being this fun jem: www.riptionary.com), stories with friends who share a passion for surfing were heard (special thanks on my end to Krysia for her lovely words of encouragement and reminder that surfing is about the journey, and about respect, for the people and the ocean) - and Steph came up with a beautiful plan to hit up the east coast, close to home, not gonna break the bank per se. And so we were NC bound as a few months ago.

Which is why I can't believe we are leaving tonight. Its finally here. The email from the surf camp this morning requesting my age, height and weight to ensure they prepare the right equipment for me added just that extra jolt of excitment to my morning. Honey, Zimzala and Brosef (that's right..I picked out our surf names...) are south bound as of midnight tonight. Thanks to everyone who have left me friendly send-of messages for a safe and happy trip. Trust: there will be many many many photos. I will do my best to not disappoint on that front.

Aloha!