24. Simplifying

Sloan: Good news! I just checked the weather in Delhi – it’s 70 and sunny!

(silence)

Sloan: What’s wrong?
Amy: When you said “the weather in Delhi” it scared the hell out of me.

It scares both of us to think of the entire year at once, to think about what we’re leaving, who we’re leaving and what we don’t yet know. There’s no fear involved in taking a two-week vacation, because the end is so pitifully close to the start. But a whole year? Impossible to reconcile, so we have agreed to take it one country, one meal, one harrowing rickshaw ride at a time. The first step is accepting that we’ll live out of these backpacks for the next year. We know it’s a good thing, simplifying our lives, because it’s the only way we’ll manage the incredible experience of the next year. Still, it boggles an American mind.

We’re almost packed.

We leave tomorrow.