I am getting nervous... why am I doing this?

For the first time since travelling to Vancouver in 2004, I am nervous... At that time I was nervous because it was my first travel since surviving the mugging in Venezuela when I was almost sure to be killed. This time I am not nervous at all because of the possibility to be a victim of a crime. I know that when I can survive a violent mugging in Venezuela, nothing bad will ever happen to me... except on a more personal level...

I also know, from travelling in West Africa, that the African people are the most friendly people you will ever meet on this planet we call Earth. I am trying to remember all the good things about Ghana and Burkina Faso, but at that time I was focusing so much on my Master Thesis in Geography, so I don't think I got as much out of the travelling as I could. Maybe I should have gone back to West Africa instead of experiencing totally new things in East Africa? I am right now listening to the amazing music of Ali Farka Toure. The late Malian guitar superstar. Trying to feel what I did six years ago. I listened a lot to Ali Farka while in Ghana, and had a dream about going to the dry Malian desert, with the historical cities of Djenne, Mopti and Tombouctou. Unfortunately the Malian Embassy in Ghana would use three days to give me a visa, and with a travel distance of two whole days I did not have time, so I ended up in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso instead. I am pretty sure that I will go back to West Africa sometime in the future anyway, so I will try to get back to why I am nervous...

I have much more travel experience now, than I did in 2004. However, most of that experience comes from travelling in regions that resembles the culture I come from. I have been to most of Eastern Europe the last couple of years, with the most extreme places being Montenegro and Moldova... Not really extreme? I am not saying that Malawi or Uganda will be extreme, but it will be very different. I don't feel like I am prepared. When would I have time to prepare myself? I guess I just have to do what I can the next two weeks, and hope that everything goes the way I would like it to go. During my travel I have to obtain at least 5 visas. Most of them will probably be quite easy to get, but it is a lot of bureaucracy. As if that is not enough, I have to find out where all of these embassies are. I have to find the Zambian Embassy in Malawi, the Tanzanian Embassy in Zambia, the Kenyan Embassy in Tanzania, the Ugandan Embassy in Kenya, and the Rwandan Embassy in Uganda. Will be a lot of work. And I am solely travelling by bus while in Africa. Don't want to take planes. Not good for the environment... I guess I will use at least one week on the bus during this summer. Well, I know for a fact that the buses in Africa had more space than those in Norway, so it should not be that uncomfotable.

Will I find hostels that are ok? I hope so, but I don't need high standards. The only important thing is that my camera and computer is safe. I have lived in a mud hut in Venezuela, and under not too good conditions in Africa before.

I don't really know why I am nervous, except for not feeling prepared. It is probably my fear of flying that gives me this feeling of not being ready to travel. I will now make the list of things I need to do before I go (thanks Camilla). I just hope I don't get too shocked to find out that I have more to do than I thought just one hour ago.