It just became real

Zambian business visa finally stamped in my passport, vaccines taken, suitcase waiting to be packed- I am getting ready to hit the runway in less than a week!

In the meantime, I thought I would post some details about my flight. The route will look something like this (I say something like this because I often have the traveler's luck of having my destinations randomly changed several hours before boarding the plane):

To annotate further, my journey should be as follows: Raleigh/Durham -> DC -> Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -> Harare, Zimbabwe -> Lusaka, Zambia.

The trip should take around 25 hours, and I'm hoping to get over the fatigue and a 6-hour jet lag fast enough to start my internship on the third day. Does that sound doable? (I'm asking honestly; I think the amount of excitement overwhelmed a large portion of my sound judgment)

I won't have any significant layovers on the way there so I won't be able to explore the amazing cities where I will be transferring, unfortunately. (I'm glad my mom doesn't speak English and so she can't read this last paragraph. I don't think she is generally very impressed by this adventure of mine, and adding a few extra stops to my travel might add more than a few extra points to her blood pressure levels)

The route from Zambia at the end of the summer will be similarly exciting, although it will lead to Europe as opposed to North America. Plus, I might spend a day in Cairo!