5 signs that show you are ready to go!

Countdown - 44 days

Forty-four days.
Four sets of eleven.
Six weeks and 2 days.

A little over a thousand hours.

Tick.

Tock.

I don't recall ever being ready for anything as much as I'm ready for this trip. Okay, maybe a few things:

• Counting down to the day I got out of the Army.
• Counting down to the day each of my kids were born (but even then the exact date wasn't as sure as this one).

But this trip has been about three years in the making and I'm ready. How ready?

R-E-A-D-Y

How do you know when you are ready? Easy. Let me explain...

Five ways to know you are ready to go on an international & cross-country trip such as this:

1. You are 44 days (or more) away from the departure date and you already have picked out exactly which clothes and important gear you will bring along, including underwear. In fact, if you have already purchased, 'tested' and laundered special riding underwear specifically for the trip and it's just sitting in a drawer waiting- you are ready.

2. You find yourself frequently walking out to the garage to stare at the bike and look for anything that needs attention. Is that a drop of oil or fluid? (No, it's just a reflection); Is that spark plug wire starting to crack (no, it's the shadow of the light on the wire); That front tire looks low on air (no, for the sixth time, the air pressure is just right); Did I check all the nuts and bolts to ensure nothing was loose? (yes, at least three times in the past week). Yep, you are ready.

3. You have run out of things to tell people when they say, "Are you ready for your big trip?". In fact, they don't really care about all the preparation, list-making and donation-seeking activities you've been wrapped up in. As a side note, it's highly likely that they are just asking to make conversation and be polite. Kinda like, "How ya doin'?" (they don't really want to know how you are doing. Just say "fine, and you?" and be done with it). Yep, you are ready.

4. You look at your watch throughout the day and each time mentally figure how many miles you will have traveled by that time of day once the trip is underway. And then you go back and figure it again, adding in an extra hour or two for bad weather. You betcha, you're ready.

5. You begin to panic slightly every time you think of something that you maybe, shoulda, coulda, done for this trip (like contact all the media along the route and beg for coverage). You wake up in the middle of the night, after dreaming that you've already gotten to the middle of North Dakota and forgot to wear your riding boots. Ding, ding, ding...Ready.

6. (Bonus sign, I guess there were 6 after all) You wonder if the people reading your blog, and the people you talk to about this trip are secretly, desperately, e-x-h-a-u-s-t-e-d hearing about it, and just want you to 'get on with it already, GEEZ LOUISE!'

Yep. I'm ready.