I'm down to one more day of work. All I have left to do is turn in my badge and computers, then I'm free to go. However, we do coincidentally have a picnic tomorrow afternoon for my area, so it will be a good opportunity to say goodbye to everyone at work one last time.

I told myself all day that I would have to write a blog entry tonight so I could look back many years from now and remember what it felt like to have to take only one more ride on the corporate train. However, now that I'm actually living that moment, I don't know what to say. Maybe it hasn't quite sunk in yet that this is it. Maybe I've been too busy to take time to think about what I've done. Maybe I'm just mentally suppressing the horrible decision I have made. But now that I'm setting my alarm clock for the last time, I don't really feel anything.

I guess I should think about what not working means. No more struggling for half and hour every day just to make it out of bed. No more worrying about whether I'll finish my project du jour on time. No more trying to keep up in the corporate rat race. No more shitty cafeteria food available at ungodly prices. No more regular paychecks. No more being able to saunter down the hall to ask a friend for advice. No more knowing where I'm going to sleep tonight. No more getting paid to accumulate ridiculous amounts of knowledge about computers. And, probably no more being able to discuss The Simpsons with just about anyone I run into.

Of course there are good and bad things about having a job, but either way, life goes on. A year from now, I have no idea if I'll be back in the corporate world, traveling around the world, or sitting in a prison camp wondering why I didn't take the blue pill. I don't know what my future holds, and that's OK. So, how do I feel on the eve of my last day of work? I feel fine.

I've been really busy moving out of my apartment and finalizing some stuff for my trip for the last week or so, but in the last few days, I've been thinking a lot about the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It's unbelievable how many people are suffering as a result of this disaster. Thousands are dead and hundreds of thousands are homeless. It makes realize how powerless human beings still are, even in this age of incredible technology, to the forces of nature. It also reminds me how lucky I really am.

Several thoughts went through my mind after hearing of the destruction. My first thought was, "How can I go on this trip when people are suffering?" It just didn't seem right for me to travel around the world while people were dying in my own country. I then thought, "Maybe I should just cancel this trip and volunteer to help." But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed wrong to do so. I've worked and saved and planned and invested so much time and money into this trip that it would be a terrible waste to throw it all away now. Maybe I'm just selfish, but I feel like I've earned this trip through all of my hard work. I could try to postpone my journey until a time when there is no suffering in the world, but that will never happen. So in reality, it's now or never.

The next thought I had was that maybe I could drive to New Orleans and volunteer before leaving on my trip. Unfortunately, I only have three weeks before I leave (my plane tickets are non-transferable) and New Orleans is thousands of miles away. I would spend a week driving across the country, and I have a lot of stuff to take care of at home before leaving. There's just not enough time to do something like that. So what else is there?

I guess I have to be realistic. I can't save the world single-handedly. A very smart person pointed out that there will be others in need of help in the places I am going, and while they aren't going to be on the nightly news, my time would be better spent helping them. Therefore, I have donated money to help the victims of Katrina, and I will volunteer time to help the local people I will be visiting. I feel that this is how I can make my best impact. I'm not writing this to brag or to tell anyone else what to do with their lives. I just want to show myself that, given the circumstances of the world around me, I am doing what I can do to help.

I finally finished moving out of my apartment today. Last night my roommate and I spent many countless hours cleaning everything. I think I have done more cleaning in the last three days than the combined total of my entire life. I think the apartment is cleaner now than when we moved in, which doesn't sound too horrible until I mention that my roommate was the first person to move in after the complex opened. Our security deposit was $400, and I think we should get $800 back. Needless to say, we went way overboard with cleaning, but at least it's done now.

Nicolle threw me a going-away party tonight. Several friends came over to her place and shared some memories of playing Ultimate and partying. I was also told about a man named Hector, who I never want to meet, but I'll probably bump into in a Peruvian jail cell after I get busted for sucking on cocoa leaves. Or maybe I'll meet him after I run out of money and have to resort to… doing some low-grade things to get some money back. Nick seemed to know a scary amount about this Hector fellow, but I'd rather not go into details here.

It's been a long week for me, but in a good way. I now have my Inca Trail reservation through Andean Life. I also purchased six months of travel insurance, which I can renew while I'm on the road. I only have one more week of work left, and it should be an easy one. Even though I'm thoroughly exhausted, my trip planning is moving along quite well and things seem to be going great for me. I'm still really excited about my trip.

Thank you Nicolle, for cooking a great dinner and for inviting people over. Also thank you to everyone who came and enjoyed reminiscing, as well as envisioning the experiences my future travels will entail. I think I'm now officially prepared for the worst of it.