All Packed and Ready to Go!

I finished packing today and managed to fit four months worth of clothes for hiking, swimming, camping, touring, and partying into a large hiking backpack and one daypack. I'd commandeered my sister's old room and converted it into my packing room, laying piles of clothes by category around the perimeter of the bedroom-- I can be a bit OCD at times. I tried hard to stick to the packing list that the program sent, but couldn't resist throwing in a few extra articles of clothing for each category. "One dress," says the list??--come on, I'll be going out more than that. Did I mention that there is a bar located on the first floor of the hostel we are staying at? Hello!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 27th, I'll be leaving Omaha in the late afternoon and heading to Denver, Colorado. I'll, then board a flight to San Francisco, CA where I will hopefully meet up with other students in my group. Then we'll head to Sydney, Australia. After this 14 hour flight, We'll get on a 2 hour flight to Cairns in Queensland, Australia a.k.a. our final destination. We'll make our way to the Northern Greenhouse Hostel in the heart of the city, which will be our base camp for the next four months. Seems like a pretty fun place by the looks of its website: http://www.friendlygroup.com.au/northern-greenhouse/facilities.html