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I'm heading out at ~4:40AM to take a three day van-to-van-to-bus-then-bike journey to get to the starting point.  I'm excited for the trip and also feeling grateful for all the help I received in planning the trip and for the great community surrounding me (so glad to see/connect with friends... for those I didn't get to see I hope to see you when I get back!).

Here's a photo am me waving to a kind motorist - but I view this as a temporary wave goodbye to home for a while.

With all the preparations, I was getting a bit worn out (hit a wall about a week ago).  Fortunately, friends in town encouraged me to have some fun as well.  So one part of preparing for the trip was to also have some fun while doing it.

With the extra time from the delay of the start, I was better able to stay balanced: meditation, tai chi chuan, playing an informal little jazz music gig in the park, etc.   I spent some time in the ocean and overall appreciated things more (did make me wonder a bit why I am traveling since I have so much fun at home, but I guess a bit of exploring is good too).

Here are a few photos from the water.

Bodysurfing:



Getting buzzed by pelicans:



Freediving:



Since I'm sharing water photos, thought I'd also post my two favorite freediving photos from last month (not officially part of the prep for this trip, but I just really like these two pictures and figure others might as well).

Rockfish:



Harbor seal:



The harbor seal was super cute.  That's my swim fin at the top left corner (it was following behind me).

This post is mostly a reminder to myself (but maybe helpful to others) to make sure to make time for fun and that it can be done in addition to getting things done.

I did skip surfing today, but given it's my last day before heading out I wanted to get everything closed off (still up at a late hour wrapping up).

Going forward, I'll try to continue to capture thoughts on this blog, but will probably lean more on photos for many of the upcoming posts.