Thoughts Before Departure

Welcome to the Global "Jo"Mama blog! For many of you, this may be the first time you have heard about my international travel plans, so here is the scoop! In just a few hours I will be leaving the country and heading to Krobo-Odumase, Ghana for four months. While in Ghana I will be a volunteer for the organization Global Mamas, which helps women in Ghana to develop and grow their small businesses. The majority of women are in the textile, bead, or beauty product industry. While I hope to be of assistance to the women in Krobo, I have a feeling that they are going to teach me a lot more about life than I could ever teach them!

Over the past few weeks, I have been asking friends and family who have traveled abroad for basic tips about what to do and what not to do. I have received many helpful suggestions, but one that stood out to me was to keep a list of all the personal goals you hope to accomplish by traveling. That way, when you are really frustrated or really homesick you can look back on your goals to see how you are doing. Here are some of my personal goals for my time in Ghana:

1.) Embrace and enjoy living a simple lifestyle.

2.) Laugh at myself more frequently. I would never say that I don't have a sense of humor, but I think I am often guilty of taking myself too seriously.

3.) Learn to cook a new kind of food.

4.) See an elephant in the wild.

5.) Learn a new skill. African drumming, anyone?

As I was packing away the final items into my carry-on bag, I noticed after a while that my hands were really sticky. When I looked down, I had purple ink all over my fingers, and somehow, I even got it on my face! So in the spirit of goal #2, here is a photo of my last minute packing mishap!

Ok, that is all for now, I promise more exciting posts in the future, but I have to work in a last minute In-N-Out dining experience with my family before departure!