We are just starting to plan for June 2009...and I want to go now! How am I going to wait 2 years?

How do you handle your excitement???

it's been bad enough waiting 1 year for my next trip (2.5 months to go), don't know how you could wait 2 years! Gives you plenty of time to learn everything there is to know. animals, birds, language, geography, tipping, packing, guides etc.

We have exactly 400 days to go from today! We started planning this next trip on 23 April 2005 the day after we got back from our first trip.

As Dennis says - used the intervening time to research, read, dream, plan - hang about in here. the suspense, the delicious sence of A-N-T-I-C-P-A-T-I-O-N in itself is a lovely state to be in, whenever work grinds, or time drags we revisit our slide show - or look at Africam!

Cheers and you will manage!
Jude

I had a 2 year wait, and it was very, very tough. I learned everything there was to learn and agonized over every itinerary decision, read every travel book and website, and went to sleep at night walking myself mentally through every stop. I wrote to the authors of the travel books and had phone conferences with them to get info. I also took every opportunity to drive my agents crazy with questions and itinerary changes. Every sunset I saw I wondered what it would look like in Africa. When I finally finalized my itinerary and booked it last november or so, that helped to give me some time to move onto other things in my life and the trip left my mind for awhile as there was nothing left to do, and I did not want to read anymore or look at any more photos that might overdo the whole thing, make me numb to it, or make me regret itinerary decisions I had made. No more sitting with my laptop at 3:00am.Somehow the rest of my life was able to seep back in and make me forget about the trip, and the time flew by. Now there is about 9 weeks to go until I leave. I actually got all of my shots today, and next month I have to buckle down and put my duffel bag together. Then I am sure the adrenaline and excitement is going to come back full blast. But the first year was the hard one, while I was researching and dreaming and planning. Just no avoiding it!!

I count sheep, backwards, one a day. 374 and counting Very relaxing, helps me sleep at night, and have a life.

John

Good to hear a tip on how to have a life there John

Put your itinerary plans in an Excel spreadsheet. Put the date that you leave into one of the cells (boxes) -- for example, type 6/15/09 in cell A4.

Then, in another cell, type <b>=A4-TODAY()</b> and press Return. That will show you how many days to go, and it will automatically update every time you open the spreadsheet.

(If it shows up as a weird date, something like 3/2/1901, instead of a number, just do this: click on the cell with the weird date, and press CTRL/1 -- the Format Cells box appears. In the Number tab, click General, then click OK. The date changes to the number of days before you leave.)

I agree with jenack. The first few months were the hardest until I had everything booked. By then I had read all the trip reports, looked at all the posting so there wasn't a lot new to see. I didn't forget about it, but put it on the back burner until about 2 months ago. Then it was time for shots, get some other reservations in order and start obsessing again But, I only had a year to wait.

We now have 3 days to go - we leave on Monday. I have my guides name so I guess it's official.

I used this site to keep a countdown then set it as my home page. Every time I went opened IE, my counter showed. http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/customcount.html

enjoy,
Duane

I have found that BECOMING A FODOR'S ADDICT helps pass the time. Just reading this thread made me realize we have just 50 days until we leave! The anticipation is almost too much to handle. Fortunately, it is #2 to my anticipation of my first grandchild in January.

Nancy

Like lots of others, I check this board pretty much every day, always read the trip reports and look at people's pictures. And yes, the anticipation thing did calm down a bit once we actually booked our safari. I have been trying not to do a &quot;countdown&quot; yet, but my husband woke up the other morning and announced that we had 100 days to go -- and he has been crossing off the days on his (African wildlife) wall calendar.

One of the most fun things this past year has been watching Africa-related movies and documentaries together, and reading books together too. Whenever we have a long car drive we'll read out loud to each other and talk about the books -- everything from travel narratives to history to wildlife. I really feel like this pretrip stuff is a part of our trip as a whole. We did the same for our trip to India last year and really felt like it enhanced our experience once we got there.

Oh man, I did what you said in excel and it comes up with 722!!!! I am so jealous of all of you in the double digits!

I so appreciate this thread as my next safari is not until early June 2008. I've been booked since February! I thought I was a little weird booking so far in advance, but then I read the thread about the 2008 rate increase at Zib (where I'll spend 4 nights) and realized that I got the bargain of the year. When I booked my trip, the 2008 rates were not available, so Wilderness offered to book at the 2007 rates if I paid a 50% deposit. It was an offer I couldn't refuse.
But, the anticipation is a killer. I'm glad I've finally reached the less-than-a-year-away mark. In the meantime, I'm planning my next 3 safaris and vow I will never wait so long in between. I have to control myself and not contact companies/agents with my itinerary ideas because I seem like a complete lunatic talking about trips for 2009 and 2010. So, I just read Fodor's, look at the various safari company websites, and continuously develop my perfect future trips.

Jamie,
Try learning enough Swahili to converse before your trip--the time will fly if you put yourself under that kind of pressure.

Apropros of nothing, there's an interesting article in this month's <i>Runner's World</i> about two girls who have started a running program at an orphanage in Kenya.

learning swahili! that would be cool...and definitely pass the time hahahaha

phernska,

No.....you are not a lunatic!!! You make perfect sense!!! Thanks for your idea.....i am going to get the wheels in motion and contact my travel agent right away for 2009,2010 etc etc.,

Rgds,
Hari

Leely,

June runner's world? or July?

Thanks,
Hari

Hari, it just arrived in the mail so it must be July (at my sister's house). I did find a link online.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ytnf6w

http://tinyurl.com/ytnf6w

The best is the photo of the two American girls in tank tops and running shorts running with a group of Kenyan schoolgirls in their proper below-the-knee skirts and sweaters, etc.

Jamie, Swahili is a beautiful language. It is lovely to listen to but HARD to learn. I have used the Rosetta Stone online course. If I had ever applied myself, I think it might have been a good program but laziness sure got the better of me.

On second thought.....i would give the Suspense of a &quot;new experience&quot; for some of my future trips. That is part of the joys of travelling, isn't it? to try something new and explore and experiment!!!

Cheers,
Hari

Leely, Thanks....will keep an eye for that issue...