Have you ever found yourself in a situation where your emotions are torn between extreme excitement and intense anxiety about what the future may bring? These issues are on the minds of all of us as we hit the road for two years. But the challenges of the unknown may be most intense for Klaus, the oldest member of our World Trek team, who has sold his business, his car, and many of his worldly possessions in preparation for the next 22 months away from home and all that is familiar to him. The stress of all these changes has caught up to Klaus and he suffered from motion sickness and stomach pains on the journey from San Francisco to San Diego. He continues to feel sick and the team has a decision to make. Do we all wait in San Diego for a couple of days to allow Klaus time to recover? Or do some of us push ahead as scheduled?

After some discussion, we decided that Shawn, Jamila, Kavitha and Abeja should continue on across the border while Klaus and Monica spend a couple of extra days stateside. In order to catch up, Klaus and Monica will fly to Mexico City. We had said "no air travel" for the 22 months of the Odyssey, but to ensure the health of one of our trekkers, we are making an exception. The other four are still very fired up about the concept of two years and no airplanes - we'll see how we do! Monica and Klaus hope to return to San Diego at the end of the trek and make the bus journey from there to Mexico City so they will have gone all the way around the world without planes!!

As the team prepares to cross the border from the U.S. to Mexico, Klaus reflects on the border in his own mind that he will slowly traverse with each new experience. In his poem, "ready", which you can read below, he writes about this "mental" border that is the symbol of his struggle with the emotions of anticipation, and discomfort, that balance the excitement and eagerness of being on the Team. Do you think that you would feel some of the same things that Klaus is feeling if you were in his shoes?

ready

ready to cross the border
into instability
into the insanity of chaos
into the insecurity of ignorance
into the fires of change
wearing the mask of confidence
wet with the tears of a child

ready to travel deep
into the foreign lands
of my psyche
reflections of the
rough terrain about me
so much wonder before me
consequences unknown
ghostly fears waiting in the shadows
on their powerful haunches
salivating in anticipation
of haunting whole vistas
of my innocent dreams

i cry, i shake, i laugh
confused by the myriad outcomes
giddy with anticipation
uncomfortable at the concept
of discomfort alone
climbing the tower of babble
my insides spread out before me
prostrate in abject reverence
looking as a serpentine a path to my soul
and the shared soul of humanity
travel along with me stranger
be my friend and family
feel with me my fears
share with me my joys travel into the wonder along side me
as i enter delicately
feeling so alone
eyes now blind,
yet hoping for
the mercy of the dawn
as i arrive at the door
of the abyss called
uncertainty