Monday 19 July 2010

Off to Peru....

18 months of planning and the day has finally arrived, Jourdan is off to Peru. 

It's a school trip with Wilderness Expertise and he will be gone for a month. I know that it's an experience of a lifetime and that it is aimed to improve young people in lots of different aspects, team work, self confidence, responsibility and will look great on his Uni application form, but I'm going to miss him oh so much. 

He has had to raise the £3500 himself to go, as it was all part of the whole experience and has worked hard to get there, from fund-raising to actually getting a job to pay for it, although saying that it has cost me a small fortune this last couple of weeks to make sure all the kit he actually needs was there and the kit list was very long indeed.


Obviously everything was left to the last minute and obviously left to mum to sort out, but finally yesterday I did get him to make a start with me sorting the kit, well at least getting it all together in one place. Unfortunately that one place was all over my living room!!


At this stage the large rucksack was overfilled and we still had a lot to pack.


So this morning we started again and finally got there



Finally ready to leave


And into the car



To say that leaving him at school was upsetting is an understatement, but I did it and now just have to wait for a month until I can bring him home again. I think the hardest for me will be the no contact, worrying all the time, hoping everything is ok, but they say there will be a group email half way through with an update on how things are going, so at least I've got that to look forward to. I'm already so lonely sitting here on my own, it's just so quiet, but guess I will have to get used to it as next year he will be going off to university somewhere. 

I just want him home safely, after all he may be a tall young man but he is still my little boy and a month is a long time.

2 comments:

  1. Oh, that is the hardest thing to do!! Send them off to places unseen and hope they make it back. Mine just went on a school trip...to florida to catch a cruise ship....to barbados!!! and this was before email and cell phones! BUT...he was going without me....so it counts! I am sure he will be fine and come back a new young man...hairyer, smelly-er, and much more self reliant!!! But all joking aside...he'll be OK. You know he will!!

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  2. I hope it won't be too hard on mommy... but so great you let him go because one learns so much from traveling and sharing with people having a different lifestyle & culture & language...etc...

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