Alex and I spent the past Thursday and Friday enjoying our final time in Montauk. We relaxed at the beach, walked around town and ate some good food (and of course, continued to write thank you notes). Our Montauk send-off meal was at Dave's Grill; we left feeling very full and content.
Cioppino at Dave's Grill - Sarah's favorite meal.
On Saturday, Alex and I packed up the car and said goodbye to Montauk, hoping to return sometime next year to celebrate our one-year anniversary.
Sunset at The Crow's Nest. The view is incredible but the gnats are not - bring bugspray!
We got these Montauk t-shirts at Local Knit and are packing them for the trip. We figured it would be a good reminder of our friends and family when we're far from them along the way!
We spent a few brief hours in NYC on Saturday so that we could run a few final errands. I wanted to get a "trip-appropriate" haircut (5 inches later I am still in mourning!), Alex wanted to check out Central Park one last time and we both wanted a final meal at PJ Clarke's.
The Great Lawn, Central Park. We will miss this view.
The Mall, Central Park. One of Alex's favorite spots in the city.
We spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in New Jersey (using Alex's parents' house as a "home-base") so we could pack and take care of our final To Do's. Monday involved multiple trips to two different malls AND a meal at Grand Lux Café so basically it was my ideal day in the suburbs. (To my new in-laws and Alex: it's too late to get rid of me now)!
Tomorrow morning we fly to Costa Rica and begin our trip around the world. After researching and planning for nearly 18 months, it is hard to believe we are really leaving with nothing but 2 backpacks. (To be fair, we only spend 2 months in South America before returning to the US for our road trip, but whittling down all of our belongings to something we could easily carry was quite the experience). Below are a few pictures of everything we are bringing for the first two months.
Sarah's clothing.
Alex's clothing (& our travel documents).
Everything else.
I would detail each item we included but really the list is pretty mundane. Basically a week's worth of clothes, toiletry "essentials" (Alex's definition of "essential" obviously differs from mine...), first aid necessities and a few "luxuries" (i.e., laptop, kindles, one pair of shoes that are actually cute).
NOT the cute shoes.
It's now only a few hours until takeoff so hopefully we packed everything we need! We can't wait to start this journey and are so excited to share it with you. Carpe Diem!