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Having put in words what I want to do, and having prepared the right title, I started to define what my priorities are as far as this excursion is concerned. The first one was to choose an appropriate date of the departure. “Appropriate” is a key word here because if you choose a wrong month you’ll be travelling in rain, stormy wind, cyclones, or maybe even tsunami. All that cannot be particularly safe as the highest point of the island is only a few meters above the sea level. You also need to consider your employer (how much days off you have left). You should also prepare your family for your going away on a lone journey into the unknown. You should do it in such a way that on one hand you’ll be able to stay as long as you can, and on the other your family won’t be worried to death. Obviously, you mustn’t forget about finances. You need to draw up a balanced plan of expenses (preferably the cheapest solutions). When you’ve completed all of these stages, you can take a red pen and mark the departure date in your calendar. You should account for changes in the departure date, two or three days in one way or another, so that you may choose the cheapest and flight and the best options. You need to remember that there is only one flight per week going to Kirimati, and if you’re late you’ll be stuck for a week in Hawaii or Fiji, which could’ve been fun if it wasn’t for the carefully allocated funds.
Once you’ve picked the date, you may focus on further preparation, namely on the costs, and finding this large amount of money. This is when the conundrum lies. What should do to go? Thinking outside the box is quite necessary. You have an opportunity to test yourself, which comes in handy during your trip when plan A fails, plan B is not good enough, and you need to come up with plan C or D. Preparing for the trip is a time when you can put to trial you connections to different people you’ve met over the years. You can see whether you’ve managed to keep in touch and stay close. There is also time to make new contacts. However, you need to decide for yourself if a friend of a friend of a friend who lives on this island is someone you can rely on. After all, this is the person on whom depends your stay there. It goes without saying that, the closer you come to the departure, the more you know, but there is still room for doubts if everything goes according to what you’ve planned. Instead of wasting time on this kind of “what ifs”, you’d better concentrate on how collecting money and obtaining health insurance (those who feel like it can also buy a motor vehicle insurance). It was due to my own enthusiasm and motivation, and the support of my friends and family, who share my interests, that I managed to gather the money. As for the unforeseen difficulties you may use credit card to solve them but you should do that as a last resort (when you’ve come back you’ll find out why by checking your balance account)
The last part of preparations consists of putting together a list of survival devices, which are cheaper on the internet, and doctor’s appointment (with a general practitioner or the one who specialises in tropical medicine. You ought to learn about how to avoid dehydration, sunburn, animal bites, and any kind of abrasions. You should also know how to take care of personal hygiene issues since there is only one doctor per 6 thousands inhabitants of Kirimati, and in the Poland village there is only one lady who’s taken a nursing course. In case of emergency she can contact the said doctor, who is about 100 kilometers away, through a CB-radio . Life’s tough there but this is exactly why I’ve created this project – Poland helps Poland. I want to help these people. After all, I’m going to be there for two weeks while they have their whole lives ahead.
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Read also:
Project Poland helps Poland. Part 1 – How did it start?
Project Poland helps Poland. Part 3 – Visiting Kiritimati
Photo © Dariusz Zdziech
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