Pre-Travel Jitters

 Jacques and I have been to many locations over the years,  including  Australia,

Dubai,

and Idaho.

But in each of theses cases,  I was either traveling with someone,  or meeting a person at my destination.  This upcoming trip to South America is the first time I'll have done any kind of lengthy travel like this,  and I'm doing it alone.

The first leg of my journey is going to be the toughest.  I'm traveling to Paramaribo,  Suriname,  and from there,  overland to Macapa, Brazil.  This is some hard travel.  There is very little written about this route online,  and what is written includes things like,  "the road may wash out during rainy season,"  and "we had to haggle with someone at the river in order to bring us across from French Guiana to Brazil."  

Once I get to Brazil,  things get easier.  Booking a boat ride up the Amazon shouldn't be tough,  nor will flying from city to city once I'm there.  And it turns out there are a number of things that depend on this first leg:

- Flying around inside Brazil is much cheaper using a Brazil Air Pass,  but I have to specify the destinations and dates before buying it.  (and I can't buy the pass once I'm in Brazil)

- Both Suriname and Brazil require visas,  and those visas require proof of onward travel.  Since I'm going to be leaving Suriname by bus and dugout canoe that I will buy tickets for on the spot,  how do I provide this proof?

 Since I plan on leaving in 3 weeks,  my time is growing short in getting this all figured out.  Right now the nervousness is a little more present than the excitement for the trip.