Tomorrow I head for Italy.

Today I tie 1400 loose ends. This journal is one.

I’ll be gone five weeks! Four weeks of Olympics related work and the last one for play.

I have a cell phone, a Blackberry and an iPod sitting on my kitchen counter all plugged into chargers. I have a stack of writing pads and loose pens and markers piled on the counter.

I have my label making machine out. I’ve labeled everything labels will stick to. (I pretend to be organized.)

Tomorrow I head for Italy.

Today I have a pile of clean socks and underwear sitting on my bedroom floor to last me about two weeks.

The biggest lesson I learned covering the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City four years ago is this: If you work 20 straight 18-hour days and only have seven days worth of underwear and one pair of long johns, when day eight arrives, you’ll smell like a truck stop bathroom no matter how well you scrub in the shower.

On day eight I turned my underwear and socks inside out and started turning them back right side out on day 15. There was no time to do laundry. A couple weeks in, I smelled so bad I left the NBC workspace, walked a block to a sporting goods store, stripped my foul smelling long johns, underwear and socks off, threw them in the trash, put on brand new ones, handed only the tags to the cashier saying, “I’ll wear them, thanks” and walked back to the workspace. At least now I smelled like a sewing factory in China. A step up from truck stop toilet. Television is all glamour.

So last week I bought eight pairs of long johns (clearance racks at Marshall’s, TJ Max and Ross) and have enough underwear and socks to go about 15 days straight. I’ll be the best smelling reporter on TV! Trust me when I say, Andy Benton, is grateful.

Tomorrow I head for Italy.

Right now I have a dozen travel books about Italy stacked on my coffee table. I didn’t buy a single one. Everyone and their dog handed me a book about traveling in Italy. I’ve skimmed them all and read big chunks of a few. Here are a few of their titles:

“Jiffy Phrasebook ITALIAN”

“Italian for Travelers”

“The Italian Way”

“Collins Gem: Italian-English Dictionary”

“Italian Business Phrasebook”

“The Italian Way”

“Eyewitness Travel Guide: Italy”

“Italian Made Simple”

“Knopf Guides: Florence”

“Knopf Guides: Rome”

“Speak Italian: The Fine Art of the Gesture”

"Merda! The REAL Italian You Were Never Taught in School”

That last one there basically teaches you all the Italian cuss words and dirty phrases. Soooo THAT’S what my mom was saying to me all those years. Well, have I got a few surprises for her… SMETTALA!

I’ve also received probably 50 e-mails from folks giving me advice. Everything from “driving in Italy” to “staring at beautiful women in Italy.” Apparently ogling hotties is a national pastime there.

The most frequently asked question I get now is, “Are you excited?” I say yes but the truth is I’m not excited yet. Once Andy and I start shooting a story in Italy, I’ll be excited. Once we are able to do what we do best, then I’ll be excited. Right now it’s U.S. Customs forms and figuring out how I’ll physically pay my bills in February.

But once we turn on that camera in Italy and Andy and I start talking about what we see happening in this story and how we think we can best show all of you what we’re experiencing, that’s when all the other crap disappears.

Andy and I have been shooting stories together for five years now. That’s what we do best. The proof comes through your kind and complimentary e-mails… and attention from our peers: Carolina Traveler won four more regional EMMYS Saturday night in Nashville, TN.

We have something good going here. Andy’s pictures, my words… and all the wonderful people we meet. It just feels right. My brain tells me it can’t last forever, so I’m breathing in this magical alignment of stars in my life right now. God it feels good.

Well, I have 1,399 more loose ends to tie.

Keep in mind, I’ll write daily journals from Italy giving you an underground, behind the scenes look of the Olympics, starting next Tuesday, February 7 and continuing through the end of the games on February 26.

Talk to you then.