Rusty -- gone camping

[Rusty]

Hi Everybody: This is to keep you from wondering where Rusty went. I leave tomorrow and should be back Wednesday night.

[ngamary]

Dear Teachers and Rusty!

- Rusty! Have a good time! and enjoy your camping!

- I think "I'm leaving tomorrow" is more common, right?

P/s: I do not mean that Rusty is wrong, I just want to have some opinions about this sentence, that's all.

Thanks

Ngamary

[Pete]

Hi Everybody: This is to keep you from wondering where Rusty went. I leave tomorrow and should be back Wednesday night.


Dear Teachers and Rusty!

…

- I think "I'm leaving tomorrow" is more common, right?

P/s: I do not mean that Rusty is wrong, I just want to have some opinions about this sentence, that's all.

Thanks

NgamaryOf course both are possible. The simple present, "I leave", sounds a bit more formal; it is usually used with a future event that has been scheduled. That form is most common for travel events (this is the case here) and events that are on an official schedule: "We have to hurry; the bus arrives in 10 minutes." In Rusty's note, it gives the idea that she has made a schedule for the trip, and leaving is scheduled for the given time.

The present continuous (present progressive) is used for events that are planned or that have been agreed on: "I'm going to the concert with Pat this weekend." Of course Rusty's trip is planned, so this form could be used very naturally. That would be a less formal way of saying it.