An Early Start
Listening: When I was young I thought of growing old, of what my life would mean to me. Would I have followed down my chosen road or only wished what I could be?
Back when I thought about starting a travel blog for my upcoming trip to Europe in October, I planned on starting it a month before I boarded the plane. As time went on, I found that I couldn't wait and that I wanted to start writing again immediately. So here I am, a couple weeks ahead of schedule with my first entry.
Over the past few months, I have done immense amounts of research for my month abroad. I have sat in my cubicle at the day job for hours at a time looking at websites and weeks worth of lunch hours perched in the corner of Border's Books or Barnes & Noble's. I would have been at The Globe Bookstore in Harvard Square, but they closed their doors just a couple of weeks after I delved head first into my trip planning.
I have acquired a lot of "things" that I "need" for my journey. I think that the running tab is up to two hundred and seventy five dollars. On the flip side, I am the proud new owner of an EMS Long Trail II backpack, a set of Eagle Creek packing cubes, a tote for my pack so I can check it as luggage, a money belt, a travel laundry kit including a clothes line, sink stopper and detergent, a voltage converter, a travel alarm clock, a passport case, a new battery for my digital camera and a microfiber towel. I'm sure that I'm going to have to buy more stuff. The question is how much and when?
As of this moment I don't have either my Eurail passes or my airline tickets. Prices for airline tickets go up every day. I think that I should have ignored a certain someone when they told me that the airfares would come down even more. I think my goal would be to get my tickets by the end of the weekend, or at least have a plan that would allow me to lock in a fixed price. I'm also waiting for a certain someone to let me know where their friends got their Eurail passes from.
I'm not really nervous about those rather large details, but I am very anxious about the trip. Over the past eight months I have taken only two vacation days from the day job and only one of them coincided with a day off from the restaurant. I have had scattered Saturdays and Sundays off, but nothing consistent. So, in my eyes, I have really earned this vacation. I have taken myself out of debt. I have worked hard. I figure, I should, as my friend at the office would put it, "treat myself to something big."
Anyways, keep a look out in the next few days and months for me to update y'all on the status of my vacation. Truth be told, if I could take y'all with me, I still wouldn't. I kind of feel the need to be on my own a bit. Although I do feel like I am on my own quite a bit, when I'm in Europe, I can't knock on my roomie's doors, pick up a phone and call my best friend (for a reasonable price at least). I'll have to come out of my shell a bit an expand my horizons.
So here begins the journey across Europe as an effort to grow and expand under the guise of eating to expand my palate and seeing the filming locations of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset."
Back when I thought about starting a travel blog for my upcoming trip to Europe in October, I planned on starting it a month before I boarded the plane. As time went on, I found that I couldn't wait and that I wanted to start writing again immediately. So here I am, a couple weeks ahead of schedule with my first entry.
Over the past few months, I have done immense amounts of research for my month abroad. I have sat in my cubicle at the day job for hours at a time looking at websites and weeks worth of lunch hours perched in the corner of Border's Books or Barnes & Noble's. I would have been at The Globe Bookstore in Harvard Square, but they closed their doors just a couple of weeks after I delved head first into my trip planning.
I have acquired a lot of "things" that I "need" for my journey. I think that the running tab is up to two hundred and seventy five dollars. On the flip side, I am the proud new owner of an EMS Long Trail II backpack, a set of Eagle Creek packing cubes, a tote for my pack so I can check it as luggage, a money belt, a travel laundry kit including a clothes line, sink stopper and detergent, a voltage converter, a travel alarm clock, a passport case, a new battery for my digital camera and a microfiber towel. I'm sure that I'm going to have to buy more stuff. The question is how much and when?
As of this moment I don't have either my Eurail passes or my airline tickets. Prices for airline tickets go up every day. I think that I should have ignored a certain someone when they told me that the airfares would come down even more. I think my goal would be to get my tickets by the end of the weekend, or at least have a plan that would allow me to lock in a fixed price. I'm also waiting for a certain someone to let me know where their friends got their Eurail passes from.
I'm not really nervous about those rather large details, but I am very anxious about the trip. Over the past eight months I have taken only two vacation days from the day job and only one of them coincided with a day off from the restaurant. I have had scattered Saturdays and Sundays off, but nothing consistent. So, in my eyes, I have really earned this vacation. I have taken myself out of debt. I have worked hard. I figure, I should, as my friend at the office would put it, "treat myself to something big."
Anyways, keep a look out in the next few days and months for me to update y'all on the status of my vacation. Truth be told, if I could take y'all with me, I still wouldn't. I kind of feel the need to be on my own a bit. Although I do feel like I am on my own quite a bit, when I'm in Europe, I can't knock on my roomie's doors, pick up a phone and call my best friend (for a reasonable price at least). I'll have to come out of my shell a bit an expand my horizons.
So here begins the journey across Europe as an effort to grow and expand under the guise of eating to expand my palate and seeing the filming locations of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset."
posted by ZEN!!! | 16:24
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