I had a lot of good intentions about posting a review today and doing lots of blogging stuff. But... I'm leaving in three hours and I have a feeling that over the next couple of weeks this blog is going to turn into more of a travel blog. I'm just too excited about this trip to even consider writing about books right now. Maybe once I'm out there I will be in the mood since I'll probably be doing a lot of reading on planes and trains, but right now my brain is either moving at super speed or way to slow to think. It's kind of hard to tell which.
I've been to Europe before, but this is going to be an entirely different experience. No parents, no chaperones, no hard set plans. Just a backpack-- that's all. I've wanted to go backpacking ever since I was a twelve-years-old. Right now I'm somewhere between "What the hell were you thinking, Ash!?!" and "Holy shit I can't wait to go." I haven't been this simultaneously nervous and excited about something since I started college. And maybe part of me thought I wouldn't do this in college, this whole trip actually stemmed out of me wanting to study abroad, but I opted to go backpacking instead. It would be great to leave for another country for all of next semester, which was my original plan, but this seems like a better fit for me, for some reason.
Maybe this trip is what I need after two semesters that just felt completely down and out. I think I need to remember that there is more to life than school or grades. I need to be challenged by something other than staying awake in class. I need to be put out of my comfort zone in a way that doesn't involve writing a paper. And I can't think of a better time to do it or a better person to do it with. Someday I'll be able to tell my kids I celebrated the New Year in Amsterdam and spent my 21st birthday in Munich. Whenever they think their mom is totally lame I'll throw that in their face. And next semester when I'm feeling sad about school and whathaveyou, I can look back on this trip and hopefully there will be some sort of life lesson there.
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