Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for backpacking] 

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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I recently decided to join the Day Zero Project. I created a list of 101 things I'd like to accomplish in 1001 days, which works out to roughly one thing every ten days. It doesn't sound to hard to make the list, but I actually found it incredibly difficult to find 101 things I really wanted to accomplish in a little less than three years. This isn't because I'm unmotivated, I just tend to do things I want to do. I wanted to backpacking and I made it happen. I wanted to date my boyfriend and I let him know I liked him. And so on and on. But everyone needs encouragement and I really enjoy challenging myself. I'll blog about this process from time to time.

The first task I completed is writing a letter to myself in ten years. I'll be 31 at this point and my life will be incredibly different. In my letter I talked about children, careers, and how I would remember this point in my life. I actually used the website FutureMe to write the letter. You can set the date on there and it will email you the letter when you tell it to. You're not able to read the letter before that date, but you can change the email address it's sent to in case you get a new email.

I also asked my future self if I was still blogging at English Major's Junk Food. Time will tell...

The process of imagining a different version of myself was a little empowering. It made me realize that while I do have some control over the way my life turns out I shouldn't be upset if it goes differently from the way I planned it. I'm considering writing a few more of these letters to myself, perhaps one for the day I graduate college.

My list is at Day Zero for interested parties. Encourage me by asking me how it's going every once in awhile.

If you were to write a letter to yourself in ten years what would you say?

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I'm approaching week ten of the semester and I honestly have never felt this burnt out before. I really don't have that heavy of course load this semester, but I feel exhausted. It might partially be living off campus for the first time, or maybe I'm just feeling burnt out because I'm a junior and feel like being done. Or maybe I'm just looking forward to winter break more than I have before because I'm going on an awesome vacation. My boyfriend and I are going backpacking through Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich and I am so excited. I've never been to the Netherlands or Germany before so I'm sure there will be a lot for us to see and do. Have any of you been to any of these places? What would you suggest for us?

As for reading I've been working diligently on The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

for the readalong next week, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

for a new feature I'm going to start, and The Book Thief

simply because it is awesome. I have a lot of plans for the week I do The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay readathon, and I'm really excited to see what all of you think about the posts. The book has made me remember my own comic drawing I did when I was in high school and I was inspired to start up again. I was really into art in high school but kind of quit when I got to college. My comic drawing style isn't very complex and obviously relies on words a lot more because I'm a better storyteller than artist, but it's something I enjoy working on. I'm thinking about posting some of these comics on here once I get back into the hang of it.

This week I reviewed Slouching Towards Bethlehem and Splendor. I celebrated my one year blogiversary, talked about my recent struggles with writing, and talked about an Awesome Essay: How to Write About Africa.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.