Packing Sucks: A Series of Haikus

A tangle of cords,
All require an adapter,
Which has just two plugs.

One quart-sized Ziploc,
Eleven three-ounce bottles.
I don't stand a chance.

Clothes strewn all around,
Nothing yet in the suitcase.
I am losing hope.

Made a packing list.
Know I'm forgetting something.
They have stores there, too.

Can you tell I'm procrastinating?

T-minus 5 days.

My First Travel Mishap

Today I got an email from Eurolines (the company that I've booked several of my bus trips through) asking me about "Ihre Busfahrt am 25.08.2016 von Prague nach Vienna." For those of you that aren't fluent in German, or aren't as quick on the draw with Google Translate as I am, that would be "Your Bus Trip on August 25th, 2016 from Prague to Vienna."

That's right, in my flurry of obsessive pre-booking, I managed to forget that September is in fact the ninth month of the year.

T-Minus 2 Weeks!

Two weeks--almost to the minute--until my flight leaves for Europe. It's starting to feel like this is really happening now!

I have been dreaming of this trip since I got back from the family trip to Germany (when I was in eighth grade). As soon as I left Europe, I was thinking about when I would come back, and that time is finally (almost) here!

Even though I've been talking about this trip for the better part of 7 years, I somehow managed to neglect mentioning to my parents that, after graduation, I'd be taking a rain check on the job hunt and jetting off to Europe for half a year. We were at a barbecue with some family friends when that bomb got dropped. I was chatting with one of the dads there, who naturally asked what my plans after graduation were. I replied, with a devil-may-care shrug, that I was going to Europe for a few months. At which point my dad whipped around so fast that his sunglasses flew off and said, "You're doing what now?"

So that could've gone a tad smoother, but once he and my mom got over the initial shock (read: minor heart attack) of the idea, they became very supportive, constantly offering suggestions for places that they'd been in their youth that I should visit, ideas of how to save money while I was there, and doing their parently duty of offering advice to avoid a "Taken"-type situation. (As my dad put it, he's no Liam Neeson.)

Now that the trip is getting closer, it's pretty much all anyone talks to me about anymore. Which is fair, because it's pretty much all I'm thinking about these days.

About This Blog

I started a blog once before. It was sophomore year in college, and I'd recently become a regular reader of several (mostly running-related) blogs. I guess you could say that they inspired me to try my hand at blogging. I've always enjoyed writing, so it seemed like fun. I ended up deleting it because I felt like I had nothing to write about, and no one was reading it anyway.

When I started telling people about my trip in the months before I left, one of the questions that I was asked most frequently was: "Are you going to blog about your trip?" I'd thought about it, but decided that I didn't want to feel obligated to post regularly; I figured it would distract me and keep me from being fully present in my travels. 

But the more I thought about it, the more I warmed to the idea. It would probably be good to give myself a project; some structure for my trip full of on-a-whim decisions. Besides, hadn't I wanted to write a blog? I now not only had something to write about, I also had an audience, ready and waiting. People wanted to read about my travels.

The clincher, though, came when (yet another) someone asked whether I would be starting a blog. I said, probably not; I didn't want to have to worry about keeping up with my posts while traveling around. They said, yeah, you're probably right, but what a cool souvenir that would be if you did!

Couldn't argue with that one. 

And now that I'm actually doing it--I'm blogging--I'm incredibly glad that I decided to do it. Not only does it allow my friends and family to keep up with what I'm up to (and where I am), it also does give me structure, something I'm appreciating far more than I thought I would. I need this obligation, this assignment. It's something that I absolutely get pleasure out of doing, but it's also something that I have to make myself do, which makes me that much more joyous when I finish a post, and get to go out and work on material for the next one, by exploring a new place and getting up to all sorts of exciting shenanigans. 

It also helps me not to take things too seriously. My mishaps are just funny stories in the end, and being able to look at them through that lens keeps me from dwelling on them and making myself miserable. I can move on that much more quickly, on to the next adventure. It's all just stories in the end.

This blog is also allowing me to be very reflective on what I am getting out of this experience, who I am as a person, and who I am becoming. 

This thing is going to be one heck of a souvenir. 

About Me - 2016

Welcome to my blog!

I'm Jess, and I'll be your author for the duration of this journey. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Exits are located at the front, at the rear, and on either side of row 14.

A little bit about me: I just graduated from Towson University this past May with a degree in Elementary Education. This trip is a celebration of sorts, and it's also my way of taking a break from being in school before I start teaching it!

This is my first major trip by myself, which simultaneously makes me incredibly excited and incredibly nauseous. I have done a little bit of traveling in my life: I've been on road trips up and down the coast of the East Coast, and I've been to Germany a few times with family. But this is a whole different beast.

I'm going to Europe for 4 and 1/2 months. On my own. 

Am I multilingual? Not yet. Am I a light packer? Not yet. Am I a "traveler blogger?" Not yet! 

This is my first foray into the Blogiverse, so bear with me if it's a little rough. 

This is going to be fun!