Big Trips + Change

I'm just one day away from my big trip to Europe.

Everything is packed and ready to go. Everything is paid for and booked. Just a few last minute details here and there, but nothing major. 

I'm beyond excited! It feels surreal that I'm even going in the first place. I've been counting down the days and planning away, and now it's HERE.

To me, it still feels like one of those things that you put on your bucket list or see in books and movies, but you never actually get to go.

And I AM! That's still sinking in... 

But, as the trip draws near, I find myself worrying that when I come back, everything is going to be different. That the life I left behind will no longer exist. Will what I find on the other side be greater than what I left in the first place?

My friends will find new friends and new routines.
Work will shift while I'm away, they'll find others to fill in where I'd usually step up.
My dog will forget me.

Ridiculous things, I know.

I joked with one of my best friends the other day while we were out to dinner.

"We're going to change, but you have to remember that you're going to change, too," she told me.

That was a strange, but powerful thought.

I am going to change.

Hopefully I'll be more inspired and want to create more. 

I realize it's not like I'm moving away and I won't be gone for months. I'm just going for a short blip of time.

Maybe it's that I watch too many TV shows and I've seen how this goes.

The lead girl goes away for a short period and comes back to see that everything around her has changed. Sure, it could just be travel broadening her horizons and changing her perspective. Or two weeks goes by a lot faster and things happen in the blink of an eye when you're not in front of them every day.

Or perhaps it's that when I come back, I'll only have a couple more weeks at home and then I'm moving out.

Things are changing. It's in the air.

But, it's good.

For now, I'll put one foot in front of the other, grab my passport and head to London.


That's all for now,
Shelby

Going Across the Pond

Photo from VisitLondon.com

In just over a month, I will be taking my first trip out of the country to visit London, Italy and the Netherlands with one of my close friends.

The friend I'm going with, Mandy, has been like a sister to me since day one. Literally. She was in the hospital with my parents the day I was born.

Lucky for me, Mandy has been to Europe before and knows her way around and what to do in the time leading up to the trip. Or I would be completely lost, other than the blogs I've read about safety tips and such.

Going to London has been a bucket list item for me for many years. Maybe it was the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen videos I watched when I was younger that inspired my love and desire for travel. I'm not sure where it came from exactly. I just know I've always wanted to be elsewhere. Everywhere. Going all around the world; absorbing other cultures and the excitement of other countries.

London has always been somewhere I've admired from afar. Its fashion. Its food. Its royal family. Everything.

Being able to visit the the other two countries are just incredible added bonuses.

I think it's finally starting to sink in that I'll be going across the pond. For the last few months, it felt so far away and I've just been focused on getting through our busy season at work.

Now that we're just a month away, I'm beyond excited and the to-do lists in my head are starting to run nonstop.

I applied for my passport earlier this year and received it pretty quickly. YAY, DONE!

My friend and I have booked our plane tickets and hotel stays. YAY, DONE!

We've made lists of what we want to see and do while we're over there and will finish booking in the next week! AH! ALMOST DONE!

I need to shop for clothes, get a safety strap for my camera, apply for a credit card, possibly get new luggage and make sure I have everything ready to go so I don't forget anything! Also AH!

But, aside from all of the details and packing, I started thinking about how I want to feel on this trip. What I want to gain out of the experiences.

I guess I want it to feel like freedom.

Like I'm finding my voice.

Writing my story.

Taking control of my life.

I want adventure.

I want to fall in love with life again and the idea that anything can happen.

I want to not take everything so seriously and laugh at what's to come, even though I'm sure there are worries a mile long running through my mind.

I want to create and find my spark again. To know what I want to do and run after it.

I want to have the time of my life and not question it. Not waiting for the floor to fall out from under me.

I want to remember every detail and hold onto it forever.

Stay tuned for all of the adventures to come!

that's all from me,
Shelby