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