Preparedness
I've been struggling with the concept of preparedness for the past few days. The way I'm used to traveling is booking most things in advance, armed with a stack of information culled from the Internet and hearsay from various sources. But this time things feel a bit different. No matter how much I've read and asked, I still feel some anxiety about being in countries where I don't speak the language and have no clue what the system is. "are there ATMs available?" "is it advisable to book a hotel ahead of time?" "where can you pick up a bus to the airport?"
"how much sunscreen should I really actually bring?" But then I try to remind myself - it's about being flexible and open more than anything else. I won't know what it's like until I actually get there, and there's only so much preparation one can do remotely! I try to remember back to when I first arrived in Italy for my year abroad and how I felt. It was nervewracking and thrilling all at the same time - I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But once I got over the nervous bit and realized that throwing myself full on into life in Florence was the only thing I could do, it ended up being one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences of my life. So periodically I have to remind myself to step away from the computer, take a deep breath and remind myself that we WILL be prepared if we can keep ourselves flexible. (ok that's a partial lie, Wayne drags me kicking and screaming from the computer telling me I need to stop doing searches on Lonely Planet's forums.)
"how much sunscreen should I really actually bring?" But then I try to remind myself - it's about being flexible and open more than anything else. I won't know what it's like until I actually get there, and there's only so much preparation one can do remotely! I try to remember back to when I first arrived in Italy for my year abroad and how I felt. It was nervewracking and thrilling all at the same time - I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But once I got over the nervous bit and realized that throwing myself full on into life in Florence was the only thing I could do, it ended up being one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences of my life. So periodically I have to remind myself to step away from the computer, take a deep breath and remind myself that we WILL be prepared if we can keep ourselves flexible. (ok that's a partial lie, Wayne drags me kicking and screaming from the computer telling me I need to stop doing searches on Lonely Planet's forums.)
Posted by Tracie Lee
