8 days, 23 hours and 56 minutes...

With my trip beginning in just over a week, I'm full of butterflies and anticipation. This past summer has flown by so incredibly fast, but ironically, the past few days have crept by so slowly.

I think I have everything ready for my trip. I just wrote my "what to bring" list today, and mostly everything is covered. My main essentials are: bank card, credit card and passport. Oh and deodorant, of course I can buy anything else once I'm accross the Atlantic. My badges are all sewn onto my backpack... except Liechtenstein (it's only half done).

This trip seems surreal; I've been dreaming about this ever since my first adventure abroad. I remember taking my first baby steps in Europe when I was thirteen, and ever since, I've known I would return one day. Although this will be my fourth time going to Europe, I'm trying not to have any expectations. I don't want to anticipate anything, because once you expect something, you're usually dissappointed (or so my mother always told me).

My other trips were different, anyways. For one thing, I always had the security of my mother. I won't have that this time, as I'm flying solo. Also, with my mother came her bank card. Again, I won't have that this time. However, on this trip, I'll be able to wander where I please and not have to worry about worrying Dana! I'll be completely free and independent, and entirely responsible for everything I possess. If I lose anything, I'll only have myself to blame. I won't have any of the comforts of home, and luxuries such as free food and a warm bed won't exist. Dana always told me that, "if you can survive traveling, survive putting a roof over your head and food in your belly every day, then there isn't anything you can't do".

I know there will be times in the next year where all I will want is to come home. But for now, all I want is to leave this small town and it's mentality, to travel to the other side of the world, and to journey into the unfamiliar. The future is very exciting, and I get an adrenaline rush knowing that in one week, I will be away from my comfort zone and forced into the real world.

(A wise man recently wrote this quote in a card for me, and it makes perfect sense when you think about it...)

"Everyday won't be sunny. And when you find yourself alone in the darkness, remember it's only in the black of night where you can see the stars, and those stars will lead you back home. So don't be afraid to make mistakes, to stumble, to fall, because most of the time the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you'll get everything you wish for... maybe you'll get more than you ever could have imagined. Who knows where life will take you. The road is long and in the end... the journey is the destination."