In the past few weeks I have been doing lots of research into where I am thinking of traveling to, what I should pack, how I should get around. There are a lot of lists made that start with Top 10 - Top 10 things to pack, Top 10 places to visit, things to do, things to wear, thing to avoid.... Basically, its like a Top 100 things that you are not currently doing that you should be doing.
And these lists freak me out. My clothes are not the right clothes, my backpack doesn't make the list, I traveled to this country and didn't do this or that. So after much thought and a nice bottle of wine shared between some friends and myself, I decided to make a Top 10 list of all the things I have done in preparation for my trip, none of which I planned or anticipated to do
1. Freak out
An incredibly large amount of freaking out. I will be at work, chatting with colleagues or with a patient and the moment I stopped and start to think about where I am and how amazing my workplace is, this nice big anxiety elephant comes roaring its head up to say hi and remind me that I have decided to give it all up. I mention that I am leaving a lot, out loud and most of the time publicly, sometimes because I am incredibly excited, other times because I am terrified of what I am about to do..... My one word of advice for anyone on the same path as me, don't go into a Google tornado and start reading all of the horror stories of traveling, just don't
2. Throw Out all of your Clothes
This was not planned. It happened after the backpack incident ( in my previous story) where after looking at this new backpack of mine, I realized that most of the clothes in my wardrobe were not going to be able to come with me on my travels. Im not entirely sure how long I will be away for, maybe a few months, maybe a year or two, but my brain instantly decided that since most of my clothes weren't going to come with me on my travels, there was no sense in keeping them. Gone are all of my shirts that I haven't worn in the past 6 months, same applying to all of my pants, dresses and shoes. And whilst most people would pat on the back for the wonderful spring cleaning I have done and how bare my wardrobes look, I am kicking myself a little for the fact that I now only have one pair of shorts and its the middle of the Australian Summer
3. Go Skydiving
I have been on the fence about this for some time and to be honest, I don't actually go skydiving for another two days, but the chance of me not going with through with it is about as high as the chance of me canceling this trip of mine. I think the reason I'm doing it is to conquer my fear or something. Or it might have to do with my love of adrenaline rushes. Or the limited amount of brain cells I currently hold due to last weekends drinking sessions. Probably a combination of all three. I did, however, freak out yesterday over the fact that I am about to jump out of a plane. I psyched myself out of doing it, telling myself that its not such a bad thing if I don't go ahead with it. I grew a pair later in the night and decided that maybe I should do something just as terrifying but not as scary as skydiving this week in preparation for the big day. Which became number four on my list
4. Get a Tattoo
If you were from the not so distant future and told me that in 2016 I was going to get a tattoo, I would not of believed you. It wasn't on my radar of things I wanted to do. I had never contemplated getting a tattoo. Sure I had thought of interesting things to get or seen some ink and thought how creative it was, but I had never sat down and thought about it myself. So when I woke up Sunday morning, with two hours to get ready before going to work, I decided that today was the day I was getting a tattoo. I got changed, walked down the street to the nearest tattoo parlor that had good reviews, sat down on the table, picked out the first thing I like and picked a spot. It was all over and done within half an hour and I ended up at work on time, completely shocked at what I had just done. It took me quite a few days to realise that this little drawing was going to remain with me for the rest of my life, and I am actually not that unhappy about this, which is a surprise to everybody in my life considering how much of a commitaphobe I am!
5. Go Skydiving, again
I cant help it, I loved it!!!! And I also learnt that to learn how to skydive solo, its alot cheaper to do it in the good old states of america rather than Australia.
6. Buy Travel Insurance
This is an absolute must! (duh!)
7. Read every single blog imaginable
In the last month I have read blogs of traveling alone, as a women, what to wear, what to do, what to bring, where to stay, what to eat, how to survive certain airports, best modes of transport, best way to meet new travellers........ basically I read everything that everyone else has been doing, and have realised that the only way that I am going to know the answers to all of my questions is to go out there and experience everything.
8. Have a going away party!
Because the last 4 going away parties I have had since I started travelling in the last 7 years just werent good enough
