Sooooo I leave for Italy today. Like tonight. Aka in 6 hours. That's soon. Like really soon. Where did the time go? Just last week I was still lying to myself and saying, 'Ehh you've got plenty of time.' Well Meg, I've got some news for ya...you're out of time. It's happening.
I will say that I am pretty proud of myself in one category of packing and that is the category of timing. And by that I mean I started thinking about packing about a month ago, and then proceeded to think about it for another three weeks... In my defense I do believe that a week (OK fine, more like 5 days) is plenty of time to pack for a semester abroad...if you're into stressing the f*** out and being anxious for 120 hours straight. Boy do I love that feeling!!!! My point? The last few days have been slightly...hectic. I have never run so many errands in one week in my life and have never packed and unpacked a suitcase so many times for one trip. As I expressed in my previous post, it's stressful packing for a four-month long trip! I did, however, learn a wonderful, and incredibly insightful lesson from Alitalia today - there is a HUGE difference between excess baggage and overweight baggage. But don't worry, if you ever confuse the two over the phone with customer service, "Mary" will very calmly and politely explain the difference to you, and even direct you to a further explanation on their website. Bonus: her English is remarkable! For those of you who have forgotten that my native tongue is sarcasm...that was a joke!!! Don't even think about confusing the two, or you'll get an earful from my dear friend Mary who never learned English, and yet was assigned to the US customer service line. Brilliant.
I digress.
As with any negative, there is always a positive, and this is something I have been working towards always recognizing for a while now. Despite the chaos of this past week, I was able to identify a goal for this upcoming adventure of mine. I am going to be in an unfamiliar place for four months, not to mention I won't know the language right away, regardless of my eight week class this summer. It would be silly of me to expect that everything will go smoothly and that I won't encounter any problems along the way. Staying calm and going with the flow are two things I hope to get better at while I am abroad. I have a tendency to get anxious when things don't go as planned, which is OK in certain situations. However, I don't want to spend my time in Italy getting worked up when a plan changes - the thought of missing out on something because I was too busy trying to stick to a plan is not a pleasant thought. So yes, my bag is 30 pounds overweight and no, I couldn't pack both pairs of leather boots, but there's no reason to let that spoil my trip before it even begins. This "negative-positive" concept has been a challenge for me to integrate into my life because I have become so used to making a plan and sticking to it; however, I am excited, thrilled even, to have my plans change multiple times while I am abroad. That's the only way I'll learn. So my dearest Italy, bring it on.
I will say that I am pretty proud of myself in one category of packing and that is the category of timing. And by that I mean I started thinking about packing about a month ago, and then proceeded to think about it for another three weeks... In my defense I do believe that a week (OK fine, more like 5 days) is plenty of time to pack for a semester abroad...if you're into stressing the f*** out and being anxious for 120 hours straight. Boy do I love that feeling!!!! My point? The last few days have been slightly...hectic. I have never run so many errands in one week in my life and have never packed and unpacked a suitcase so many times for one trip. As I expressed in my previous post, it's stressful packing for a four-month long trip! I did, however, learn a wonderful, and incredibly insightful lesson from Alitalia today - there is a HUGE difference between excess baggage and overweight baggage. But don't worry, if you ever confuse the two over the phone with customer service, "Mary" will very calmly and politely explain the difference to you, and even direct you to a further explanation on their website. Bonus: her English is remarkable! For those of you who have forgotten that my native tongue is sarcasm...that was a joke!!! Don't even think about confusing the two, or you'll get an earful from my dear friend Mary who never learned English, and yet was assigned to the US customer service line. Brilliant.
I digress.
As with any negative, there is always a positive, and this is something I have been working towards always recognizing for a while now. Despite the chaos of this past week, I was able to identify a goal for this upcoming adventure of mine. I am going to be in an unfamiliar place for four months, not to mention I won't know the language right away, regardless of my eight week class this summer. It would be silly of me to expect that everything will go smoothly and that I won't encounter any problems along the way. Staying calm and going with the flow are two things I hope to get better at while I am abroad. I have a tendency to get anxious when things don't go as planned, which is OK in certain situations. However, I don't want to spend my time in Italy getting worked up when a plan changes - the thought of missing out on something because I was too busy trying to stick to a plan is not a pleasant thought. So yes, my bag is 30 pounds overweight and no, I couldn't pack both pairs of leather boots, but there's no reason to let that spoil my trip before it even begins. This "negative-positive" concept has been a challenge for me to integrate into my life because I have become so used to making a plan and sticking to it; however, I am excited, thrilled even, to have my plans change multiple times while I am abroad. That's the only way I'll learn. So my dearest Italy, bring it on.