Déjà vu

A familiar scene-- I'm up during the late hours of the night packing for a summer trip that I leave for in four hours. Exactly one year and a month ago, I was doing the same thing but for my study abroad trip with Semester at Sea. I have learned so much since the Summer 2010 Voyage. When it comes to international travel, "this ain't my first rodeo." However, this is the first time I have ever gone anywhere on my own without friends or family, and it will be my first time to stay in one place for longer than a week. Though I am excited for this new chapter in my life, I'm also quite nervous for the challenges that it will bring. Even if I had gotten an early start on packing, I would probably still be awake right now from anxiousness. I am quite convinced that my suitcase is over the 50 lb weight limit, and I still have last-minute items to cram in. Hopefully the person checking me in tomorrow is gracious and understanding. I intend to sleep the whole way from Miami to Berlin, which shouldn't be too difficult since I will not be sleeping at all tonight.

I'm about to embark on what is sure to be my greatest adventure yet. Follow my travels (simply click on the links in the right sidebar) as I experience new places and make new friends and blunders along the way.

“Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to face many a danger, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.” — Annie Besant