All in Good Time
In classic Ruby fashion, I gave myself terrible anxiety upon starting my research on traveling Europe. I've traveled a lot before... Within the US and Caribbean, sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend. I'm quite comfortable with getting on a plane and going somewhere new. But I've never "gone over seas". So, naturally, I'm a little bit intimidated. To kick start my planning and ease my nervousness I started seeking out info/photos of the most beautiful places in Europe. Then I started reading articles on travel sites, searching public transit options, googling common phrases in the languages of the countries I'll be visiting, etc. I did the math a dozen times for how much the trip will cost. And then a dozen times again. I started analyzing hotel and hostel rating. I read blogs. Scrolled through TripAdvisor sightseeing lists until my eyes ached. Compared flight prices with train prices. Made a checklist of what to pack... Problem is-- my trip is a year away. There's a difference between being prepared and being... whatever it is that my mind spun into. Obsessive? Frenzied? I started out incredibly excited about this trip and then somewhere along the way my online exploration in preparation for the trip went from pretty pictures to overly detailed hand-drawn maps, sticky notes on 35 pages of my travel book, and 19 open tabs in my internet browser. Too much, too fast. And bam: I was hit with anxiety so badly for a split second it crossed my mind not to go at all. Which would be incredibly - INCREDIBLY - foolish. I've wanted to do this trip for so long. I'm so excited. I'm planning it out with my best friend. I've worked hard to get to this point. And I have the opportunity, at last, to go. This is - quite possibly - a once in a lifetime opportunity at my fingertips! I refuse to let my anxiety steal something so important away from me. So I'm going back to baby steps. Small searches, bits of info, casual reading. I'll be prepared, I will be. In time. At the right time.
