Previously... 1.5.11

01/05/2011 The Trip

So. Did you know that I’m going to Europe this year? You probably did. But you probably didn’t know how nervous I am about the whole thing! Which is stopping me from from thinking and planning the trip. It’s crazy, and yet it’s true.

I’m nervous because every time I think of it I hear the voices of my youth asking me who I think I am to be traipsing off to Europe anyway! And do I even realize how much I travel already? It’s ridiculous Travel is for rich people. Smart people. Interesting people. But not you Shelly, don’t even imagine you can go.

That voice is mean and usually just a little bit of it makes me nervous and scared, so I stop thinking about the trip, just like it says. But I realized yesterday it is not very far away! I need to start getting serious about it.

Another thing that makes me nervous is the money part. So many people think I’m wasting my money, and maybe they’re right. I can’t really know till time passes and I take a look back. But it doesn’t seem like a waste. I hear a lot that I should be using that money on a car, but that sounds like a big drag thing to spend money on. I mean I understand it’s necessary but I am just not a car lover at all.

The only thing I could spend around the same amount of money on and think is even kind of worth the same amount of money is some kind of home remodel improvement action. I want the carpets gone and fake wood floors everywhere. And my kitchen is so half broken and old I would love a new kitchen just about every single day.

Now that I’m thinking of it, I really really love the idea of a brand new kichen and wood floors.

But no! I have been planning this trip to take Hannah to Europe for I don’t know how many years. I have told everyone, and I have told Hannah. And yes I know you get nothing tangible out of it (like beautiful floors and a new fridge), but the tangible is not what I care most about. For some reason the tangible seems like the kind of thing you save up for, but when you get a big gift (like this money was to me) it is meant to be spent on things more magic than a kitchen floor.

So I have to blow off all that ‘don’t go’ thinking and just know I am supposed to go. And supposed to take Hannah even though she seems like she’d rather stay home instead. It’s the right thing to do, and so I’m going to do it.

And so i need to get busy doing it.

Oh, and one thing I got busy and did was make an executive decision that we are at least going to Rome on our trip, and maybe even Florence and/or Venice. Hannah may feel homesick some, and I’m sure she’ll miss her boyfriend, but neither enough to blot out the amazement that is Rome.

I know our itinerary. I’ve made up a little set of webpages, with pages for each city we’re staying in and pages for some things we want to visit. But I still need to read more about the cities and have better knowledge about what there is. I have some ideas for where we might stay in most cities, but not all and not for sure.

So I have a lot of reading, and a lot of planning to do. Very soon I’ll be keeping track of reservations and putting down deposits. Exciting. Expect too much talk about it soon.